Ill Niño
| Ill Niño | |
|---|---|
 Ill Niño in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | New Jersey, United States |
| Genres | Latin metal,[1][2] nu metal,[2][3][4] alternative metal,[5] metalcore |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Victory, Cement Shoes, Roadrunner |
| Associated acts | Soulfly, Mushroomhead, Hatebreed, Merauder, 40 Below Summer, Seether, Ankla, Deftones, Spineshank, Machine Head, Emmure, Terror Universal, Slipknot |
| Website |
www |
| Members |
Cristian Machado Lazaro Pina Diego Verduzco Ahrue Luster Dave Chavarri Oscar Santiago |
| Past members |
Jorge Rosado Marc Rizzo Jardel Martins Paisante Roger Vasquez Daniel Couto |
Ill Niño is an American metal band formed in New Jersey in 1998. The group currently consists of lead vocalist Cristian Machado, drummer Dave Chavarri, bassist Lazaro "Laz" Pina, lead guitarist Ahrue Luster, guitarist Diego Verduzco, and percussionist Oscar Santiago. They are currently signed to Victory Records globally and AFM Records exclusively in UK & Europe. Ill Niño has always branded their original style as "Latin metal". They have released 7 studio albums, 2 EPs, and 1 greatest hits album, selling over 1.3 million albums worldwide.
History
The band was formed in 1998 by drummer Dave Chavarri as a "Latino Hardcore" group, then calling themselves "El Niño", with the initial line-up including Jorge Rosado (Merauder), guitarist Marc Rizzo, Christian Machado on bass, and drummer Dave Chavarri (Soulfly, Pro-Pain, M.O.D.). In 1999 the band parted ways with Jorge Rosado, with Machado taking over lead vocals, and brought in Chavarri's childhood friend Lazaro "Laz" Pina (BroomHellda, Shang Hi-Fi) to take over on bass guitar. As the band finished their first EP, produced & mixed by Dave Chavarri, and recorded at Laz's recording studio, Ill Niño was ready to ink their first recording contract.
The band soon looked to create the ideal line up, composed of local players, such as Newark's Brazilian guitarist Jardel Paisante, and NYC Latino percussionist Roger Vasquez. El Niño soon changed their name to Ill Niño and released a self-titled EP in 2000. The buzz on the NY/NJ metal scene was so strong that it scored them heavy rotation with multiple songs on Seton Hall University's WSOU Pirate Radio. The band was quickly signed thereafter by Roadrunner Records.
On September 18, 2001, Ill Niño released their debut album, titled Revolution Revolución. In support of the album's release, Ill Niño toured intensively for 19 straight months throughout America, Europe, the UK, and Japan, notably being a part of the U.S. Road Rage Tour with Fear Factory and Machine Head, and landing prestigious tours such as Ozzfest, Jägermeister tour, Germany's Rock Am Ring/ Rock Im Park, Spain's Festimad Festival, the UK's Download Festival, Holland's Dynamo Festival, and Belgium's Grasspop. The album's single, "What Comes Around," received significant airplay on MTV and top 20 Active Rock radio charts, selling over 450,000 albums worldwide. In 2002, the band's vocalist Cristian Machado performed on Soulfly's song 'One', off the band's third album "3", sharing lead vocal duties with Max Cavalera.
In early 2003, right before Ill Niño was set to record the follow-up to Revolution Revolución, the band parted ways with guitarist Marc Rizzo and percussionist Roger Vasquez. Soon after, Ill Niño recruited lead guitarist Ahrue Luster (ex-Machine Head) and Brazilian percussionist Danny Couto.
Confession was released on September 30, 2003. The album debuted at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 charts. The lead single "How Can I Live" was featured on the Freddy vs. Jason (soundtrack), and was their first single to break into the Billboard charts, peaking at No. 26 on the mainstream rock charts. Upon the release of Confession, the band achieved headlining status and embarked on RoadRunner's Road Rage Tour in Europe with Chimaira and Spineshank, as well as headlining stages in South America, such as the Vive Latino Festival in Mexico twice, as well as stages in Europe, the UK, Australia, and Japan. Confession went on to sell more than 550,000 copies worldwide.
The band's third effort, One Nation Underground, was released on September 27, 2005. The album debuted at No. 101 on the Billboard 200 charts, and its first single "What You Deserve" became the no. 1 most added track at Active Rock radio, and reached the Top 20 on the Active Rock charts.
On July 15, 2006, Ill Nino parted with Roadrunner Records. Ill Nino stated that "The split with Roadrunner was amicable, but a needed step in the band’s career". Nine days later, Ill Niño signed a new deal with the recently formed Cement Shoes Records. Towards the end of the One Nation Underground touring cycle, Jardel Paisante left the band, desiring to be home with family. Jardel was replaced by band friend Diego Verduzco.
That same year, on September 29, Roadrunner Records released "The Best of Ill Niño" as part of the band's contractual obligation to Roadrunner Records, and without the band's consent or involvement. The album features 13 tracks from all 3 Roadrunner releases.
Through Cement Shoes Records they released The Under Cover Sessions, an EP featuring various covers and outtakes, and Enigma, their 4th studio album, released in 2008 after multiple delays. This limited availability is attributed to the band releasing the album without paying the engineers and editors of the album, distribution of the album was subsequently blocked.
In March 2010, the band announced that they had inked a deal with Victory Records and would be in the studio in April, and that the album would be produced by Ill Nino. Co-Production would come from Sahaj Ticotin(RA) and Clint Lowery of Sevendust. The album, titled Dead New World, was released on October 25, 2010. The band performed headlining tours of Europe, the U.S., Russia, and Australia in February and March, 2011 as part of the Soundwave Australian music festival.
In February 2012, Ill Niño announced that they were preparing to enter the studio to begin recording their sixth full-length album for a summer release via Victory Records. The band recorded the album in Hoboken, New Jersey, Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado. The album, titled "Epidemia", was released on October 22, 2012.
On October 1, 2013, the band announced the departure of percussionist Daniel Couto, with Oscar Santiago joining the band as his replacement.
Ill Niño has performed at many worldwide festivals, including Vive Latino in Mexico, Ozzfest in the US and Europe, Rock Am Ring/Rock Im Park in Germany, Dynamo in Holland, Grass Pop in Belgium, Download in the UK, Festimad and Lorca Rock in Spain, and Gods of Metal and Flippaunt Rock in Italy.
Ill Nino released their seventh full-length studio album "Til Death La Familia", on July 22, 2014.
Style
Ill Niño are described as latin metal,[2][6] nu metal[2][3][4] and alternative metal.[5]
Discography
- Revolution Revolución (2001)
- Confession (2003)
- One Nation Underground (2005)
- Enigma (2008)
- Dead New World (2010)
- Epidemia (2012)
- Till Death, La Familia (2014)
References
- ↑ "Ill Niño | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
- 1 2 3 4 "Ill Nino - Epidemia Review". Stereokiller. December 2, 2012.
- 1 2 McIver, Joel (2002). Nu Metal: The Next Generation of Rock & Punk. Omnibus Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-7119-9209-2.
- 1 2 Udo, Tommy (2002). Brave Nu World. Sanctuary Publishing. pp. 193–194, 242–243. ISBN 1-86074-415-X.
- 1 2 "Best of Ill Niño - Ill Niño". Allmusic. Retrieved Feb 19, 2013.
- ↑ "Ill Niño". Allmusic.