It might be your abuelito from Jalisco’s worst nightmare: His beautiful, traditional mariachi sounds butchered by a bunch of heavy metal guys.

Or might be your stoner younger brother’s torture: His favorite hardcore heavy metal songs played to the old-school rhythm of the guitarrón and the trompeta.

Either way, Metalachi, the world’s first and only heavy metal mariachi band, takes the best—or worst—from two worlds and create an unlikely meshing of metal classics from artist such as Metallica, Slayer, Ozzy Osbourne and more with traditional mariachi standards from the likes of Vicente Fernandez and Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan, all played with traditional mariachi instrumentation.

Metalachi is a musical/comedy stage show that somehow seamlessly blends the world of Spinal Tap and Cheech & Chong into an over-the-top stage spectacle. Metalachi will bring their world renowned stage show to The Casbah in San Diego on Friday September 20th.

The band features Vega De La Rockha on vocals, Maximilian “Dirty” Sanchez on violin, Poncho Rockafeller on guitarron, Ramon Holiday on guitar, El Cucuy on trumpet and is managed by mysterious impresario Warren Moscow.

La Prensa San Diego talked to the five mariachi-trained brothers from Hollywood (via Juarez!), to learn more about their outrageous show, which is considered one of the best live shows in Southern California by Examiner. com.

With all due respect: Can Metalachi’s music be taken seriously?

Metalachi: No music should be taken seriously. Music should be enjoyed… not dissected, analyzed and critiqued. If you want to look at it from the standpoint that our lead singer can sing circles around around most of the vocalist that we cover and that Metalachi is comprised of, literally, some of the best musicians on the planet…then yes, you should take us very, very seriously.

LP: How would you describe heavy metal mariachi?

Metalachi: I know it sounds cliche but you really have to experience the show in order to wrap your head around what Metalachi is. It isn’t just the music; our show is an entire experience that you really have to see first hand to understand. We constantly get comments from fans who have seen some of the biggest musical acts in the world live tell us that our show is one of the best live shows they have ever seen.

LP: What do purists say about your mezcla?

Metalachi: We are hated by many in the Mariachi community. We are hated by many people in the Metal community. The beautiful thing is for every hater we have there are thousands who think what we do is the most ingenious thing they have ever seen or heard. If we are pissing people off, we know we are doing something right.

LP: Is all the experimentation on purpose, and with what purpose?

Metalachi: We like to experiment with everything not just music. Like drugs, sex and tacos. We get bored easily so we experiment to keep things loco.

LP: Have you ever been compared to Mexico’s Moderatto? I mean, in the crazy outfits, larger-than-life personas…

Metalachi: We are not familiar with Moderatto but we are down with anyone who has the balls to do something different and say to hell with the status quo.

LP: Who is the ideal Metalachi fan and listener?

Metalachi: Anyone who has two ears, a beating heart and a soul. The genius thing about Metalchi is this. You don’t have to like Mariachi. You don’t like to like Heavy Metal. If you can’t have fun at a Metalachi show then you are dead on the inside. Period. From the stage the most rewarding thing is seeing someone in the audience who has never listened to Heavy Metal a day in their life scream at the top of their lungs to our version of Slayer’s Raining Blood or seeing a hardcore Metal Head that wouldn’t be caught dead listening to Mariachi throwing devil horns up when when bust Vicente Fernandez’s Volver Volver. It is truely a beautiful thing.

LP: What’s the best drink to get drunk with while listening to Metalachi?

Metalachi: One part tequila, one part Jack Daniels…a squeeze of confusion with just a dash of intrigue. Pour over ice and strain out your inhibitions. Enjoy.

LP: Anything you’d like to add?

Metalachi: Absolutely not, math was ever our strong point; that is why we are musicians.