Ill Niño

The members of New Jersey Latin metal band Ill Niño hate flying, but they've spent a good amount of the last eight years squeezed into airplane seats. The six piece band, comprised of Christian Machado (vocals), Dave Chavarri (drums), Lazaro "Laz" Pina (bass), Ahrue Luster (guitars), Danny Couto (percussion) and Diego Verduzco (guitars), has brought their chunky and sometimes funky heaviness to devoted fans in Japan, México, Puerto Rico, England, Ireland, Hungry, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania.

Formed in 1999, Ill Niño quickly signed to influential metal label Roadrunner Records and released three studio albums of clever, bilingual nu-metal: 2001's Revolution Revolución, 2003's Confession, and 2005's One Nation Underground. Lyrically and rhythmically, the band has a genuine South American influence – Machado, Couto and Pina all have Brazilian roots while drummer Chavarri hails from Perú. On tracks like How Can I Live, What Comes Around and Arrastra, the group effectively combines syncopation with the aggressive bent of Soulfly and the melodic sensibility of Deftones.

After selling nearly a million albums worldwide – no small feat for metal, which rarely gets radio or television play these days – Ill Niño parted ways with Roadrunner and signed to Cement Shoes Records. The band's next release, Enigma, is due at the start of next year. Let the touring begin.