26 tracks from 10 Brazilian hardcore/punk bands in less than 50 minutes. Starting off is Rotten Flies, who'd be sweet were it not for a really weak recording that places the vocals way out in front of the music, which is dominated by drums while guitars and bass fall to the wayside. But their style is generally fast crossover hardcore/thrash with a lot of energy, fast vocal patterns, and raging basslines. With a better mix this band would be so good. "Ultra Mega Radical II" is a killer song. Overlife Inc. is up next with three tracks of fast melodic hardcore/punk that here sort of reminds me of a heavier version of Pennywise or something. The songs are short but packed with solid riffs and speedy vocal arrangements, and they never let up on the melody. They could use a clearer sound, but the mix is fairly even, so I can deal with it. Very cool. Massa Cr?tica drops two tracks of heavy hardcore with some rocked out leads that suggest a little bit of a crust punk type of influence, but barely. They don't stand out so much, but they're not bad either. Food4Life performs two tracks of heavy pop punk that sounds not unlike a lot of the old Fat Wreck stuff (early Lagwagon, NOFX, etc.) and I really like that style. Their recording is sort of muddy, and the singing is really plain, but with a bit more power behind the singing they'd be really cool. In fact, if the singing was catchier I'd be all over this shit, because I love the music. Next is Uz?mi with two tracks of metallic hardcore based around power chords and some more modern sounding harmonic riffs and stuff with a lot of vocal layering. It's a little boring, I must say. Although the thrash riffs in the aptly titled "Thrash" are pretty cool. C?mbio Negro HC offers three tracks of raw punk with sick vocal shouts and a killer bass presence. Their playing is heavier than their sound, which can be a little bit strange, but they have definite potential. More straight up hardcore comes from Gritos do Sub?rbio. There's a little bit of an old school hardcore vibe since it's straight chord progression with minor hints of melody, but it doesn't feel as generic to me for some reason. Not too shabby. No Snacks plays melodic hardcore/punk, but I really dislike the singer's voice as it just doesn't fit the music. It sounds off key and sort of forced. Their recording is also way too thin and rugged to work. The nicely defined bass is cool, but the guitars and everything are way too dry. I can spot promise here (namely in "Real Inten??o"), but they need a lot of work. Revel's two tracks are heavy hardcore/punk with an interesting blend of crushing mosh parts and chord progressions that sometimes sound more like the crustier side of the spectrum. Very cool. Closing things out is Tijolo Seis Furos with the three harshest tracks of the entire disc. Totally raw punk with distorted vocals and a weird mix that's almost balanced, but seems to be driven by drums, bass, and vocals for the most part. The layout's not bad. It's simple. The cover has a matador being impaled through the ass by a bull (Ouch!) and inside is the tracklist along with a photo, band logo, and contact information for each group on the compilation. Simple yet effective. This is a nice sampling of a bunch of different Brazilian bands, only one of whom I had heard before. I think that as a whole the collection suffers from all of the bands having less than stellar recordings, but the songs tend to stand on their own, and I'd be into hearing more from several of these bands.
[Pec?lio]
Running time - 48:34, Tracks: 26
[Notable tracks: Rotten Flies, Overlife Inc., Food4Life, Revel]
Pec?lio Discos - http://www.peculiodiscos.com.br
