Oh shit, look out, because this vegan/vegetarian straightedge act out of Brazil is back with their debut full-length of menacing metalcore, and these jams offer a much tighter and more furious approach than their past efforts! Their style is still an intense attack focusing very much on a metallic sound, with lots of chugging picking patterns and thick power chord breakdowns in the spirit of most of the 90's styled European bands, and the vocals are strained shouts that get a little bit more of a bitter edge at times. And fuck, they have a song called "Straightedge Revenge" and it's not a Project X cover, so take that to the fuckin' bank! Seriously, this is crushing material, the songwriting is definitely much more fired up than their past work. I really like the feel of the drum performance, the breakdowns are solid and often build back up with a lot of power, etc. The tremolo picking doesn't have a melodic Swedish thing happening either, so don't expect that style of playing, this is coming from a different angle and there's really not much melody here at all, what melody exists is pretty restrained. The recording is strong, too. There's definitely a warm sort of dirtiness in there keeping everything really close together in the mix, but I like that, and there's not much I would change. The guitar tone is really heavy and has a little dryness to it, the drums aren't too polished and they get a good snap to the snare, the bass is there and you can hear it becoming more prominent in certain areas, and the vocals fall right in line with the music. Good stuff, definitely keeping a little bit of a rawness intact while improving the tightness factor over their past work. The jewel case comes in a slip sleeve and all of the imagery contains lots of bold X's with spattered blood, guns, and knives, as well as some live photos and the lyrics. A separate booklet is included inside with Portuguese translations of the content. The lyrics deal almost exclusively with straightedge in the most blatant way, something you don't see too often anymore. "Rejecting your poisons, I walk with my head held high, Without spreading this idea of self-destruction, Sober, I become more aware, Aware, I become stronger, To fight against corporations that manipulate addiction..." Some of the other songs take a more socio-political stance, and this band is definitely sincere, there's a real message to even their most aggressive straightedge diatribes, so people should look at the big picture rather than making snap judgments about what they're saying. I'm definitely pleased with this disc. It's awesome to hear the band exploding right from the start with so much vitriol, there's no beating around the bush here. I certainly hope to start seeing this band get more attention here in the US, as well as in other countries outside of Brazil. Older fans of the metallic side of the straightedge scene like myself should totally look into this one...
[Liberation]
Running time - 26:49, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Straightedge Revenge, I Pray to Watch You Bleed, The Cross]
Liberation Records - http://www.xliberationx.com
