Muelas ' debut EP Bleeds with horror and beauty
I see disembodied organs of sight and speech. A boulder-like column of teeth sits monolithically. Blood flows from an observant eye, pooling at the base of a withered mountain. Its once-healthy tear ducts are now dry, irritated, and vacant of anything. It has nothing left to give, no more tears to cry. Tired, it watches profusely bleeding, asking itself, “Where has the empathy gone?”
All Images Courtesy of Muelas
MUELAS’ debut EP, Bellow, is an emotionally taxing expression of horror that tries to emphasize that question. The band has thoughtfully made something truly their own, truly MUELAS. Combining hardcore, Mexican ballads, down-tuned guitars, and a type of tectonic tension. These collide, creating something haunting and unshackled, perfectly capturing a distinctly heartbroken voice.
All Images Courtesy of Muelas
The 5-piece from Atlanta crafts an image of gored compassion, representing those who do and don’t speak. Those who observe, and those who have exhausted themselves. The rage of that is displayed in a banshee-type fashion, mournfully wailing and wandering the countryside as a herald of impending death. of
All Images Courtesy of Muelas
Singer/violinist Susy Reyes expels a very personal type of personified terror through her voice. The daily shock and horror of being a young Mexican-American watching the age of ICE tear apart your community; the unease of being queer in the South as basic rights are stripped back across the nation; the impotence of watching those in power turn a blind eye to the ongoing crimes of the right.
“I wanted to be in a band where I could scream about my feelings, let all of my sadness and rage out,” says Reyes. “As a proud child of Mexican immigrants, I have a lot to say. My lyrics are political because my existence is political. I can’t escape it. I refuse to be silent, and I hope I can provide at least a moment where people can also let out their anguish.”
Bellow then works like any great horror film: an expressive response to societal collapse, a showcase of suffering and rage, and, most importantly, a beautiful articulation of humanity. Guitarist Kaemon Maggard encapsulates the EP as “the rage and despair as we see our neighbors and democratic institutions suffer blow after blow to the rise of fascism, but also, the catharsis of using art we've made with friends to embody joy as an act of resistance.”
All Images Courtesy of Muelas
