It wasn’t quite so fun to wake up for this day. I successfully regained full consciousness and thought at around noon following some ill-advised autonomous challenges, all involving this.
This bountiful elixir of joy juice and pure hell is the nectar of Metal Gods, and not to be consumed by anyone less metal than say, Oliver Sykes. I made that mistake, and I am still feeling the aftereffects to this day. As much of a Charon boat ride into my lesser faculties that was, it cannot top the badness of my foolish venture into the Lean Cuisine sweet’n'sour chicken… oh god just thinking of that ruins food for me for 5 minutes at a time.
Anyhow, we were discussing one of the greatest Metal shows this side of the puddle, which turned out to be a real blast(beat) of non-stop heat, boobs, and bathroom sink water. All the merch tables and food stands were set up in all their splendor, but I won’t go into those because I couldn’t go splurging to my heart’s content, and it would make me sad to even talk of all the goodies in store, and instead you’ll have to eat my words. I’m gonna try a reviewing style akin to Redneck From Hell’s, so bear with me if I’m a trendy poser fuck. All pictures used were taken by The Rev from Returntothepit, as if the watermark didn’t make that plain as crumpet.
Up first was CASTAVET, a Melodic Black Metal band not to be confused with some other band of the same name who I’m assuming is Alt. or something. They got atmosphere for months, and I swear it was actually a little chilly inside the Sonar, and I’m not blaming the fanfuckentastic air conditioning. They did what most BM bands do: howl, get laryngitis, keep howling, and blast a bit, though with a lot of influence from Post-Rock/Hardcore song structures. An average set, but I’d suggest looking further into them, as their vocals are something not heard too often in BM, and a bit more on the raspy Sludge side.
NASGHUL followed suit, bringing their hazardous Death Metal/Grindcore mixture from Spain to the ‘Murican table like a barrel of radioactive waste, sloshing it on all nearby.
Deep in concentration, tired, or recovering for a wicked blaze session?
I’m sure I caught something about this being their first ever US appearance, and by ZOROASTER, what better a way to introduce yourself to the unwitting sheeple than to drop in on one of the largest celebrations of heavy music there is? I thoroughly enjoyed their groovy yet unforgivingly abrasive take on the style they play, earning them good points in my book.
Right on the heels of Nasghul were… GHOUL. I swear the promoters and bookers were having a laugh when they made the running order.
Also, dozens of casualties, but more on that later.
Now GHOUL is a band that knows how to make a show into a SHOW. As in they entertain you while doing their thing almost as much as they entertained themselves. Every song had a clever-as-dick introduction, usually with a small skit in which something died, following copious spurts of viscera and crimson life fluid. Is it wrong to be a bit dismayed that I came out with nary but a few spots of blood on my shirt? I’d never seen GHOUL before, but I was happy to realize that their set was very heavy on the Splatterthrash album, which is apparently their most fun, and I’m willing to believe that. Like many of the better sets at MDF, it all seemed over too soon, and all that we had to remember them by was a nagging suspicion that the fat one is the guy from EXHUMED., even though it’s not really true, but I liked to believe it anyway.
Even though I don’t know any words to any TODAY IS THE DAY songs, I’m convinced they’ve scientifically devised their songs to unlock the crazy center in the human brain, thus enabling you to shout along without having even so much as peeked at a word of their tunes. Even without the addition of collective throat flaying, the set was as intense and twisted as the bastards intended.
TITD are a band that is quite literally impossible to label. They’re so experimental that they seem to be actively dodging a definitive genre, running the gamut from Post-Hardcore to pummeling distorted grooves that lack classification to Sludge Metal and beyond, always maintaining the heaviness and distortion necessary to keep it claustrophobic-in-a-locked-closet insane. They’ve also succeeded in making it so that the music drives emotions to critical mass and you are at risk of injury from the tweaking druggies that were out in full force. All-in-all, great goddamn set, and I’m probably not the same person I was when it started.
At this point I took it upon myself to walk outside and peek at MACABRE’s set for a bit. I had attempted to check them out a bit, but I never found them interesting as a whole. After all, how many other Metal bands write about serial killers?
They brand themselves as “Murder Metal”, which from what I have heard is a combination of some freaky Death Metal-ish songwriting, Heavy Metal attitude, and generally not taking themselves seriously. Like, at all. Just look at the photo, the frontman’s wearing a headset to do his vocals! Can anyone say they know of any other Metal band that does this stuff? All the silliness aside, they do have some fun, catchy tunes, and I remember that they played “Elizabeth Bathory”, as if every other Extreme Metal band on the planet hasn’t already done a song about her or even named themselves after the cunt. But again, not taking themselves seriously, I got it.
ARTILLERY are a band tragically unknown over in the states, having suffered the misfortune of coming from Denmark and being a bit too proggy/technical for the Thrashers in Cali. If I understand correctly, they also made MDF their first stateside invasion.
If you’ve listened to them on record and don’t like the vocals, I swear to you they’re a lot better live. More soaring highs rather than the vocalist sounding like he’s questioning himself with every line. The pits were better than I had expected for a band of their type, especially at an Extreme Metal festival where these guys must have ranked third on softest bands after ANVIL and THE DEVIL’S BLOOD respectively. Stand-out performance by the nearly forgotten but still sharp as ever wolves of Thrash, and here’s to hoping they come this way more often.
You can wake my cadaver any time, Mitch.
Grind overlords NAPALM DEATH heralded the blanket of night with their good ol’ fashioned barbed wire fist to the mouth approach of noise for music’s sake. ”God Save The Queen”, these Brits are still packing as much of a punch as they did back in their beginnings, if the songs they played from the new release Utilitarian are anything to go by. One thing I haven’t mentioned up until this point as that Maryland Deathfest seems to thrive on the energy of well-timed circle-pits, and this set seemed to be overflowing with juice, as circles that I swear were at least six people deep were a common occurrence. I had never fully realized just how basic and punky a lot of ND drum patterns are, and I think I’m liking them a lot more because of it. I was hoping they’d bust out their cover of “Nazi Punks Fuck Off”, and by George, they did, and it was massive. In fact, the vitriol contained was so great they could’ve passed it off as an original and I’d have never been able to tell the difference. By the final three songs of the set I was too tired to even stand, so I spent it sitting on the gravel next to the stage, futilely attempting to peer over the shoulders of all the other watchers, but to no avail. It was, despite being so tired I nearly puked (and this was the first time of many, believe it), a phenomenal experience and I’d repeat it weekly, if not just for the exercise.
GODFLESH are a band that I’m sure I’ll never get, as I find their cold, industrial, nihilistic machinations a bit unfriendly on the ears. Yes, this is coming from someone who enjoys OXBOW and thoroughly dug TODAY IS THE DAY. I spent a little time walking in and out of the Sonar, just kind of wanting to nap, and by this time I was too tired to put up with any bands until NASUM, so I attempted to catch some Z’s to UNSANE, which failed miserably because I found them to be quite awful, honestly. If TODAY IS THE DAY were mediocre at their craft, that’s how it would come out. Not willing to stomach this atrocity, I marched outside and sat in the gutter, which was far more comfortable than the audial Judas Cradle that was UNSANE’s yelping and crashing cacophony. I also gave SETHERIAL this treatment, because no matter what era of Black Metal you are from, I absolutely must discredit you for an isolated yell of “SATAAAAAAAAN”. Couple this with silly frowny corpsepaint and the air of total thuper theriouthneth, and I was pretty sure my ragged senses could handle no more.
I somehow managed to snag a good-ish spot in the crowd for headliners NASUM, who played their 20th anniversary show at MDF despite the untimely death of their front man years ago, and bestowed the honor of filling in upon Keijo of ROTTEN SOUND, who if you’ve heard his band and NASUM, you’ll see that there just may be a slight influence. I feel like I really should’ve listened to more NASUM, having mainly exposed myself to “Helvete”. Fortunately, being a Grind band, you’ll be in luck with many songs sounding similar enough to not need to make such distinctions. Some simply have better mosh parts, some are kinda melodic, some are a bit slower and crunchier, yadda yadda yadda. Not to say that NASUM’s not worth checking out, because by all means, do, or you’re a pussy.
You may now Eskimo gas mask kiss the bride.
The picture above is from the intro to their set, which featured bomb raid sirens, artillery fire, and explosions, with me being unsure if I was looking at animatronic dolls due to their precise movements and their ability to stand absolutely still. By the time they solemnly marched offstage and the Frankenstein sample from which they derived their name came on the speakers, I put my fears to rest, and thus began a whole new breed of worries: Would I survive rabid grind fans partying as hard as possible to a legendary band’s ultimate last show? Well, since I’m writing this now, you have your answer.
Baltimore native and MISERY INDEX front man Jason helped out on vocals for a few songs, and someone whom several people believe is the front man of NAILS also came out for a bit for guest duties. My only counterpoint to this theory is that he was smiling, and the frontman of NAILS never smiles. I do have to take into account, however, the fact that he was onstage with one of his biggest influences aside from probably ENTOMBED, so there’s always that possibility.
A wild Shanelax also appeared
It was a great day, and held good omens for the rest of the weekend, aside from me being a human liquor dispenser just the previous night. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Deathfest Ball Z!
There has been a bit of controversy over the fact that there are two lineups of the English Dogs active right now, the Punk lineup that plays the early songs and the Metal lineup that plays To the Ends of the Earth and beyond material. This interview is with the Metal version of the band.
This interview with Gizz and Pinch took place in Cleveland, Ohio during a successful run across the U.S.A. with Havok, my band Toxic Holocaust and the Casualties supporting them. It started out as a normal interview and then kind of morphed into a conversation.
I wanted to start the interview off by saying that this tour has been a dream come true for me, never thinking I’d get the chance to see the English Dogs live, let alone play with you. How are you enjoying the tour so far?
Gizz: Well, Joel it’s a real pleasure to be on this tour with some really like minded people. The enthusiasm of each band member of every band has been really inspirational. It’s wonderful to be playing with these very talented guys from different genres.
That’s kind of what I like about this tour, it combines a lot of different influences together but it all seems to work. The fans coming to the shows seem to be digging all of the bands, even if they came for just one particular band they end up staying for the whole show.
Gizz: This whole tour is kind of like a circle. Havok is the most straight up Metal band of the whole tour, then you’re (Toxic Holocaust) kind of coming a bit from that angle of…um…you remind of Hellhammer a bit and Celtic Frost a bit, plus Venom and Motorhead. That’s kind of where the English Dogs come in because we kind of have that Motorhead / Metallica / GBH thing and at the end the Casualties get the GBH bit.
This is the Punk Metal tour! I can’t even remember if there ever was a true Punk Metal tour back in the day, we kind of weren’t even aware that it was happening, we were just doing it.
The scene you guys kind of helped create in the UK has been hugely influential to me with bands like Onslaught, Sacrilege etc doing the whole Metal Punk thing.
Gizz: I really enjoyed Sacrilege, the first 12”. I used to listen that a lot. There was a band from the states called Excel that I used to like a lot too. That’s how this whole scene kind of started, just through underground tape trading. But I think in the case of Sacrilege, as you probably know they went step too far with the Metal thing. That’s kinda when they seemed to have disappeared.
Yeah that’s funny you say that, we did a tour with Napalm Death and I asked those guys if they know what happened to Sacrilege’s singer Tam and they had no info about her. It’s weird in this day and age to not be able to find any info on someone.
Gizz: Yeah it’s like she just fell off the face of the Earth.
Since this tour is going well, do you have any plans to do more touring or doing a new record?
Gizz: We are talking about all of those things. When the tour was first talked about it was gonna be just this one thing, but then we realized how much we liked it. So now we are talking about doing some fresh writing. I’ve been working on some riffs, I’ve been pulling out some old tapes and we’ve been talking about how we want the style of the writing to be. We definitely want to tour the states again.
There has been a lot of bands that I’ve seen that have reformed and its been pretty lackluster for the most part. But this is kinda what I imagined seeing you guys in the 80′s would have been like.
Gizz: It helps because of things like Youtube, I saw some old footage of us like the one with us at the Olympic Auditorium and I was throwing myself all around with this big blonde mop and I thought “fucking hell…this is what I’ve got to do again”. My initial thoughts were that this might be my one only time to get this lucky break, this tour is a gift to me.
When the thought of reforming came up were you already in contact with Adie and Pinch or did you have to search them out?
Gizz: It was thanks to Facebook really. Facebook has brought everything together. Because Pinch is in the Damned it was kinda hard getting a hold of him because he’s been busy. I had to wait till the Damned toured England and I saw him at the gig and we made a date to meet up. Then Facebook came along and I found Adie. We all talked about the logistics of doing it and then we decided to go for it.
(Pinch walks in “What Kind of shit is this guy giving you?!)
Ok, You guys knew I was going to ask, Is there any bad blood between the two different versions of the English Dogs?
Pinch: There’s bad blood that has been created by their side. Its really unfortunate. I was never aksed to do the lineup that Wakey is doing. It was just presumed that I was too busy because I was with the Damned. Wakey did it with pretty much the original lineup but because Wakey is Wakey, he’s one of the worlds great eccentrics in good and bad ways. His bad ways are really horrible and he can be a nasty person. At heart he is a hilarious fucking genius natural lunatic. He was my best man at my wedding. He’s a really great guy, but when he gets a bee in his bonnet about something he’s a really nasty bastard. It’s just unfortunate because it’s like they feel that we are stepping on their toes of something they’ve created when the reality of it is they play ten shows a year and I don’t feel that quality of the band that he’s got now is worthy of the English Dogs name whereas I know that quality of this line up is fucking worthy of the name.
Gizz: Pinch started the fucking band.
Pinch: Yeah, I asked Wakey to join. It was my fucking thing. And if you look at the discography we always were kind of two bands. There was the Wakey era then when we recruited Gizz and Adie we became something else but because we still had John Murray it still was the English Dogs. I think to the Ends of the Earth really captured what we were after with out it going to far in one direction or another. I think if we do stuff in the future I think that’s the direction that we are going to be aiming in. Keep it available to both Punks and Metal fans.
Yeah, I know when we do tours with Toxic we get a pretty even amount of Punks and Metal heads at the shows even though most people just consider us a Thrash Metal band.
Pinch: See I don’t see it that way, I see a lot of Discharge influence with you guys and a lot of hardcore punk, I don’t really see a huge amount of the Metal in your stuff.
What were some bands or records that you guys first got into that made you want to start a band?
Pinch: Well it was kind of the opposite effect for me. There was this initial blast of punk in 1977 and the by 1979 and 1980 it seemed like it had already run it’s course. We were doing these bus trips packing like 50 punks in and going to see bands like Stiff Little Fingers and the Stranglers and I felt like it needs to be more than this. It seemed like it had already turned into a cabaret side show where the pioneers had laid the path and no one had really followed the path. Everyone started wanting to be faster, louder and dirtier and you weren’t getting it. You were getting like finely crafted pop songs with a punk tinge and the music was just so bad so that’s what inspired me to do something. Then of course bands like Discharge and GBH came along. That was my first ever gig, seeing those two bands together. It changed my life.
Gizz: I really like Bad Brains “Green Tape”. Like Pinch was saying, a lot of the Punk stuff was very controlled but when that came along that was like letting go. It was like there was no barriers.
Pinch: I mean GBH is basically like a stripped down Motorhead. They took Motorhead’s no frills approach and stripped it down even further.
Why are there so many different versions of the cover artwork for Forward into Battle? I have a German one, and Italian one and the U.S. one and they all have different artwork.
Pinch: The original cover art came about kinda like our songs came about. I was doing tons of acid, we were all doing loads of drugs all the time. I was into fantasy art and shit like that. I was reading this book from the library of fantasy artist and there was this Boris Vallejo picture in the that just really stood out to me. “That would make a great record cover”, so I just sliced the pages out. It was a two page piece, sliced it out and stuck em together with tape and sent it to the record company. On the album you can actually see the join in the middle of the two pieces. I think all the different versions are because of the slimy bastard who put that record out licensed it around the world with out letting us know, without giving us any money for it, just did it and I think they felt they had to do a different cover design either because its a Boris Vallejo design and they thought they would get sued or they though they could get out of paying us like its a different album. No, its our fucking album! It might be a different cover but that’s still our songs on that record.
Well, that’s pretty much all I have, is there anything you’d like to add or like to plug?
Gizz: Go to our Facebook page and stay in touch. It’s easy nowadays.
Pinch: If you are a fan of us and have one of our records tell people about us and play it for them or rip em a CD. I’m all about giving the music away. I’m pretty sure if we do a new record we will just give it away for free as a download.
Utilitarian is one hell of a album. From the extra heavy and doom-ish intro “Circumspect” to the insane and random noises inserted in the song “Random Pox,” they bring genuine, authentic grindcore to people who are so bent on the next breakdown it’s pathetic. “Circumspect” is something that Napalm Death has never done before and must be experienced through surround sound.
But that ends when they through you in the grind pit with “Errors In The Signals.” Insane riffs and spastic guitars are rounded off with the intense drumming that Danny Herrera brings to the table. It’s perhaps the most retro ND track on the album as it has a lot of the same influences that classic albums like Scum had. It’s refreshing to know that these guys can still make the same kind of music and not run out of new directions to bend and twist the grindcore genre to their liking.
Best song on the album goes to “Protection Racket.” Probably the most sinister sounding song on the album, it reflects grindcore with an infusion of d-punk that makes a somewhat more straight forward song structure. Of course, it’s about as straight forward as Napalm Death can get. It has that raw and gritty old school punk sound with more new school punk bass and grindcore guitars. Could this be considered G-Punk? With more of the growling vocals as opposed to the shrieking vocals, it brings forth pure mayhem that are followed by the chaotic drums later in the track.
This record is chock full of some of Napalm Death’s finest songs ever. Easily one of their best albums to date, you would be a fool to miss out on this.
Canadian grinders Fuck the Facts have one of those encyclopedic discographies; one which is chock full of split, EPs and compilation releases with countless contemporaries…never mind the fact that the quintet also has eight prior full lengths to their credit.
Die Miserable is more of the same sort of spastic madness we’ve come to expect from the group; a jagged, visceral exercise which exorcises its demons via a relentless riff onslaught. Speaking of ‘exorcising,’ frontman Mel Mongeon comes through once again on this album, sounding frantically possessed and off-her-rocker pissed. Screams, howls and gutteral growling all erupt from Ms. Mongeon’s larynx with all the restraint of a rabid wildebeest, while her bandmates proceed to torture their instruments through eight gnarly tunes of death.
“Lifeless” serves as a big time highlight here, opening up with a priceless and brutal opening riff barrage, before degenerating into blastbeat madness. This is par for the course with Die Miserable; the album doesn’t really let go for a second, digging its fingers deep beneath the listener’s skin and pulling out all kinds of nastiness. If you want subtlety, look elsewhere, for Fuck the Facts are here to chew bubblegum and kick ass…and they’re all out of bubblegum.
Already home to a MINISTRY reunion show, WACKEN OPEN AIR will be another amazing showcase of metal in 2012. AMON AMARTH, CRADLE OF FILTH, DIMMU BORGIR, HENRY ROLLINS, NAPALM DEATH, SCORPIONS and WATAIN (amongst others) have already been confirmed for the fest and now another favorite of mine have been added to the bill. Touring heavily in support of their newest ‘Unto The Locust’ (out this week), MACHINE HEAD will take the stage at WACKEN 2012 and is sure to be one of the coolest sets of the night.
Are you going to spend your vacation in Germany in 2012!? Have you been to Wacken before?
When it comes to grindcore, taste can be very specific.
While bands like Nasum changed the face of the genre pioneered by bands like Napalm Death and Carcass by tightening the arrangements to lock-tight precision, Brutal Truth decided to deconstruct grind via their own, chaotic style in the early 90s, starting off their career with the comparatively more death metal focused Need to Control and Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses.
While grind forebears like Napalm continue to redefine the parameters of their music with mindblowing results, the noise of Brutal Truth seems to have actually devolved over the years, becoming more incohesive and indistinguishable from the legions of power-violence bands drenching their work in feedback and bad ideas. While End Time features a number of tight-as-hell blowers-”Swift and Violent,” “Old World Order,” “Crawling Man Blues” and “Small Talk,” to name a few-it’s when the band meanders into grating, indulgent discordance that the real reason for being here as a listener seems to drift away and vanish.
This is nothing new, really. Brutal Truth have been shifting creative gears since right around 1996′s Kill Trend Suicide full length, admirably attempting to challenge themselves and their audience via their increasingly deconstructed grind, only to really lose the plot, in the end. One would be hard pressed to find a bulk of memorable songwriting buried beneath the avalanche of spastic guitar mangling and drum whack-a-mole so prevalent here on End Time.
While some will probably argue this being the inherent point of it all-and they’re probably right; I doubt anyone in Brutal Truth gives a good goddamn about ‘traditional songwriting’-the end of the day verdict equates to End Time simply not being a very fun listen.
It certainly appears so! I read an interview that bassist Shane Embury did with the Deciblog where he shared some interesting points. One such point is that the new NAPALM DEATH record is “pretty much done” and that the band hopes to have it out before the end of the year — although there hasn’t been any official announcement from Century Media yet on whether or not that will happen. Another impressive note is that both Mitch Harris (guitars) and vocalist Barney Greenway are contributing vocals to the effort. Check out this quote and get stoked:
“Mitch has written a couple and has done vocals on a couple of songs; Mitch and Barney doing verses/choruses, and it’s pretty interesting because it’s got this kind of old-school Cryptic Slaughter vibe to it.”
That one sentence has completely intrigued me. NAPALM DEATH mixed with a CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER vibe has to be one of the most exciting ideas I’ve heard in a while and so I will wait, as I’m sure most of you will, with bated breath to hear more info on what is sure to be one of the most skull shattering albums of the year (if it makes it out this year).
Extreme Noise Terror-Holocaust In Your Head (Candlelight)
Originally released fresh for ’89, Holocaust In Your Head served as one of the blueprints for U.K. crusty grind, dueling it out with Brummie bashers Napalm Death for Britain’s most extreme brand of noise.
While Extreme Noise Terror are equally sloppy as early Napalm in terms of chaotic aggro, their Holocaust attack has probably served as more of an influence to legions of punk rockers than your average, everyday death metal fan who digs on The ‘Death. Still, the end results here still sound as pissed ‘n proud as it did so many years ago, blurring the lines between extreme crust and thrashy grind with the greatest of ease.
What’s impressive about Holocaust is how Extreme Noise Terror keeps the energy level up the entire way through, effortless darting back and forth between blast and D-beats while the dual vocals of Dean Jones and the departed Phil Vane bully the listener into punishing submission. Candlelight hasn’t done much to clean up this album’s raw production, either, with all of the Holocaust grime and filth set on display for all to hear and appreciate once again in 2011.
Grinders, punks and crusties alike: now’s the time to put your little grubby mitts on Holocaust In Your Head if you haven’t done so yet: a true testament for classic, late 80s U.K. grind.
I’m not a very superstitious guy in life. However, sometimes signs jump out at you and glare in your direction until you notice them. After a few listens of the new EP from Brazil’s DESALMADO, I sat down to type this review and a funny thing happened. Out of nowhere my laptop, recently out of the repair shop started typing out a series of repeated numbers all on its own. All the numbers were strings of 666. Over and over again. 666. I shit you not! I’m not sure if my laptop is possessed or not, but one thing I do know is grindcore in Portuguese is muito surpreendente! Formerly known as EL FUEGO, the band is nearly finished with their full length opus produced by SEPULTURA drummer Jean Dolabella. In the meantime we have the Hereditas EP to tide us over until then.
Furious, fast and undeniably vibrant sounding, the band blends grindcore, hardcore and thrash styles to craft an expert slab of metal. Even in just under fourteen minutes you can hear the high quality of the songwriting and playing in the group. Lead track “Condenados Pelo Odio” sounds like old-school SEPULTURA to begin with after a thunderous opening. However, quickly it drops into a breakneck thrash/grindcore tempo that nearly reminds me of early KRISIUN. Fast and brutal is the way to go and for this and clearly shows the band has listened to a lot of NAPALM DEATH and KILL THE CLIENT growing up. The ending groove is just massive and killer. Second track “Em Sua Honra” just a short blistering jab in the eye musically. A wake up call with sick guitars and crazy vocals by front man Carlo Augusttas. His growling scream calls to mind Kevin Sharpe (BRUTAL TRUTH/VENOMOUS CONCEPT/PRIMATE) and is terrific. “Miseria Escravatura” is another quick burner chock full of great riffs and histrionic tempos. I fear someone is gonna hurt themselves trying to head bang and keep up with the power and speed of these songs. Moving a notch beyond the typical sounds found in most of the genre, DESMALDO is not afraid to change it up and show their other influences too. Drummer Ricardo Nutzmann definitely has a bit of the old Igor Cavalera tribalism in his stick work and you couldn’t fault the guy for being impacted such a legendary drummer from his country’s most important band. “Chagas Avertas” bashes and slashes away with razor wire riffage. Guitarists Estevam Romera and Bruno Texieira have good tones and can do more than just pedal a basic riff. These guys can really play whether it is thrash, punk or even a touch of death in their style. Bassist Maria Piti has a really sweet tone, albeit it is buried too much in the mix like most grindcore. The best track here is “Manto de Sangue” which means “cloak of blood”. The track is just vicious sounding and the guitars sound like hot saw-blades in action. The final song “Hereditas” is yet another harsh one. This band gives me a lot of hope and I’m really looking forward to their full length album later this year.
