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Over 200 bodies clashed and sweated until 2 a.m. in a tireless mosh pit as the band El Gran Silencio jammed and danced live for three hours at JC Fandango’s in Anaheim earlier this month.

Far from obscure, EGS has been making a ruckus ever since brothers Tony and Chano Hernandez, on vocals and guitars, formed the band in 1992, along with accordian player Isaac Valdez and drummer Ezequiel Alvarado.

El Gran Silencio’s music is a hybrid of rhythms and beats found in the bustling music scene of Monterey, Mexico, which has produced bands such as Control Machete, Afrika Bambaataa, Zurdok and Soul Sonic during the rockero explosion of the late ’80s and ’90s.

“We don’t feel a part of the rockero (Spanish rock) movement of Monterey. We feel part of all the Monterey music,” said Chano Hernandez. “We are friends with the rockeros but also of the norteños, the grafiteros (graffiti artists), the hip-hop and the vallenato music. We feel a part of all those movements; that’s why we’re different from the purely rockeros.”

El Gran Silencio calls its music “free-style norteño popular and international world beat,” which is a fusion of ska, punk, hip-hop, raggae, Colombian cumbia, Mexican norteño and its very own creation of ragamuffin, yesca-style music.

Touring in the United States after a two-year hiatus, EGS is trying find a place for itself in the American music scene with a new album “Super Riddim Internacional, Vol. 1.”

Every song on the silver-colored album originates from a distinct style of music.

“Huapanator” is an instrumental norteño song derived from the folkloric accordion, bajo sexto, bateria, and bajo instruments of Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

Yet the inescapable punk and ska beats of songs like “Super Riddim Internacional” and “Sound System Municipal” created a tidal wave of bodies jumping up and down to the loud and deafening stings of the electric and acoustic guitars.

“Super Riddim Internacional, Vol. 2,” the gold version, is due out in late fall 2003.

Not only is the music unique to EGS, but so is the album design. Tony Hernandez loves to draw, having met Ezequiel Alvarado while majoring in visual arts at Monterey University. The wings of the EGS logo and album drawings were Tony’s inspirations. Chano also helped design the layout of the CD. The microphone on the cover represents a karaoki callejero (street) style that encourages fans to voice their opinions about the music and the band to show them why they should listen.

“Our music represents the liberty to play any type of music which lends itself to be heard by any ear,” said Tony Hernandez.

The Hernandez brothers ended the late night Anaheim concert singing old-time favorites “Chicana” and “Amor” to hip-swaying couples and body-smashing mosh pit punks.

Surprisingly enough, in the hands of El Gran Silencio, Colombian cumbias and Mexican norteñas make excellent mosh pit material.