This split LP pairs up two Brazilian bands for just over 20 minutes of hardcore fury. Morte Asceta takes side A with nine tracks of dissonant hardcore/punk with a pretty unique kind of sound to it. Sometimes the screaming vocals and twisted riffing has an early-80's US hardcore vibe to it sort of like Black Flag or something, but beyond those brief snippets things are generally darker and more modern sounding, but not in a generic way. Sure, there are definitely a lot of tangible chord progressions that follow standard tempo changes from faster and more driving to more of a breakdown pace, but something about the over the top nature of the vocals (they're totally indecipherable) and the constant level of subtle discordance to the guitar parts really adds a nice touch. "Paran?ia e Cale a Boca" even has a little bit of a crust sort of feel to it, throwing in some noisy little leads with a strange rock influence, which stands out from the other tracks. "Servicinho" and "Em Defesa do Coleguismo" are among the harder-hitting and more memorable pieces, with "Pergunta Ret?rica" closing on an energetic note with some rocked out rhythm playing that leaves you wanting a little more. They've got a nice recording as well. It's a little noisy and the bass doesn't have enough definition, but it's loud and has a good level of density, with the rawness adding a nice sense of aggression, so I like the sound a lot in large part. All of their lyrics are in Portuguese, but the artwork is suggestive of what I would assume are some socio-political topics, but with a sense of humor, so maybe there's some bitter sarcasm in there as well. D.E.R. follows on side B with eight tracks of blistering hardcore/punk that truly hits on a ton of grindcore to boot. Gruff low vocal shouts contrasted by sneering screams, blasting percussion and fast chord progressions, brief sets of lyrics and succinct vocal patterns barked over repetitive song structures, basic tempo changes from high speed picking to burly breakdowns (check out "Crimes"), etc. For the most part their side of the record is pretty consistent from song to song, so there's not too much variety to speak of. Once more the lyrics are in Portuguese, but again I assume from the musical style and artwork that a bleak socio-political commentary is involved, with D.E.R.'s visuals taking more of the typical high contrast road, using darker and more serious content throughout. The LP itself is housed in a full color sleeve with one side of artwork per band, and the high quality black and white booklet is also divided in half for each band to have space for lyrics and visuals. Not bad at all. I tend to be a fan of Brazilian hardcore and both of these bands offer up some nice tunes here. I'd be curious to hear more from each to get a better feel for their sounds, but this is a nice pairing between two bands that sound very different from one another... even though they're likely drawing from similar influences in the grand scheme of things.
[Cospe Fogo/Pec?lio]
Running time - 21:00 (approximately), Tracks: 17
[Notable tracks: Servicinho, Em Defesa do Coleguismo, Pergunta Ret?rica, Crimes, Tolo Regresso, Postura]
Cospe Fogo Grava??es - http://www.cospefogo.com
