LZ2: El Fuego Sagrado |

True Fire Never Goes Out

(2025 – 2M Producciones)

Few will remember this old album from 1989, which is now being re-released in an edition that aims to do justice to this project by Martin Knye (who was once a member of Kamikaze, a beloved old metal band from the 80s), one of the best guitarists Argentina has ever produced, who here offers us a handful of great songs on an album that went unnoticed by many. Well, this is your chance to get your hands on some historic material for Argentine metal, not only because it’s Martin Knye’s band, but also because, without fear of contradiction, it must be one of the first instrumental works (or almost, because there are some songs with vocals) based on what is known as instrumental neoclassical metal.
This album was recorded in early 1989 and released only on cassette, which seriously hampered its distribution and longevity, although of course, it is one of those cult albums of national Heavy Metal.

As a point to note, it should be pointed out that the sound is not the most remarkable. Due to the precarious nature of the recording and the lack of technology available, the sound quality is not the most remarkable and, logically, beyond the work done in mastering it, engineering cannot replace what has already been recorded, otherwise we would be entering the territory where AI does the work (as many do who sell machine-made music, but this is not the case here). It is understood that the best has been done to improve the final result, but it must be understood that in those years it was not easy to go into the studio to record an album.
That said, we can say that this CD edition rescues the magic of that recording, including the eight original tracks that were on the original cassette, plus six bonus tracks that broaden the scope of this project. As clearly stated on the inner sleeve, this material had never been reissued, partly due to the economic crisis in Argentina at the time (but how strange to talk about a crisis in Argentina!), and partly due to Martin Knye’s arrival in Kamikaze, but it’s never too late, so here we have “El Fuego Sagrado” seeing the light of day once again.
As we said, we have the eight songs from the original edition, including “La Última Batalla” as the first track, and the only one with lyrics and vocals, in a powerful version of classic heavy metal, with features of what is neoclassical metal and what would later be known as power metal. The rest of the album consists of instrumental pieces with different moods and fine guitar orchestrations, as can be heard in “El Fuego Sagrado,” with its beautiful guitar melody. In “Obertura/Suite Fantasía De Un Sueño,” we can enjoy a great double composition. In its first part, an exquisite string arrangement that then drifts into a piece of classical music. Next we have “Cabalgata” which, as its title suggests, is a composition that goes at full speed with different guitar riffs that add a unique touch and influences in its chord melodies borrowed from classical music.
“Soledad (Princesa Eterna)” has an intro with classical guitar, in a song (like all the others, instrumental) at half speed, with a heavy base but mediated by a melody made of pure strumming and guitar solo. “Movimiento Perpetuo” is basically a bass solo (by German Salvatierra) that demonstrates his skill on the instrument, in a piece of classical music by Nicolo Paganini. With “Epoyeya,” we have a composition that once again takes us toward a more metal-based sound, with a lot of guitar strumming and where Martin Knye’s skill with the guitar is most noticeable, in a composition that includes melodies that, in part, reminded us a little of those melodies from the video game Tetris, and which is clearly one of the best compositions on the album. Finally, we have another classical piece by Paganini, in this case “Capriccio No. 24,” a well-known composition by the Italian maestro, performed by Martin Knye on guitar in a truly masterful way.
In this new edition, as we said, about six new tracks were added as bonus tracks (forgive the redundancy) that come from different recording sessions of this lineup. The substantial difference is that, except for “Ventisca,” all the songs are fully vocalized. The first two, “Burning Gods” and “Sectarios,” were recorded in March 1987 and showcase classic, traditional heavy metal in the first case and an idea closer to hard rock in the second case, but still within the realm of metal.
Next, we have four songs that were recorded on a demo in April 1988, including the aforementioned instrumental “Ventisca,” a short piece performed on classical guitar with incredible strumming. Next, we have “Mujer Del Mal,” a song focused on melodic classic metal, in the style of early Rata Blanca, as well as “Nancy.” Finally, “La Canción Del Rey” is the song that closes out this album. It is perhaps the most distinctive, with a very, very 80s vibe or even a very Rainbow-esque style.

It’s a shame that the band and the project didn’t continue at the time, but at least now we have the opportunity to have this material available, and in physical format, doing a little justice to an album that deserved much more exposure than it had at the time. I also think that a re-recording of this material, with the sound tools that exist today, would not be a bad idea, especially if there is a possibility of reviving the LZ2 project, but that obviously no longer depends on us. What is important is that we have the opportunity to enjoy a great variety and intensity of music from a guitarist like Martin Knye, who is not rightly recognized as such.
The artwork for this edition is good enough to justify its purchase, and it even comes with a free guitar pick as a kind of gift. Inside the sleeve, we find the technical details of the recording and the origin of the demos added as bonus tracks, as well as the lyrics of the songs. At the moment, this album is only available on compact disc, although it would not be unreasonable to expect it to be released on vinyl in the future.
To get your hands on this material, we recommend visiting https://www.2mproducciones.com.ar, where you can purchase this album and support National Metal.