The nowadays way of creating music into Metal is mixing aspects from some subtypes, and creating a hybrid, and in many ways, the result is very good. But imagine when it comes as a brilliant result. Yes, you can have an idea of what awaits you in "The Flame Still Burns Strong", the new album from Brazilian quintet SKIN CULTURE, from Mogi das Cruzes, in São Paulo.

Their music is a combination between an aggressive and intense Groove Metal with touches from Thrash Metal and Hardcore, with some melodies here and there, so it pulses with life and energy from the very beginning until the end.

Extreme vocals in Phil Anselmo's technique (but more aggressive and intense), guitar riffs as brutal and intense as technical (the use of 8-strings guitar gave a touch of Mathcore like MESHUGGAH's work), bass and drums playing along and cohesive, but not with some technique. Result: an explosion of brutality, but with melodic and harmonic structures well worked.

Raul Dipeas and Shucky Miranda had done the sound production, and the album was recorded at Crooked House Studio, and Brendan Duffay made the mastering at Norcal Studios, so the quality is as high as possible, giving an intense and heavy sound to the band's work, but clean in a way you can hear all the instruments with no problem at all. The artwork speaks for itself.

Another good point of the album is the special guests. Fabrício Ravelli (from IMBYRA, ex-HYRAX) in "For the Same Hell as Before", Marcello Pompeu (from KORZUS) in "Ashes and Flames", Luciano Vassan (from TAMUYA THRASH TRIBE) in "Here I Preach", Desi Hyson (from ORIGINAL WAILERS, Al Anderson's band, and He worked for a long time with Bob Marley) in "One Tribe, One Soul, One God", and Emi Rojas (from the Argentinean band DESIERTO GRIS) in "Blind Soul", so, these songs gain a lot with their contributions.

If you have some annoying neighbor, just put your speakers outside of your house, put the sound in the higher volume as possible, and play it out loud.

"The Flame Still Burns Strong" is the best and most mature album from the band, no doubt about that, and all the songs are excellent, but the highlights are: the harsh grasp of "Brutal" (the name speaks for it, with great work from bass and drums), the strong and groovy "Rapture", the abrasive "Dementia" (pay attention in the guitar riffs, doing an insane work), "The End of My Days" (what vocal work! Hear as clean and harsh ones alternates with no problem at all, and with some melodic inserts) and "One Tribe, One Soul, One God" (the Reggae vocals fits very well). To the ones who buy the American version, you'll have as a bonus track SEPULTURA's "Slave New World" in a good and personalized version from the band.

An excellent work from Brazil to the world.