9 Dead Alive

Rodrigo y Gabriela are looking to the past on their forthcoming album 9 Dead Alive, the duo's first record in five years. The Mexico City guitar virtuosos cover 875 years of history on the 9-song set, and take inspiration from a different accomplished figure on each track. ||Since 2009's 11:11, they've collaborated on soundtracks for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Shores and Puss N' Boot and that cinematic flair shines on the first taste of 9 Dead Alive, "The Soundmaker." Clocking in at nearly five minutes, the rhythmic album opener finds the nimble-fingered guitarists at their punchiest, transforming their guitars into sources of percussion and blazing through the rumbling melody.