Cruzeiro is a doom metal band hailing from Galicia. Their latest album, Hic Sunt Dracones, arrived earlier in 2025 and further expands their crushing, Sabbathian take on the genre. The record digs deeper into the weighty, sludge-laden territory reminiscent of greats like Electric Wizard, Sleep, and Reverend Bizarre, while still producing a sound which feels individual.
Psychedelic overtones and an extreme metal edge add layers of intensity and atmosphere, giving Cruzeiro a distinctive voice in the contemporary doom world; one that’s rather mesmeric and unrelenting.
One of the standout tracks from the new release is La Quinta del Sordo, a haunting piece centered around the descent into madness of the famed Spanish painter Francisco Goya. The song explores the psychological toll of his deafness and the eerie influence of the house in which he lived; La Quinta del Sordo which translates to "The Deaf Man’s House." It’s said that the oppressive environment of the home, along with the harsh socio-economic reality of 18th-century Spain, marked by poverty, hunger, war, and violence, deeply affected Goya’s mind, a theme the band portrays with magnetic intensity.
ZR