In the early days of the Brazilian Metal scene, it was common for bands of every Metal genre use Brazilian Portuguese on their lyrics. Acts as STRESS (the forefather of Brazilian Metal), METALMORPHOSE, AZUL LIMÃO, OVERDOSE, HOLOCAUSTO, CENTÚRIAS, VÍRUS, KORZUS, TAURUS, METALMANIA, ABUTRE, SANTUÁRIO, CENTÚRIAS, KARISMA, CALIBRE 38, SALÁRIO MÍNIMO, AVENGER, ABUTRE, ANTHARES and many others worked with their native tongue. And as many bands here uses an Old School Metal outfit on their works, it’s not a coincidence that such feature is back. One good example is the Brazilian act MORTALHA NEGRA with its first release, a 4-songs EP called “Necromante”.

Produced, mixed, and mastered by Eric Cavalcante, the sonority of the songs tries to emulate the organic and crude feeling of the 80s, but with some improvements. It means that things sound heavy and aggressive, on a way that is handmade (the tunes of the drums are clearly acoustic), but sounding defined as well. The cover illustration was done by Marcio Blasphemator, with layout by Allefer Rocha, and it depicts the Old School Metal inspiration of the band’s music. Obviously it could be a bit better, but’s not bad. The band’s music depicts a form of Old School Speed/Black Metal or Thrash/Black Metal (depending of your referential frame) of the first half of the 80s, when it was possible hear the ‘motörheadian’ influence on the crossing of Heavy Metal and Punk Rock. It’s not a sin to say that acts as DESTRUCTION, VENOM, SLAYER, SODOM and KREATOR on their early ages are influences for their music, but it’s not a copy and presents some good technical moments (as the bass parts on the beginning of “Os Ventos Trazem Maldição”). It’s good, indeed.

“Os Ventos Trazem Maldição” (that begins with a slow and sinister intro before bursting into a fast song with very good guitars arrangements), “Insurreição de Forças Infernais” (another fast song with clear Metal/Punk traces into the thrashing and furious aggressiveness, with a good work on the drums), “Sob o Signo da Podridão” (here some Old School Death/Black Metal traces can be heard, especially due some blast beats on the drums, and very good ‘lemmyan’ snarls on the vocals can be heard) and “Necromante” are fine pieces of Old School Speed/Black Metal, and the tendency is that the band becomes bigger. Oh, by the way: the band members are experienced, with acts as CARPATUS, FLAGELADÖR, KABARAH, BESTIAL CURSE, IMPERADOR BELIAL, THE UNHALIGÄST, UNEARTHLY, MORCROF, WARREL DANE and many others on their curriculums. It means that “Necromante” is a very good release, and more can be expected from MORTALHA NEGRA.