Reviews 2001

2001 - 2005

More to be added soon

Another amazing total Black Thrash offering! This lethal piece breathes the eighties’ air in a most outspoken way! All the lyrics are in Portuguese and they deal exclusively on Hell, demons, skulls and Metal!! Killer! Listening to this reminds me of masterpieces like Possessed’s ‘Seven Churches’. Lead guitarist Blasphemor is none other than Tó Pica of Sacred Sin fame.

AMPHION – ‘The Curse’
Promo CD, self-released 2001

Excisia | As The Cold Winter Touch Sings | The Crow of my Sun

Amphion are a young band, which excuses some unoriginality in their sound; they sometimes remind me a bit of bands like Emperor or Dissection perhaps. But the songs are well played, fast and aggressive, and their clear commitment and effort is laudable, mainly because the result is quite good! The sound quality is ok; the sound is clean and nice, but it lacks some power. Very acceptable for a first demo, but Amphion’s style demands a great production which future releases should not neglect. Thumbs up! I’m looking forward to hear more!

This CD was a bit of a surprise because I had never heard about this band before and this is actually surprisingly good! Azagatel play a sort of modern Black Metal, with a lot of melody and keyboard parts together with very fast and heavy parts. They play well, the vocalist is really good, the sound quality is also very good, and I can’t help but to think that the amateurish cover, photos, and general presentation are misleading as to the quality of this CD. Not everything is perfect, sometimes I think they overdo the keyboards a bit and that the production needs some extra punch (because this kind of music requires a very powerful sound), but all complaints are really very minor in the face of a virtually unknown band having such great material nevertheless!
The CD’s concept is focused mainly on the water and the oceans (and also elves and Tolkien) and it also includes a great cover of Tormentor’s ‘Elizabeth Bathory’. Finally I have to mention that the lyrics to the opening track are all adapted from Bathory’s ‘Hammerheart’ album for some reason.

Corpus Christii show in this CD not only an interesting evolution in their sound but also a novel and well-achieved approach: a division of the CD in sections (with two songs in each) dedicated in order to the present of the band, the past of extreme Metal (with covers of Kreator and Darkthrone), the past of the band (re-recorded songs), the past of the Portuguese scene (covers of Celtic Dance and Decayed), and the future of the band. Some guest musicians are present, namely Ainvar (Storm Legion), Conqueror (Celtic Dance) and JA (Decayed). A very good release with lots of brutality and musical variety.

Here we have a new stage in Corpus Christii’s sound. This was originally released as LP by Hiberica and Nightmare Productions featuring a bonus track (‘Me, The Hanged One’) and a drum machine. This CD edition features real drums by Necromorbus of Funeral Mist (as the tape edition by Total Holocaust Records).
The band has decreased their ultra-speed a bit and the real drummer addition is a good move in my opinion. This CD is actually pretty good, with a good production and strong Black metal songs. Its only fault is that whereas in the past Corpus Christii may have had some originality and an own sound, this sounds so much like DarkThrone as to be nearly hard to believe,
particularly the first few songs.

This is a really awesome release!! On this CD Decayed manage to play extremely fast and crushing Black Metal with a number of elements taken straight from the eighties. Beginning with the devastating ‘Black Metal Onslaught’, the CD goes on along several similarly killer tracks intermingled with short synth pieces, a Possessed cover and other cool musical items such as the slower ‘Na 13.ª Lua Cheia’, sung in Portuguese, or the atmospheric ‘Through Endless Forest’. As for the usual bonus songs, we have a large batch of cover versions (from the eighties, of course!) and a couple of outros.

This is a live CD (with some extra studio tracks) with the gig in which Decayed commemorated their tenth birthday in 2000. A very nice digipak edition with a biography of the band and lots of photos as usual. The gig itself is great, with a very violent sound that perfectly fits the devastation that Decayed always was live, and it delivers an assault of classics from the several stages of Decayed’s history. This CD is a real treat to all fans of killer Black Metal, and sadly it is also a good way to remember what a Decayed gig used to be like, since they haven’t played live for years at the time of writing and even if they did their charismatic vocalist JM (whose characteristic blasphemies can here be heard between the songs) has left the band.
The CD finishes with the three songs from their split 7”EP with Corpus Christii (‘Decadentia Christii’) and with a different version of the song ‘Necromancy’ from their ‘French Attack’ CD-R.
The legacy of a time in Portuguese Black Metal!

DECAYED / ABIGAIL (Jap) – ‘The Bulldozer Armageddon vol. II’
7”EP, Warlord Records 2001, hand-numbered, 500 copies

Side A (Decayed): Ride Hard – Die Fast
Side B (Abigail): Ilona the very best

This is a split 7”EP in homage to the Italian 80’s Metal gods Bulldozer. Decayed play a great cover and so do Abigail from Japan. True eighties spirit!
I don’t know whether all copies have mine’s problem, but the vinyl labels are switched, so unless you know better you may be misled to think that Decayed’s side is Abigail’s and vice versa.

DECAYED - ‘Hymns to Satan’
7”EP, Iron Bonehead 2002, hand-numbered, 500 copies, includes lyrics

Side A: Born the Antichrist
Side B: Hymn to Satan | The Curse

This is great stuff! Side A features a song in which Decayed are slower than usual for the most part, but near the end they speed things up a lot. The other side contains two great songs Decayed style. The longest is an instrumental (except for the title uttered somewhere in it).

Decayed in great shape!! One of their best works in my opinion! Very good songs, with different paces but all with the blasphemic brutality of Decayed’s music, from the frantic ‘Desecrating Massacre’ to the eightieslike anthem ‘Open the Gates of Hell’ (totally killer song!). A brilliant farewell to JM who left the band after this one. There are, besides, many guests on this CD, such as Hugo of The Sorcerer, Nocturnus of Corpus Christii, Conqueror of Celtic Dance, etc., mainly in one of the extras (now usual in Decayed’s CDs) - this one being a cover of Motörhead’s ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’. There is also a weird 23m23s long track with a poem uttered in Portuguese to a slow keyboard background and, closing, a short and hellish track.

DISHARMONY’S DEN – ‘Uproaring Torment’
CD-R (8cm), self-released 2003, 21m07s

Alast... I Awaken | And Still... Its Corpse Kept On Shivering | Torn Inside Out

This demo features 3 tracks of a quite good and technical Black Metal. The band manages to create sound that is not really like any other thing I have heard. The excellent bass work is carried out by Helder Malícia of The Firstborn. There is also a particular effect they call the synth guitar and which in my opinion would be more effective were it not used all of the time. It’s one of the elements that sets the sound of the band apart, but I do think they overdo it a bit. The demo ends with a long and bizarre atmospheric piece
(and a cenobyte remark).

FILII NIGRANTIUM INFERNALIUM - 'A Queda'
Picture 7"EP, Tenser Productions 2002, hand-numbered, 525 copies, lyrics included (inverted!)

Side 1 - Moïra
Side 2 - Puta Infernal

Filii Nigrantium Infernalium are back, and they never sounded this good! This EP, which I believe to be the first picture EP in the Portuguese scene, manages to ally brutal Black Metal with a further enhancement of the Heavy Metal influences the band was beginning to cultivate by the time 'A Era do Abutre' was released (the second song takes this almost into the field of a Black
Rock 'n' Roll), with very original and surprising results. Belathauzer's vocals are as unique and dark as always, but there is a lot of new things happening around them, including maniac riffing and nearly psychedelic guitars, together with backing vocals (and bass playing) by Tormentor (otherwise known as JM from his Decayed times or Tann of Ironsword). 'Puta Infernal' also features a solo by a special guest: Ricardo Amorim from Moonspell. The drumming is also frantic, and partakes of the very harsh edge to the EP's production which perfectly suits the music. A top comeback!

Make way for the big boys! This one caught everyone by the throat!
Finally the debut full length CD of Filii Nigrantium Infernalium is released, and by none other than Pro-Con, who already had offered us the latest by The Firstborn and that thus seem to be betting on releasing the highest quality bands in Portuguese extreme Metal.
The Black Metal scene is growing strong in Portugal, but I don't think there is currently any other band releasing anything comparable to 'Fellatrix Discordia Pantokrator' - the production and technique are really very strong, and the Black feeling is mixed together with old eighties Thrash and Heavy Metal. Filii used to enjoy a cult status due to historical reasons; now we must add to that the fact that they have released one of the top Metal albums ever to come from this country. Magnificent!

This is pretty much a new recording of the songs in Hoth's demo 'Odes To My Black Goddess'. Very obscure-sounding music, slow and with lots of keyboards. The vocals are also very dragged and distorted. The sound quality is good but rough. There are some nice melodic moments with guitars without distortion such as in 'Celebration of Isis' and also times when the music picks up some speed, such as in 'Nail the Nazarene' or 'The Dragon Lords' (a great track by the way!). But overall this could be defined as a sort of Black Doom Metal, heavy and dark!

Considering this is the debut demo of a young band from the north of the country, I must in all honesty say it is really great! I was really surprised and impressed by this!! The style is a fast and aggressive Black Metal that manages to blend the raw approach with complex songwriting and skilful playing. I particularly enjoy the drumming, but everything is competent and the production is also very good. The vocalist, who follows the Norwegian line quite a bit, is all the more remarkable because besides being fine she is also a woman! This was another good surprise because, to my recollection or knowledge, Portuguese Black Metal hasn’t seen one female vocalist since Stregoyck (who was coincidentally also from Porto), a long time ago.
This is a strong demo I definitely recommend, a solid release that leaves me waiting for future works with anticipation. Well done!

With an intro reminiscent of old school Brazilian Black Metal, this demo goes on to a surprising set of primitive, fast and brutal songs. This is a bedroom demo, of the style now so profuse in Black Metal; a one-man band by a guy who connects his guitar to his computer and does a demo. It is also quite frankly very good! Probably the most interesting work of its sort I ever heard (and I heard a few!). The sound is somewhat typical Black Metal, and the Scandinavian influence is strongest in the vocals. But instead of the wall of utter noise and rehashed crap riffs we have competently programmed drumming and nifty guitar work. Very cool stuff! I’m looking forward to more!

Inner Helvete play a very brutal Black Metal reminiscent of bands such as Beherit, Sarcófago or Blasphemy. The vocals are guttural and completely undecipherable. The voice, such as all the rest, is extremely distorted and bestial. The guitars remind me of circular saws grinding carcasses. The songs are interspersed with several intros of hellish ambiance and blasphemic imprecations. The lyrics are grotesquely immoral. At the same time they manage to have something to offer and not be just a crappy noisy Darkthrone imitator. They owe more to the Brazilian scene (and to Beherit) than to any Scandinavian band. And they are certainly one of the most interesting extreme Black Metal bands to have emerged from the Portuguese scene.

‘Lusitânia Dark Horde
– Requiems to the Rebirth of Unholy Black Metal’
CD, Nightmare Productions 2003, 65m28s, 500 copies

Storm Legion – Imperium | Acceptus Noctifer - Mighty Winter Hordes | Lux Ferre - The Light Of Darkness | Flagellum Dei - Unholy Terror Slaughter | Decayed – Shoghots | Raptus - Morte Libertadora | Thy Black Blood - Darkness Shall Be My Eternity | InThyFlesh - Despisingly Shooting Outsiders | Onirik - The Proud Of The Apocalypse | Morte Incandescente - Noite Das Chamas | Flamma Aeterna - In Battle With The Angels | Coldness - Essence Of Agony | Inner Helvete - Total Holocaust In The Kingdom Of The Eternal Lie - Part II (Devastate... Rape... Obliterate!!!) | Irae - Nocturnal Ceremony | Corpus Christii - Guerra Lusitana

Long after ‘Southern Assault Vol. 1’ a new Portuguese Black Metal compilation CD sees the light of day (or perhaps the darkness of night). Featuring only exclusive tracks never meant to be re-released, it purports to be a symbol of the union of an elite within the Portuguese Black Metal scene. And indeed this ends up being far more a gathering of a specific (and rather incestuous, since they often share members) group of Portuguese Black Metal bands than a demonstration of what the Portuguese BM scene currently is in its wider scope.
Now a succinct opinion about each band’s song:
Storm Legion: a slow and heavy song sung in Portuguese with a nice underlying melody. Norwegian school, but slower than usual. Acceptus Noctifer: a basic, very fast and noisy song with poor sound quality. Lux Ferre: very aggressive and fast song. This band is among the most interesting of the younger bands of the Portuguese scene. Flagellum Dei: a song that not being very complex earns marks for having some oldschool variations here and there. Would have profited from a better sound quality. Decayed: a brutal song in the vein of what Decayed have been doing. The sound is a bit too muffled for my taste, and the vocals are a bit weird, with heavy effects. I’d personally prefer they try to find a vocalist more akin to the style of the departed JM, but granted, vocalists like him are not easy to replace at all. Raptus: a bit in the style of the noisiest Darkthrone. Poor sound quality. Thy Black Blood: generally speaking, more noisy Darkthrone. Poor sound quality. InThyFlesh: a good composition effort, but once again the sound quality could be better. Onirik: more noisy Darkthrone very basic and with a very poor sound quality. The drums are only vaguely heard. A rather atmospheric piece. Morte Incandescente: medium paced, somewhat basic song sung in Portuguese. Flamma Aeterna: Hyperspeed Black Metal. One of the tracks I most liked in this compilation. Coldness: a poorly recorded midtempo song, very raw. Inner Helvete: another hyperspeed band, and also an interesting one, mainly because it shows an effort towards personality. The vocals are very guttural, not typical for Black Metal. Irae: noisy Norwegian school, very poor sound quality. Corpus Christii:
a very fast and aggressive track, a bit muffled but with an interesting structure and keyboard parts etc.
This CD is an interesting portrayal of a part of the Portuguese Black scene, with not many bands treading paths of any discernible originality and somewhat hampered by a general bad sound. Of course, many of the most hardened fans of this particular faction of BM wouldn’t have it any other way, so for them this is certainly appropriate.

PESSONHA - 'Musica do Demo E.P.'
Demo CD, Pirate Records 2003, 15m15s, lyrics included

(Introdução) Boca do Inferno | A Autópsia de Cristo | (Instrumental) Pandemonium | A Morte e a Doença (A Limpeza) | (Conclusão) Cu de Judas

Pessonha play a chaotic Metal that is not "Raw and Grim". It is a varied mix of aggression that flows from Doomy with keyboards (there are great keyboard parts throughout the demo) to electronic drumbeat armageddon. The mix of melody together with distortion alternated with speedy bashing is actually very effective and although this is certainly a homemade effort, I do wonder what Pessonha would be able of doing in a proper studio. I also appreciate their humour and insanity. I only think the vocals would benefit from a little improvement. Still, thumbs up!

TEASANNA SATANNA - 'Incertezas'
Demo CD, self released 2003, 17m14s, lyrics included

Maldição | Omnipresente | Incerteza | Operação Barriga Aberta

It's refreshing to hear this CD, since one of the most striking things about Teasanna Satanna is their individuality; harking back to a time in the scene when each band had originality, an own sound and an own way of doing things, they escape the Black Metal cliché in a number of ways, from the title ('Incertezas', meaning uncertainties - quite atypical) to the sound itself, which gathers a lot of different elements but is generally speaking fast and aggressive Black Metal, deftly executed. Despite this, there is an underlying sense of melody and occasional incursions into the unexpected, including an apt usage of female vocals. The songs are sung in Portuguese (although in a very nearly unintelligible way) and the lyrics verge on the humourous. Thumbs up for that too! The sound quality is great for a demo, and the presentation is also very good, including a cool cardboard sleeve. Highlights are perhaps the title track and the great and lunatic 'Operação Barriga Aberta'. Great stuff!!

With this CD The Firstborn show in a most effective way what they are capable of. In truth, they are now placed almost entirely outside the scope of the Black Metal field, and their sound might be perhaps described as a sort of Buddhist technical Death Metal. They use Buddhist music blended into their songs in order to strengthen the whole concept behind the album. The result is an exquisite and exhilarating mix of ambience and great technicality and aggression. Musically, it's nothing short of brilliant.
A work with a touch of genius.

VITTRAH - 'Obsecration Lost'
‘For the Glory of the Unpure’
Demo CDR, self released 2005, 18m44s

Heinous Kingdom | My Dwelling | Soul Misery | Our Reign

This demo sounds a bit like a mix of raw Black Metal with Dissection. I like the composition and the speed, but the sound quality, although not bad, is not good enough. It’s too dirty and not quite aggressive enough. Still, the band’s potential is easy to evaluate.
A promising first demo; I await to see what the future brings.

VORAGO – ‘Do Sepulcro Ancestral…’
Promo tape, self released 2004, hand-numbered, 25 copies

Lobos da Guerra | Filhos do Fogo Pagão

This 2-track promo features two songs from the pre-production of the demo ‘Lobos da Guerra’. This is very primitive and raw Black Metal sung in Portuguese. The production is dirty but not too much, the instruments are clearly discernible. I like the pace and there is some cool riffing. A good first effort.

WAR BLASPHEMY - ‘For the Glory of the Unpure’
Demo-tape, Hell War Productions 2002, 666 copies, handnumbered

Darkness and Pride | Lusitania Sons | For the Glory of the Unpure | Holy Raping

War Blasphemy play a very raw and fast Black Metal. The sound is very dirty and the pace is always very fast, except for the title track that is slower than the rest (and with some really strange tempos). The sound quality is really very dirty, as is the distortion, and the drums are really too low (often they can only be vaguely heard in the background). Technique is not brilliant either, but at least the attitude is there. If you’re into raw and dirty then there may be something for you here. But in truth I think that some more careful recording in a real studio wouldn’t hurt the band.

Zymosis is a band from the Azores islands and they have been working hard on promoting their work outside of their disadvantageous geographical situation. This is their first release and it features a concert recorded in 2003. The sound quality is not very good, which may hinder a real appreciation of the band’s quality, but it’s good enough for a first impression. The band cites Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir and Emperor as influences and that is indeed apparent mainly in the heavy usage of keyboards, that I find do bring an interesting melodic contrast to the brutality and rawness of the other instruments. The songs are well-composed and heavy, and they show promise for this new band. I await to hear a studio work, but for now this is a good introduction!
As a curiosity, their first track ‘Black Angel’ is referred to as ‘Angel of Darkness’ by the vocalist during the performance.