Review by Greg on June 23, 2025.

Ramera is a Colombian blackened thrash project led by main man Ratman, who released a solid full-length in 2021 (Anarquía y destrucción) that remained his only major effort for a while. Now only in charge of bass and vocals, with further help provided by guest musicians, the dude finally brings us new tunes in the shape of an EP, the here presented brand-new Midnight Funeral.

Of course, the most eye-catching novelty is that song titles and lyrics are now written in English only, instead of the mostly Spanish ones found earlier. At a passing listen I also hear a more prominent punk influence, and no, I'm not saying that because there is literally a song called 'Metal Punk' (nor because I can't help but hear the melody from Sum 41's 'Still Waiting' in the MIDI-like intro '1440', though that's certainly amusing). Paradoxically speaking, the production appears to be way cleaner than before, a choice that had me perplexed as it more or less neuters the abrasiveness of the sound, to the point I started being skeptical about the human drummer credited. Opener 'Infernal Medieval Night' completes an overall unconvincing presentation of the whole release, with the recurring lead melody being the only interesting point of an otherwise bare-bones punky hybrid that doesn't blend the two genres in a really successful way, crowned with the most unimaginative refrain you'll hear all week. On the upside, Ratman's voice is still that coarse AC Wild (Bulldozer) impersonation I loved so much back then.

Luckily enough, after such alarming premises, Midnight Funeral gets better as tracks go by. The title-track finally brings the blackened thrash of the debut back into the equation, while also reprising the subtle synths in the background, and the aforementioned 'Metal Punk' is surprisingly effective in its three-chords-and-d-beats approach, making up a couple of energetic tunes that recalled the man's earlier works. At this point I was just primarily disappointed by the lack of an evocative, ominous crawl in the wake of previous highlight 'Aquelarre'. I was hoping for closer 'Black Blood' to be my man, but instead we get a... 'Metal Militia' knockoff of some sort, of all things. A terribly anticlimactic ending that left a bitter aftertaste.

Ratman is undoubtedly still trying to find his footing as a metal musician, but I hope Midnight Funeral isn't a transitory effort towards the new direction he'll take Ramera to. Despite apparently not straying much far away from Anarquía y destrucción, that one tried a bit of everything and was enjoyable for that very aspect. A sophomore full-length will clear this up, I guess.

Rating: 6 out of 10