Last night I saw what might have been the best show I see all year. I’m serious – ACDC, Behemoth and Metallica have a lot to live up to.

Rodrigo and Gabriela met in Mexico city while playing in a thrash band Tierra Ácida (see, you already know it’s going to be good). As many musicians do, they moved to Europe, the land of metal opportunities.

But they weren’t exactly playing metal anymore. I can’t really describe what they do – it’s not flamenco metal covers, it’s latin-inspired semi-accoustic, percussive heavy metal.

After taking up residence in Dublin and doing the local pubs and street corners, they got their break doing support for Oxegen. In 2005 they did the Europe festival circuit, and haven’t looked back.

They have five albums to their name, including two live albums. Their major influences are all the greats: Metallica, Megadeth, Testament, Slayer, Overkill, Exodus. Their self-titled album kicked the ass of both the Arctic Monkeys and Johnny Cash, when it was released in 2006.

They waltz around the stage, seemingly as if they’re still on a Dublin street corner. They play music that makes you bang your head, and that’s what the entire seated theatre was doing – punching their fists in the air and banging their heads.

Rodriguz is pretty good, but it’s Gabrialla who really owns the show. She’s a little ball of fiery energy, her hands a blur and swearing like a trooper with her beautiful accent. She’s stands out as the real energy of the duo.

They pluck, strum, hit, whack, knock and brush the guitars, producing an amazing percussive sound by utilizing the entire instrument, not just the strings. There’s nothing subtle or high brow or backstreet hippie cafe accoustic guitar here. They’re playing metal, it’s just got this groovy latin folk theme running through it, and they’re missing the twelve-foot-high Marshell stacks. They even did a little Dimebag tribute (always appreciated).

They’re currently touring the world promoting their second album, 11/11, which isn’t covers this time but you really should check it out anyway, because it’s quite something. Alex Skolnick of Testament does some guest work on the album, as well as Strunz and Farah. You can find information on their official website, or check out the Rodrigo y Gabriela myspace page for a few streaming songs. A great review at popmatters tells some really crazy stories about the band and their beginnings.