Originally written for Howler Magazine March, 2021

What is Höwler?

Let’s Start With What It's NOT…

This is not pop, this is not tourist music, this isn’t Cocaine or Sweet Home Alabama or Hotel California. It’s not safe, it’s not for the faint of heart, it’s not popular, and it sure as hell isn’t reggaetón. This isn’t light beer, wine coolers or fancy drinks with cute name served with an umbrella… this IS the hard stuff, this IS music from the top shelf for dyed in the wool rockers and heavy metal head bangers. THIS IS HÖWLER!

True To Their Name

 Höwler is a self-made, thrash metal band from San Jose with a sound, a message and a name that is true to themselves. They cater to no one but their own sense of musical destiny and socially conscious convictions, meant only to appeal to those of like mind and spirit with plenty of room on their bandwagon for those of you who can keep up. Their name has nothing to do with the monkeys in Costa Rica, or this publication. Charlie Díaz, the lead singer and one of the band’s founders explains, “the name Höwler originated from the concept of werewolves, a mystical beast that transforms to show its true nature.” Read into… be yourself, resist outside influences, and when the mood strikes, HOWL at the top of your lungs to your heart’s content and make no apologies for it. This concept becomes clearly evident when you witness Höwler live.

This band is made up entirely of Ticos but their original songs are all written in English. “Spanish thrash just sounds lame” laments Charly. And I guess it’s a good thing as this reality helps in a market and a niche that is decidedly narrow here in Costa Rica. Though they have amassed an impressive body of work, releasing original music, producing videos and playing live over the years, it’s clear that typical ‘success’ won’t be realized in this tiny country. This band is all about the love for the music and it might be said their lack of wide spread popularity IS their success, as they are constantly tested, always reinvented and meticulously rehearsed which explains their flawless execution on their recordings and especially live performances. They are hard and fast and precise as evidenced in their live presentation and body of work.

The band’s current lineup consists of Carlos ‘Charlie’ Díaz - lead singer and lyricist; Jose ‘Fucas’ Mora - bassist and song writer; Renan Obando - lead guitarist and song writer; David Mora - rhythm guitarist; and the latest in a long line of drummers, Diego Arce. “We really hope Diego sticks” quips Charlie, “but those drummers… man, they’re crazy!”

History & Discography

The band’s inception occurred around 2009, and the fluctuating line up eventually resulted with the merging of 2 bands, Höwler and Inhaler, another local band with similar musical and social sensibilities who were currently experiencing the same state of flux that is common with bands of this genre in this region. When they came together, that’s when things really started to happen and their unique voice was realized as they committed to creating their own original music that spawned their first CD, ‘Sign of The Lost’, released in 2011. Undeterred by the total lack of commercial success, what followed was years of writing, rehearsing and live performances which lead to a modest following and the eventual release of their next effort ‘Back To Madness’ in May 2014. After tinkering with the line up yet again, and going through another few drummers, they committed to more writing, more rehearsing and toured around the country until the release of ‘Phantoms of Society’ in 2017.

So with 3 CDs of original music released and several videos shot and self-produced, they were buoyed by a modest following that showed up at shows, but did anything but pay the bills. Charly explains, “This is the reality of Costa Rica’s original music scene. There are a lot of ‘original’ music bands, of all kinds, mostly focused in the Central Valley, and lots of those are metal bands. But the country lacks the artistic and musical media infrastructure that bands need to get popular as live venues are few and far between, and radio exposure is virtually non-existent. The fact is that if you don’t play reggaeton and cater to the ‘pop’ masses, you must depend on creating your own buzz on Facebook and YouTube and through live performances… but it’s very difficult if not impossible to make a living.” This is evidenced by the fact that through all their efforts, they’ve realized little more than a few hundred bucks in on-line sales over the years, which is an excepted reality here in Costa Rica. So Jose, the bass player and founding band member, embarked on an exhaustive quest to build a following by contacting record labels, big and small, around the world to try to generate interest. The band also spread their wings and played in other countries like Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras and in 2019, Mexico.

While The World Quarantines, Höwler Gets To Work

During this time, the band continued to write and by the end of the year, had yet another volume of work to lay down in the studio. In early 2020, they laid down tracks and fresh material was ready to release by April, but Covid changed everything and delayed the CD’s release. While the pandemic brought the world to its knees, Höwler stayed busy honing their publicity package and on-line ‘image’, producing more media and doing all those things you never have time for like building buzz for the delayed release of their new record and videos. While the band was biding its time, Jose’s relentless efforts finally paid off in June with the partnership of Höwler and Stephan Becker, owner of Ragnarök Records, a small label in Germany of all places. A relationship was forged, and with their new label’s help, ‘No More Circus’, was released in September of 2020. This partnership produced immediate dividends in Germany where they managed to procure a small, fanatical following that the band plans to visit post pandemic. Hey, we all know what happened to the Beatles when they returned from Germany to England in 1964 so who knows what might happen?

The Here & Now

As for now, the band plays for the love of the music, the collaboration and camaraderie of its members and its loyal following here in Costa Rica. As pandemic restrictions loosen up, they will be looking to play everywhere and anywhere they can to get their ‘Howl’ on and if you are a metal starved head banger, I recommend you do the same. Though this writer has never thought of himself as much of a ‘metal head’, there’s no way I’m missing them if they play even close to me.

And if, perhaps, you can’t wait, and you feel the need to be ripped out of your chair at this present moment, and reminded that you are indeed alive, cue up If You Want Peace, Prepare For War and CRANK IT! It works for me every time!

What is Höwler?...
The real deal

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DON’T BE LAME!... Support Höwler & Local Original Music

Check out Höwler on Spotify and Höwler on Bandcamp
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Visit Höwler’s website
For bookings or to purchase their music email Charlie