When dealing with figures of terror books and films, it's common to see people having references on folklore figures of Europe. But Brazilian folklore has many creatures and legends that would make Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee have insomnia for weeks and horrible nightmares. Brazilian horror is not only made of the works of Coffin Joe (or Zé do Caixão), but of many different cultural legends, and the trio MATHAGAL uses such legends to express their lyrics, as can be heard on "Contos de Meia-Noite", their first release.

Their music is a form of aggressive modern mix between young Metal trends. It can be said as a blend between elements of acts as SOULFLY, MACHINE HEAD, SLIPKNOT, MESHUGGAH, MUDVAYNE, FEAR FACTORY, KORN and DEVILDRIVER, but with the trio using wisely their influences to create something of their own, so one can see similarities, but never a copy (due the presence of Brazilian musical elements in the trio's music). It's violent and aggressive, filled with groove and energy, but full of hooks and addicting in the same form, and fans of modern tendencies won't have problems to deal with their work, even expressed in such caustic form.

The production was done by the hands of Guilherme "Guigo" Adriano, who created a massive, pyroclastic and oppressive sonority, but defined in a way that the listeners will have full understanding of what is being musically expressed by the trio. In reality, the trio is a side project of members of HOMOIOUSIOS, THE GEE J, 100 DOGMAS and MOTIM, so it's a boiling cauldron of different influences. After an intro comes "Aphastatupi", a solid song with oppressive slow tempos, with a massive and vicious (in the good sense of the word) groove, with very good broken rhythms in some parts, showing a good work on bass guitar and drums. The following is "Emilia", a brutal and groovy song, again based on slow tempos and many Industrial Metal elements, with screams and grunts contrasting and improving the brutality. With some Brazilian percussive elements in some moments, a greasy and hypnotic set of riffs conducts "Chupa-Cabra", that even having a simple appeal, show some experimental touches. And as anyone knows, "Roots Bloody Roots" is a SEPULTURA cover, what depicts how the quartet is important for the sedimentation of modern Metal expressions (and the trio put a lot of its personality on this one).

As a first release, "Contos de Meia-Noite" surprises the fans, and pay attention, because it seems that MATHAGAL is here to stay (and to cause despair in the puritan true Metal fans as well).