Hailing from Cali, Colombia and sharing members with bands Vientre and Esurio, MICO have just released their new album “Zigurat” and although the band have wisely shone their mirror ball on songs rooted in their trademark grinding chaotic hardcore with weird black and death influences, it certainly brightens their inspirations with a pinch of their own dark style. Full of dark alleys and hidden hooks, “Zigurat” comes as a deeply immersive a piece of music that challenges, questions and unnerves.
Fresh off its June 28th release on Total Dissonance Worship label, we have teamed up with the band to give you some details behind its lyrical content and unveil English translations for all of the 12 behemoth tracks.
The band recorded, mixed and mastered the record themselves and their studio and rehearsal space Carne Débil, and now they are excited for this first time working with a label outside South America. “Zigurat” is purely visceral, constantly obliterating conventions, and therefore, we bet it will find some more distribution in the coming months. Listen for yourself.
While confirming that it comes as a flurry of flashing images and emotions conveyed with as much venom and bile they can muster, MICO admits that there is a bit of a vague concept running throughout the album.
“The title Zigurat is a reference to the Tower of Babel, a sort of blasphemous re telling of the biblical story, specific to our experience living in our country Colombia, also known as the country of the sacred heart.” – comments the band, and dives deep into the concept of “Zigurat”:
“The gist is that the judeochristian god has decided to answer all of the country’s prayers by sending an angel of death (called the Impious Seraphim in the lyrics) not only to carry out all the massacres and torture and inhumanity but also to keep us all incapable of communicating effectively with each other despite speaking the same language, living in the same country, how we’re still unable to articulate a common reality, in this modern day Zigurat that is our fragmented world, hyperconnected by algorithms that are nudging changes into our behavior in ways we don’t yet fully understand.”
“With all that as a backdrop the album dips in and out of personal issues, coded diatribes against politicians and elites, against archaic ideas of concrete coated progress, neoliberal new-age bullshit, vapid trends and rancid bigotted fascist catholicism all mixed with cathartic bouts of intense self loathing and paranoia.
The album is pretty negative overall but I guess if I were to find a silver lining is that there’s an undertone of cathartic purging to it all, scathing but better out than in, better loud than quiet.”
“It’s a weird time, in particular after the first alternative candidate in the last 200 years was elected last week, in a country like Colombia where there’s been a long standing right wing hegemony consistently selling our resources and fertile lands to the global north at an enourmous natural and human cost, after centuries of innocent deaths and misery, we aren’t naive about things changing instantly, there are still too many corrupt structures in place, too much violence and blood to still be reckoned with, but it definitely feels like the lyrics aren’t just repeating a perpetual diagnosis anymore, it feels like something to learn from, something to remember.”
Lyrics:
IMPÍO SERAFÍN
Sin sol, sin salvación
Fosas, excavé cientas
Cae a sus pies y llora el dolor voraz
Ingieres piedras y cal. Impío serafín
Once mandamientos. Cáncer, trucos a olvidar
Jadeantes carniceros que acechan su presa
Un frío innoble comienza, acaba por congelar todo movimiento
Impar, improporcional
Sangre, nunca se acaba. Quisiera su sed saciar
Colmar este fuego arrancado de esas entrañas de azufre y barro
Disociándose, micelio salvaje
Cosmos sin idealizar, su fin se esconde bien
Confronta, desorienta
Sin sol, cielos que caen de mi mordaz amputación
Se remueve su piel, crece sobre mi sed
Sed, sed, sed
IMPIOUS SERAPHIM
Sunless, without salvation
Mass graves, I’ve dug hundreds
Fall at their feet and mourn this voracious sorrow
Ingesting stones and lye. Impious seraphim
Eleven commandments. Cancer, tricks to forget
Drooling butchers stalking their prey
An ignoble cold has begun, it ends up freezing all movement
Uneven, unproportional
Never ending blood. I would like to quench their thirst
Filling up this fire ripped from entrails of sulfur and mud
Dissociating, savage mycelium
Cosmos, unidealized, hides its end well
Confronting, disorienting
Sunless, heavens that fall from my scathing amputation
It peels of its skin, grows upon my thirst
Thirst, thirst, thirst
ZARPA
Desciendo al cavar
Siempre acercándonos
Divago, ruego sin paz
Tu voz pesa sobre fetidez
Voz, divina zarpa
Te vas a conocer
Vencido por la soledad
Revés ¿puedes soportar?
Sin ganas de ver que he cosechado mal
Incómodas centinelas, permanente sal
Te veo nacer sin creer mis ojos, placenta afilada cercenándome
Córtame de una vez, el cordón cae a mis pies
Ciego en lodazal
Ciego fracaso
Entiendo tarde cada matiz
CLAW
I descend when I dig
Always growing nearer
I ramble and beg with no peace
Your voice weighs on this stench
Voice, divine claw
You’re going to meet yourself
Defeated by solitude
Reverse, can you withstand?
Unwilling to see that my harvest has spoiled
Uncomfortable sentinels, permanent salt
I witness your birth in disbelief, razor placenta severing me
Cut me off at once, the cord falls at my feet
Blind in mire
Blind failure
Every nuance perceived too late
YUNQUE
Obtuso podrezco
Cortar la cadena sin repudiar que se repare feroz
No hay lágrimas que puedan servir para sanar
Presos coros van a estallar
Solo sucumbes al mismo engaño que vendes
Afilándolo, que corte cimientos
Vuelve a combinar copias de otras mentiras, sigue a tu corazón
Craso error
Perverso asfalto que voy sembrando y brota terror del que salgo ileso
Basta un apretón fuerte del que nace otro peor
Sedas visten un muerto que enfría temprano
Pretenden que se acabe el tormento de un frío sepulcro
Que en verdad no basta
Qué sensatez cabe dentro un muerto
Veo que no hay salvación
Éxodo, que no hay justicia
El motor dolor
Motor dolor
Terror, constante terror
Terror motor
ANVIL
Obtuse I wither
Severing the chain won’t disavow its fierce recovery
There are no tears that can serve to heal
Imprisoned choirs will soon burst
You succumb to the same deception you sell
Sharpening it, until it can sever the roots
Mixing copies of other lies, following your heart
Gravest error
Sowing perverse asphalt, sprouting terrors that leave you unscathed
Just a strong handshake, giving birth to something worse
Silks dress a corpse that is growing cold
Wishing to put an end to the torment of a cold tomb
And in truth, it’s not enough
What sense can fit in a dead man
I see that there is no salvation
Exodus, that there is no justice
The pain engine
Pain engine
Terror, constant terror
Terror engine
PULSO CORRUPTO
CORRUPT PULSE
INSUFRIBLE ESPANTO
Recaer, sunción mitómana resbala
Rechazás insanas predicas, por amor
Punzante miel, insufrible espanto
Campanas de la piel, vocación de perro fiel
Corroe y disuelve, tretero y voraz
Cada vez permanece un ardor, fuegos imprecisos
¿Cómo apagar tu inocente cabeza?
Cadenas sin fin, por quebrar
Pulsantes prisiones forjándote
¿Infliges como anhelabas?
Sobre suelos quebrados brotar
Qué labran a fuerza de plomo
Eterno horror manifiesto, eterno
Y busco desnervar con sumisión
Pobres hombres, caen. Inconstante voltaje
Engáñame, nunca al pasar, saber disfrazar
Sin cabeza, demasiada invención
No alcanza nada, nada
A rechazar el lento pasar de este negocio
INSUFFERABLE GHOST
Relapse, mythomaniac suction slips
Reject, insane preachings, out of love
Pungent honey, insufferable ghost
Bells of the skin, the calling of a loyal dog
It corrodes and dissolves, voracious trickster
The burns still remain, imprecise fires
How to turn off your innocent head?
Endless chains, yet to break
Pulsating prisons forging you
Are you inflicting as you craved?
To sprout on broken soil
Plowed at the behest of lead
Eternal horror manifest, eternal
I seek to unnerve with submission
Poor men, how they fall. Inconsistent voltage
Deceive me, never just passing through, knowing how to disguise
Headless, excessive invention
Nothing is enough, nothing
Now to reject the slow passing of this business
ZIGURAT
Visión incapaz, clava lento
Permanezco sin ver
Muros infinitos cercan mis torres
Voces que endiosan hombres dejando sobras,
que no ven error, mendigan su dulce sabor
Cada infierno que veo pasar besa mi sien
Qué vil comienzo, constante temor
¿Qué temes?
¿Qué venganza guarda en su panza?
Quieres ver desencanto, ruegos rotos
Penas, insoportable tesoro que roe y despoja
Seductiva ilusión, febril nunca acaba
Penas, para endurecer
Siempre placer, que cobras en falsas vidas sin fin
Vidas fingidas ruegan que se calle el viento
Cortante y constante su bramar
Cruda revelación ardiendo en llamas, posándose sin vacilar en la cima de esta pirámide
Retorcido zigurat. Etemenanki
ZIGURAT
Incapable vision, piercing slowly
I remain without sight
Infinite walls surround my towers
Voices that deify men leaving leftovers,
Eyes that see no mistake, they only beg for its sweet taste
Every hell that passes me by, kisses my temple
What a vile beginning, constant fear
What do you fear?
What vengeance he keeps inside his belly?
You want to see disenchantment, broken prayers
Sorrows, unbearable treasures that gnaw and strip
Seductive illusion, feverish never ending
Sorrows, only harden
Always pleasure, that you collect from false lives to no end
Feigned lives that beg the wind to be quiet
Sharp and constant his roar
Raw revelation burning in flames
Poised without hesitation at the top of this pyramid
Twisted ziggurat. Etemenanki
ECDISIS
Involución perseverante, flores que caen. Sedantes
Sin cuerpos, sin piel que los guarde
Frágil gemido
La desolación que habita dentro de ti, envuelve
Pura sangre de la repetición del mismo verso
Alimenta el pavor, incrementa el dolor
Te intentas retorcer
Miel, hasta morir. Elemental sangrar
Hiel, hasta morir. Alimenta el pavor
De ser, de comenzar, de florecer
Rapaz, bebiendo sol, no ofreces calor
Prisión de sed
Impíos cantos ensordecen, el mismo verso
Regresiones arraigadas, envuelven
Pura sangre de la repetición del mismo verso
ECDISIS
Perseverant involution, falling flowers, sedatives
Without bodies, without skin to keep them
Fragile moan
The desolation that dwells within you, engulfing
All is blood, repeating the same verse
Feed the dread, increase the pain
You try to writhe and squirm
Honey, until death, elemental bleed
Bile, until death, feed the dread
The dread of being, of beginning, of flourishing
Raptor, you drink the sun, you offer no heat
Thirst prison
Deafening impious chants, the same verse
Ingrained regressions, engulfing
All this blood, from repeating the same verse
LABERINTA
Vuelvo a castigar pedantes juegos
Ofrecen vaciándose, llorando en soledad
Frágil cascarilla
Belleza, cara de sol, gris y agrietada
Torpes lastres, incapaz de transmutación
Sed que nunca acaba, se burla feliz
Al roer cada hueso, ver el destino podrido
Tal vez me pueda zafar de tentáculos que abrazan
Farsante, puedo ver el fondo
Sin tropezar, danza el serafín
Immune al fango
Cárcel y cautiverio que no puedes ver
El delirio que trastoca toda la piel vence inmortal
Frailes, quizás vendan su conciencia inflada
LABYRINTHE
Once more, I punish these pedantic games
They offer themselves up, emptying themselves, crying in solitude
Brittle husks
Beauty, face like a sun, now gray and cracked
Clumsy ballasts, incapable of transmutation
Thirst that never ends, cackling happily
In the gnawing of every bone, seeing this rotten fate
Maybe I can wriggle out of hugging tentacles
Fraud, I can see all the way to the bottom
Without a stumble, the seraph dances
Immune to the muck
Bars and chains that you cannot see
The delirium that disrupts all skin, prevails immortal
Friars, perhaps they’ll sell this inflated conscience
NUDO SORDO
Sin amor, deciden por ti
Sin sesos, ningún antifaz
Devoro compasión, no alcanzo a ver ni la mitad
Creo ser real al vituperar
Hoces segándome, las cosechas de sal
Cobardes rebotan, recobran sed por disolver
Ecos de impropias sílabas padeciendo forzados
Vence la nuez hormonal, ¡cómo oscila! Vierte dilucidación
No volverán sin subordinación, sordas amarras
Sin acabar vuelve a comenzar su rebuznar, prisión que prepara realidad falsa verdad
Su alabanza anquilosa grima
Sin caridad, polvo y sed
La sed que preciso desenvuelve
Sofoca sin aflojarme, sin boca susurrando
Mi sombra, al hincarme, desangrará
DEAF KNOT
Without love, deciding for you
No brains, no mask
Devouring compassion, I cannot see the half of it
Believing I am real when I vituperate
Sickles reaping me
These, the harvests of salt
Cowards that bounce back, their thirsts of dissolution unquenched
Echoes of improper syllables, forced to endure
Overcome the hormonal crux, how it oscillates!
Pouring elucidation
They won’t return without subordination, deaf moorings
Without end, it begins again, their same hee haw
A prison that prepares their reality
False truths weeping their stagnant praises
Without charity, dust and thirst
The thirst that I require, unravels
Suffocating without relent
Without a mouth, whispering
My shadow bleeds out, as I keel over
FAUCES
Espinas crecen, tallan
Inmóvil sedición falla
Sin movimiento, glotón
Sulfuro al ver que estoy roto
Desvaneciendo, cada paso falso
Abyección, invádeme
Ya no puedes balbucear
Recae deshecho, carcome tu piel, entra en tu pecho
Comprenderás, besar cada brasa, sin quemar
Volviste a perder, se repite tu aniquilación
Cada alfiler en mi lengua rota sangra al hablar verdad que salpica
Traidor reflejo, sin luz prefiere alimentar
Tripa por saciar, no soy inmune a tu encanto
Extinción, invádeme
Ya no puedes aguantar, recae
Con fauces sin final, devora y danza
No deja de sonar su vil comparsa de alabanza y fe en reversa. En oferta, empolvada y ciega
En trance suenan voces, verde perpetuo, envolvente ¿puede ser real?
Ecos purgados sin definición invocan tu despojo
Exhala, palidece, espasmos de partos huecos
Verter vida, remedio irreal
La hoz, la tumba sin fin, calma espesa
La hoz, sueña sin fin
MAW
Thorns grow, they carve in
Immobile sedition fails
Without movement, gluttonous
I sulfurate when I find myself broken
Fading away, ever step is false
Abjection, invading me
Can’t even sputter the words
Falling undone, eating away at your skin, burrowing into your chest
You’ll understand, to kiss each ember, without a burn
You’ve lost again, your annihilation repeats
Every needle in my broken tongue bleeds, speaking truth that splatters
Treasonous reflex, without light he prefers to feed
A gut to satiate, I am not immune to your charm
Extinction, invading me
You can no longer withstand, relapse
A maw without an end, devouring and dancing
It won’t stop playing, his vile troupe of praise and reverse faith
For sale, covered in dust, blind
Voices sound in a trance, perpetual green, enveloping
Can this be real?
Purged echoes, undefined, they summon your plunder
Exhale, going pale
Spasms of hollow births
Pouring life, an unreal remedy
The sickle, the endless grave, thick calm
The sickle, dream without end
SULTANES LARVALES
Gesto lento, corrompiendo el embrión
Parto bribón, sabes que vencerás
Naces muerto, pides lactar cadáver
Inverso padecer que alimenta
Sultanes larvales sorben urgidos, para saciar a su antojo
Sigue la cadena, otro ciempiés humano
Sorbiendo miseria, abunda como sobra
Cae otra vez el mismo mal del que no hay socorro
No hay socorro
Quebranto y vicio
Ingiéreme
Te calmas, sedación
Cabeza para agrietar, cabe al expandir
Cabes? Atraviesas?
Ilusiones que perecen
Vieja sarta que ya no sabe igual
Ya no sabe igual
LARVAL SULTANS
I gestate slowly, corrupting the embryo
Villainous birth, you know you’ll prevail
Born dead, you demand to lactate corpse
Inverse suffering that nourishes
Larval sultans urgently slurping, to satiate their craving
The chain continues, another human centipede
Slurping misery, plentiful it abounds
The same evil befalls once again, from which there is no succor
No succor
Loss and vice, eat me
Settle down, sedation
A head to crack, it fits when you expand it
Can you fit? To get across?
Illusions that perish
The same old string that no longer tastes the same
No longer tastes the same
CIELO VICIADO
Rezan, maquinan, socavan, sectarios
Inercia cae
Fobias descendieron del cielo viciado
Rellenas de su amor, oblaciones de luz para castigar
Desmembrado desertor sin salvación
Regurgítame para siempre de esta prisión
De repetir como ventrílocuo, decidí ser así
Sopor crece sin perturbar su paz falaz
Siguiente
Crecen sin ver
Sin visión, impostan
Sufre atenuar rebaños
Sigo sin confiar
Engullendo vidas que fisuran
Tiembla su redentor, saciando desenfrenado
Comiendo un corazón que no pudo callar su cara
Vil
Se cae el telón, visión de sangre
En desespero, cara de calavera
Abandono del odio que destruye toda luz
Todo será salvado por su propia destrucción
Su torpe intento de ser eterno
VICED HEAVEN
They pray, scheme and undermine
Sectarian
Inertia falls
Phobias descend from the viced sky
Filled with his love, oblations of light to punish
Dismembered deserter without salvation
Regurgitate me forever from this prison
From repeating in ventriloquy ‘this is who I chose to be’
Torpor growing without disturbing their false peace
Next
They grow without sight
Without vision they slander
Suffer the attenuation of the herd
I remain in distrust
Engulfing lives to fissure
Their redeemer trembles, quenching unrestrained
Wolfing down a heart that couldn’t shut its face
Vile
The curtain falls, vision of blood
In despair, the face of death
Abandonment of the hatred that destroys all light
Everything will be saved by its own destruction
This clumsy attempt to be eternal
