Pax - "May God And Your Will Land You And Your Soul Miles Away FromEvil" (1970)

Lima garage boys who turned South American rock up to eleven.

Peru is not a country one thinks of when looking at key nations in the metal industry, but a small movement in early '70s Lima resonated with bands such as Sepultura on the other side of the continent. While Pax by no means started this musical revolution (that honor goes to Traffic Sound), their token album gave it as much mainstream appeal as it ever mustered.

Often simply called Pax due to the sheer length of its title, this album exerts itself as something special from the word go, as the ballsy riff of Storyless Junkie leads the listener into a wonderful blues epic; a Mississippi Queen clone perhaps, but one that we actually get time to soak up. Jaime Moreno's vocals are a clear highlight; this is a man who could barely speak English, and yet could hang with Ian Gillan and Lesley West at their peaks with a powerful multi-octave gnarls. The album sweeps through many sounds, from classic boogie woogie (Rock An' Ball) to pounding Hendrix-like space riffage (Sittin' On My Head) to melancholy twelve string ballads (For Cecilia).

The album isn't perfect (not even the most thorough restoration could fix inherent timing issues), but it shows a key  turning point in the history of South Anerican rock. While it ends with the ridiculous Shake Your Ass, Pax may be one of the finest albums of its kind available. Oh, and the 1984 reissue contains satisfying covers of Smoke On the Water and Radar Love.

For fans of: Deep Purple, Mountain, The Yardbirds

Top tracks: Storyless Junkie, Sittin' On My Head, Pig Pen Boogie

Rating: 8.3/10