14-String Venezuelan Shredder Felix Martin Releases New Single “La Vaca Mariposa”

When Felix Martin first burst onto the metal scene in the early ’10s he was lumped in with bands on the burgeoning progressive end of the metal spectrum at that time: Scale the Summit, Periphery, TessaracT, so on and so forth. I don’t believe that was a bad thing — the association undoubtedly helped increase his profile — but it’s refreshing to see Martin categorized in his own sphere now, some years on, while he continues to forge his incomparable sound.

So: on Martin’s latest single, “La Vaca Mariposa” (“The Butterfly Cow”), the Venezuelan-born guitarist, who plays custom-made 14 and 16-string instruments using a proprietary two-handed tapping technique, delves further into his Latin roots alongside his passion for metal. Speaking about his new album Caracas, he explains: 

“There are many sounds in Venezuelan / Latin music that can be easily fit into the progressive metal world, both styles make a lot of sense together. Learning traditional songs as a teenager taught me how to play the guitar using the tapping technique, so I wanted to go back to my roots and transform these songs into my current musical style.”

You can judge for yourself below whether or not he was successful at that goal, but the answer, at least to me, is a resounding “yes:” “La Vaca Mariposa” is as gorgeous as it is catchy, and the Latin flavors he sprinkles throughout are a welcome change of pace for my ears.

Caracas comes out on April 12th and can be pre-ordered here (physical) or here (digital).