The battle over the Ill Niño band name is finally over. It was announced yesterday (March 26, 2020) that the band’s now-former members – vocalist Cristian Machado, lead guitarist Ahrue “Luster” Ilustre, rhythm guitarist Diego Verduzco, have come to an agreement with drummer Dave Chavarri and bassist Laz Pina that will allow the Chavarri and Pina to use the Ill Niño name. Machado, Verduzco and Ilustre will continue on to do other projects. A post on the band’s Facebook read that they “have reached a mutual, amicable and binding agreement” and “No party has admitted fault and there has been no court judgment on the merits. The parties entered into a confidential settlement agreement.”
Back in January of 2019, the band announced that vocalist Marcos Leal of Shattered Sun, lead guitarist Jes DeHoyos of Sons Of Texas and rhythm guitarist Sal Dominguez of Upon A Burning Body had joined the band to form the new Ill Niño. They released a new song called “Sangre” before Machado, Verduzco, and Ilustre dismissed reports that they had left the band and were going to continue as their own version of it. Two months later, the trio filed a lawsuit accusing Chavarri and Pina of failing to pay the band’s tour rental company and engineers, slandering Machado by spreading rumors that he has drug problems, collecting and spending the band’s money without other member’s consent, and refusing members access to the band’s financial records.
Now that the legal issues are settled, the new version of Ill Niño have released a music video for the song “Sangre“. You can see it below.
