This S?o Paulo grindcore act blows through 13 tracks in 22 minutes with a dual vocal attack, plenty of speed, memorable breakdowns, and tons of classic grindcore influences that really hit the spot with me. The vocals are all over the place from high-pitched and midrange screams to low growls and spoken passages, and the music ranges from blistering tempos to midpaced death metal riffing or breaks that are more reminiscent of hardcore/punk, so things are definitely not stagnant. "Estrela" is one of the only songs that clocks in at more than a couple of minutes. There's some much slower and more dissonant riffing involved with a great semi melodic intro, forceful drumming, tight dual guitar interaction, a brief clean passage, excellent uses of spoken vocals, etc. "Doen?a" even throws in some programmed percussion out of nowhere, while "A Dan?a" consists largely of a disturbing sample from the movie "Happiness" over some twisted feedback before things fully kick in and blast away for about 30 seconds towards the end. "Festra Num Carra em Alta Velocidade" drops some crazy Slayer-esque dual guitar harmonies amidst a slew of other changes that almost make you feel like you're listening to more than one song, and "Deja-Vu" is a bit slower with a lot of quirky riffing and a great outro with some killer drum work. The recording is really good. The guitars are heavy with a little bit of ruggedness, the drums sound awesome, the vocals are perfectly mixed, and the bass is well defined. I think I'd like to hear more low-end to the bass tone, but other than that it sounds great for what they're doing. The layout is all in black and white with some very cool illustrations and an enormous booklet that's slammed with text. Lyrics, relevant quotes, song explanations, etc. Everything is in Portuguese, but thankfully there is a small xeroxed booklet inside that includes English translations of the lyrics and explanations. This might lead one to believe that the content of the songs is of a political nature, but despite a few minor hints, it's mostly cryptically personal material. "I am an ill man who found the most beautiful happiness in tornadoes of melancholy, I am an ill man whom among so many gifts dared to win the despair, and cultivates it with such a care, with such a handful of love, that my colorless universe earns sweetness, parfum, and beauty, And in the silt where my dream crawls, I keep on searching the craziness, And thanks to this search nowadays I am an ill man." L?j? Records definitely seems to be a consistently solid label, and this is another release from their catalog that's worth looking into.
[L?j?]
Running time - 22:04, Tracks: 13
[Notable tracks: Gl?ria & Guerra, Estrela, A Dan?a, Deja-Vu]
L?j? Records - http://www.laja.com.br
