Thrash Metal is passing by a strange paradox nowadays. There are bands that hold ground on the past; always making music like many did before, without putting something new on it. And this will cause immense trouble in the future, for personality is required to make something that will matter for Metal's future. But there are those able to see that what is in the past, must lie in the past, and now is time to create something new. In this last group, we can put the Brazilian trio KAMALA for sure. After "Seven Deadly Chakras" showed a new form of making Thrash Metal, they give a step ahead with their newest album, "Mantra".

It's a modern and brutal way of playing Thrash Metal, sometimes going to the boundaries of Death Metal and using some musical influences of oriental music, and other elements. But even being so aggressive, the presence of a melodic embodiment to unite the songs is clear to our ears. And it's extremely creative, sounding fresh and new, but the most important: unique. The vocals are harsh in normal tunes, but sometimes they get near the guttural; the guitars create excellent riffs with some interventions of fine and melodic solos (as we can see clearly on the song "Becoming a Stone"), a strong and powerful rhythmic session, with a heavy weight and good technical moments (see what the bass guitar is doing on "What We Deserve", where we see the oriental elements I told above). And we have some special guests: Vitor Martins on didgeridoo, Guilherme Malosso (the album's producer) on vocals on "My Religion", and Maya Silva on female vocals on "Mantra", "What We Deserve" and "Erawan".

The album has an extremely good sound production. Guilherme and Yuri Camargo known what they were doing, putting all instruments in their due places, with heavy and abrasive weight and excellent instrumental tunes. And the art, done by Felipe Rostodella, and with fonts by Allan (the band's bassist) is something from out of this world, beautiful even being simple. But the use of the effigy of Ganesha (the Indian god with an elephant head, symbol of wisdom) seeming to each one of KAMALA's members is something special, as the use of the three elephants on the cover.

As I told above, "Mantra" is a step forward that they gave, and even in the harsher moments of the lyrics, we can feel a positive insight always. I dare to say that the album's energy is extremely spiritualized and positive. And in terms of songs, they are all perfect, being the best ones "Mantra" (a brutal and oppressive song, presenting great work from bass guitar and drums), "What We Deserve" (great riffs and solos, a fine and introspective touch of oriental music, where the bass guitar is presenting a fine work), the bitter and heavy "My Religion" (a slow paced song, with very good drums), and "Suicidal Attack", with a brutal grasp into a very good melodic insight.

KAMALA is one of the spearheads of this new era of Thrash Metal on Brazil, and deserves a careful listening.<