Huddled together at a Denny’s in East L.A., where they’re grabbing breakfast ahead of a music video shoot, the members of Ladrones are buzzing. And it’s not over the Original Grand Slam.
As they reflect on a whirlwind few months, the Guadalajara, Mexico-based band — who merge metal, hip-hop and Regional Mexican music into a hybrid they call Flow Pesado — keep coming back to one pivotal moment: Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Beach, Florida.
There, vocalists Zxmyr and Cirujano Resendez, guitarist José Macario, bassist Chamuco and drummer Diego Zornoza played their first-ever U.S. festival. Anxious ahead of their Sunday afternoon set, with the added weight of being the only band at Rockville performing entirely in Spanish, Ladrones were surprised to be greeted by a supportive crowd waving Latin American flags. The sight settled their nerves. They looked at each other, relaxed and ready to let loose.
“I felt like I was playing for the first time because we haven’t had that many people watching us,” says Zornoza. “Seeing people who had no idea what we were saying and were [still] vibing to the songs was one of the coolest experiences ever. It’s a day I’ll never forget.”
That Rockville set was one flash point in a larger breakout year for Ladrones. In support of their 2025 album, Mexican Pesado, the band opened for Bloodywood on a North American tour, earned industry attention beyond Mexico — SiriusXM personality Jose Mangin is part of their management team — and signed with Rise Records, which will release their third album, Arriba La L, in August.
Before the year is over, they’ll open for Polyphia and perform at Deftones’ annual Dia De Los Deftones festival in San Diego. For Ladrones, the momentum points to something greater than a few big opportunities: a proudly Mexican vision of heavy music finding an audience far beyond home.
Ladrones formed in 2021 as part of producer Alan Ledesma’s Alzada Records, a label primarily known for Regional Mexican and hip-hop. At first, producer-songwriter Macario and rapper Zxmyr were simply collaborating on a rap song. But when Macario added guitars, drums and bass, the track took on a heavier shape.
After early single “Díganme” found success, the pair enlisted two more Alzada labelmates — Resendez, a rapper, and Zornoza, a drummer and Zxmyr’s brother — to turn the experiment into a new band.
Drawing from performing backgrounds that range from mariachi, salsa and merengue to hardcore, metalcore and pop — along with a shared admiration for Mexican pop-rock giants Maná — Ladrones built their distinctive Flow Pesado sound. The term captures the band’s mix of technical precision, forward-thinking production and commanding vocals without pinning it to a single genre.
“We don’t want to call it metal-something because it’s a fusion of everything we make,” Macario says. “It’s a feeling more than a genre.” Still, the essential ingredient in Ladrones’ sound is Regional Mexican music.
“It’s quite the task to do it, but we have to for the sake of the culture of who we are as Mexicans,” Zxmyr says. “We weren’t trying to do anything that was trying to appease the public [in Mexico] necessarily, and bringing it to the U.S. feels authentic. We’re going to be who we are, and we’re happy that it is resonating with people.”
In 2024, Ladrones released their debut album, Flow Pesado, which was quickly followed by Mexican Pesado. They point to the latter as the moment they evolved from a group of individuals into a singular force. Arriba La L pushes that chemistry even further.
Compared to Ladrones’ earlier work, the new 15-song collection expands their range, infusing elements of math rock and reggaeton without making the blend feel forced. “The new record feels more natural,” Macario says. “We are more secure in our ability to blend different genres.”
The fiery first single “Ay Ay Ay,” which addresses mortality, features blazing guitars and aggressive drums alongside urgent vocals from Zxmyr and Resendez. “Traición,” which Zornoza points to as his favorite track, is heavier and edgier, shifting seamlessly between styles. His bandmates point to the radio-ready “Pa Llegar a Fin de Mes” as their favorite. With its combination of hip-hop, tenacious yet rhythmic hard rock and lyrics about pushing forward, the song is a bellwether for the expansive sonic spaces Ladrones are exploring.
“It brings a message of bettering yourself at the end of the day, and I think that’s what kind of resonates the most with people,” Zxmyr says. “It’s like a real authentic piece of work and something anyone can relate to.”
With Arriba La L on the way and their audience growing beyond Mexico, Ladrones know this is only the beginning.
“We’re going to keep working hard, and we’re ready for the people all over to hear the new sound, and it’s all coming at the right time,” says Macario. “The world is ready for what we have to offer, and 2027 is going to [see us] keep climbing.”