Ill Niño

Ill Nino (stylized as ill niño) is a six-piece Heavy Metal band formed in New Jersey. The band was formed in 1998 by drummer Dave Chavarri, with all the original band members present. However, their current vocalist was a bass player at this time. 2 short years later, the band emerged with a self-titled EP. It didn't receive much attention from the press, but the following year, they released their debut album, entitled Revolution/Revolución. The album was very well-received by the metal community. It was praised for its unique yet still accessible sound, as well as its consistency. Shortly after the release, the band toured to support the album, eventually entering the studio to record their followup. Since then, the band has been going strong, and is now a big name in modern metal.

The band's sound is primarily Alternative Metal with influences from Latin music, fused with Nu Metal and a little bit of Groove Metal. The band sometimes sings in Spanish, rarely for a full song, but you will hear Spanish parts here and there often. Leaning towards the more melodic side of their genre, the band uses both clean and harsh vocals in their songs; however, the majority of their songs use mainly clean singing. The harsh vocals show up more often in their later works, with a few of their songs presenting mostly to all screaming. Despite being labeled a Nu Metal band by some, they are much, much more respected than most bands under that label. Aside from Sevendust and maybe Deftones, they are possibly the least hated band in the genre. Even some media websites feature people stating this. Here's proof. Aside from Revolution/Revolución, they have also released four additional albums; Confession, One Nation Underground, Enigma, and Dead New World.

It has recently been announced that the band is working on a sixth album. It is due for release summer 2012.

Members

 * Cristian Machado: lead vocalist
 * Dave Chavarri: drummer
 * Lazaro Pina: bass guitarist
 * Ahrue Luster: lead guitarist (he used to be in Machine Head for those who didn't know)
 * Daniel Couto: percussionist/additional drummer
 * Diego Verduzco: rhythm guitarist

Ill Nino provides examples of:

 * Spell My Name With an "S": Cristian's name is spelled a little unusual, dropping the 'H' preceding the first letter. Many fans forget this and spell his name the traditional way.
 * Alternative Metal: The main component of their sound, aside from Latin.
 * Nu Metal: They have elements of this, too.
 * Soprano and Gravel: Cristian is a famous one-man example.
 * New Sound Album: They've done this quite a few times. Their first album was essentially straight-forward nu metal, with rap-like vocals and simple song structures. The melody wasn't as complex, either. With Confession, they added a more melodic sound and leaned more towards alternative metal. One Nation Underground was a metal Genre Roulette that needs to be heard to classify. Enigma was a huge change for the band, introducing a more mature sound and dropping most of the nu metal influence, instead fusing their mix of Latin and alternative metal with elements of traditional metal and even progressive metal. It is also their most melodically complex album to date, as well as their first album to include guitar solos. They threw in a few traditional Latin rock tunes, as well. Dead New World introduced a much heavier sound, fusing alternative and groove metal and leaving most of the major Latin influences behind. A new album is expected sometime this year, and time will only tell what they will do next.
 * Signature Song: 'How Can I Live'.
 * Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness: Usually a 7, but they go all over the place. They can be as low as a 3 or 4 (e.g. 'Me Gusta La Soledad', 'With You'), as high as an 8 or 9 (e.g. 'Killing You, Killing Me', 'Violent Saint'), and everywhere in between.
 * Surprisingly Gentle Song: They have a few of these. Their first album has 'With You', a soft rock song with some of the softest vocals Cristian has ever performed. Enigma has 'Me Gusta La Soledad' and 'De Sangre Hermosa', two songs in which the band's Latin influence is taken to extremes, with almost no metal sound in the songs. The song 'Numb' isn't quite gentle, but it's soft for a song by a metal band.
 * Mascot: Either the rotting corpse on the cover of their debut album or the tribe members with their eyes sewn together on the cover of Dead New World.
 * Real Song Theme Tune: 'How Can I Live' was the theme song for the horror film Freddy VS Jason.
 * Progressive Metal: Enigma has elements of this.
 * Obsession Song: 'All the Right Words'.
 * A Good Name for A Rock Band: The band's name is a play on an ocean-atmosphere phenomenon.
 * Badass Long Hair: Cristian has some pretty badass dreadlocks.
 * I Was Quite a Looker: Cristian is the guy closest to the camera in this photo. Only a few short years later, he became this. It's funny though, because his singing voice is still the same.
 * Cluster F-Bomb: 'I just wanna touch you/I just wanna FUCK YOU!'
 * The End of the World As We Know It: The entire concept behind the song '2012'.
 * You Don't Look Like You: This is Cristian when he was young. This is him now.
 * Vocal Evolution: Cristian's growls are noticeably much lower on Dead New World, particularly on the closing track.
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Most of the food references in 'Kellogg's, Bombs, & Cracker Jacks' are screamed for emphasis. Really, was that for comic effect or not? There has to be a message behind those words.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: The song 'Turns to Gray' features Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed.
 * Special Guest: Cristian was a guest singer on Soulfly's album 3, performing the lead vocals with Max on the song 'One'. Ill Nino AND a project of Max Cavalera? That's the ultimate collaboration.
 * Vocal Dissonance: Cristian's speaking voice is actually much deeper than his singing voice.
 * Genre Busting: While their core sound is Latin-Nu Metal, they can be quite diverse. They have done songs in and draw influences from many different genres, such as Rap Metal ('What Comes Around'), Metalcore ('My Resurrection'), Groove Metal ('Violent Saint'), Alternative Rock ('Me Gusta La Soledad'), Progressive Metal ('2012'), Melodic Death Metal ('Killing You, Killing Me'), and even Thrash Metal ('The Art of War' (to an extent)).