Frontiers Music [Release date : 19.06.26]

Mattador are a Puerto Rican melodic rock band who were on the up and up, 1988 to 1995. They released two albums and toured with top bands like Aerosmith and Iron Maiden. Then they disappeared.

30 years later, a resurrection.

Listening to this new album, cleverly titled III, with few exceptions, they could still be back in the last century. Or in fairness, many of their influences date back to the time they left behind.

Today’s band indicates only one change to the original line up, multi instrumentalist, Abraham Millet. Michael Villegas (vocals), Carlos Benitez (drums, vocals), Miguel “Tito” Rodriguez (guitar, violin) remain.

At first pass, they seem unsure of their ground, dragging their past behind them and making themselves hard to pin down.

No surprise then that the band’s stylistic compass gets nudged this way, then that way as we move through the album.

Opener, ‘Awake’s explosive opening pushes the needle way into the red.
It’s a combustible mix of rock and prog, loud, tense, emotive. It’s driven by pistoning axework, propelled by a punishing rhythm section.

Next track ‘Black Water’, follows suit, just brimming over with proggy, fast moving bass rhythms. Villegas is an outstanding vocalist, expressive, commanding. A great deal of excitement is generated by an escalating operatic momentum in the song’s bridge and chorus.

‘Say You’ll Stay’ is a pleasant little melodic rock song that doesn’t really want to go anywhere, and 5 minutes later, it gets nowhere quite satisfyingly.

The track, ‘Levitate’ was the album’s teaser trailer. It’s got punch and a tight, tight arrangement, merging keyboard and guitars into a single unit. It’s a melodic rock song with a bit of grit and depth, though the backing vocals drag it down a little.

Suddenly, on standout track, ‘Crawling’, the scratch of vinyl, mixed with Led Zeppelin-esque hard rock pummelage, ignites the album, making way for the big, bluesy ‘Slow Down’ and the big, beefy ‘No Way Out.

‘Falling Backwards’ is nicely caught between. The song’s soughing strings, piano and chiming guitar create a mixture of melodic rock ballad and country rock introspection. Works well.

Not every one’s a winner, but chances are you’ll pick a good ‘un. ***

Review by Brian McGowan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 8 June 2026

LAKE Hey Sam (indie)
VOODOO WISEGUYS Someday You’ll Know (indie)
RUN REMEDY Big Nothing (indie)
BLACK ROSE REBELLION Hail The Rebel Queen (Pavement Entertainment)
DOMINUM Dark Melodies (Napalm Records)
COLD JULY I’ll Write That Down (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 8 June 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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