Kashat: Sangre Maligna | Back To The Roots Of Metal
(2025 – Zzooouhh Records)
How many bands have been lost in the haze of time, never managing to make a name for themselves for various reasons. Looking back, delving into the past, and revisiting the history of the Metal scene has become a recurring theme in recent times, and it’s something that’s not only truly interesting but also a way to discover new things or things we never got to know, whether due to age, lack of exposure, etc. Kashat is one such case.
Although the band seems to have come back to life in recent times, it’s worth sharing a bit about its history. Kashat is a Heavy Metal band from the city of Rosario, in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina—pioneers of the Metal scene in their province—founded around 1984. They shared the stage in the ’80s with bands of the caliber of Kamikaze, Alakrán, and others, but with the peculiarity that they never officially released any material. Two demos released between 1986 and 1987 are the only remaining record of the band, and today they are being re-released in this independent production titled “Sangre Maligna,” released on CD in 2025.
And precisely what “Sangre Maligna” aims to do is bring together in a single release both the demo Kashat released in 1986 and the one released in 1987, each containing just three tracks. With remastering and work on the original audio, this material is now available once again.
The first track is precisely the band’s debut demo, with “Devorar Tu Corazón” opening the album—a true anthem of pure, raw Heavy Metal, heavily influenced by the sound of that era, with V8 as a prime example of the genre’s greats from those years. Undoubtedly, the band from Rosario also has a slight inclination toward simple rhythms, very typical of punk rock and perhaps thrash, but maintaining a constant in traditional Metal.
Undoubtedly, beyond the precariousness of the recording and the technical aspects, what stands out in this material from Kashat is its naturalness and irreplaceable freshness. “Malvados Por Las Noches” is another blast of pure Heavy Metal, deserving of more than one listen, and rightfully carrying the air of a metal anthem. To wrap up the section related to the 1986 demo, we have the fast and furious “Guerra Infernal,” an unmistakable nod to Exciter-style thrash.
What follows are the three tracks from the demo that Kashat released in 1987. Thus, “Entre El Cielo Y El Infierno” makes its entrance, with a vibe more akin to Running Wild and a much more complex arrangement than on their first demo. In fact, just listening to “Sangre Maligna,” which not only gives this CD its title, is a good example of the band’s evolution. Mid-tempo and with riffs that take Kashat down a path closer to Classic Metal.
To wrap things up, we have that ballad-like track, “Angel Desertor,” with an epic and combative tone that builds to a truly superlative finale, demonstrating just how much Kashat had to offer. Whatever the reasons may have been for the band’s inability to continue or release material officially, the reality is that listening to them today and considering the musical context of the era, they would not have gone unnoticed.
Above all else, Kashat was Heavy Metal—perhaps at times a bit too obvious in their sound—yet they essentially maintained the characteristics that made Metal in those years a fresh, original, and combative expression. There are differences between the two demos, mainly in terms of the complexity of the compositions on one or the other, but with the focus always on traditional Metal, fierce riffs, and that classic heavy attitude at the forefront.
Fortunately, someone decided to rescue these old demos and compile them onto a CD. We don’t have the technical details of the original recordings or the work done for this release. In any case, someone remastered the original material, attempting to give it a fresh sound without altering either recording. The result is more than decent, considering that the source was likely cassette tapes, which clearly show the effects of time on the playback. In any case, the sound is definitely worth listening to.
There isn’t much to say about the artwork for this release other than that it’s simple and modest. The cover features only the band’s logo on a black background, and inside we find some vintage photos of the band, along with the song lyrics. Nothing else. And by the way, Kashat’s lyrics, aside from the song titles, are clearly Metal in essence, with social and apocalyptic themes, somewhat reminiscent of what V8 proposed in their lyrics back in the day.
As far as we know, the band made a comeback back in 2017, though we don’t know much more at this point. The important thing is that, so they aren’t forgotten, we have “Sangre Maligna,” a compilation of the demos Kashat recorded in the ’80s—a true treasure trove for all lovers of ’80s Heavy Metal, and a chance to relive the old days of leather, studs, and Metal!
In the absence of videos of the band, here’s the track “Devorar Tu Corazón,” illustrated with several old photos of Kashat from their time in the ’80s!!!!
