SIEGE OF HATE 'Subversive By Nature'
New Aeon Media(2004)
Some of the things that would definitely come to everyone’s mind if the word "Brazil" were to be mentioned, would be the Carnival, beautiful women, hot weather and football. Well, unfortunately that’s only half the story. Brazil is also a country with high criminality, child prostitution, drug dealing and money laundering. It’s not the best environment in which to raise a child or to start your business, but it’s the ideal country to give birth to Extreme Metal bands. Metal has been receiving vital Metal injections throughout the years from many Brazilian Metal bands, some of which are Sepultura, Sarcofago, Ratos De Porao and Krisiun, but the latest Extreme Metal export that comes from the land of Samba and Pele is called Siege Of Hate.
Bruno Gabai (Insanity) and Amaudson Ximenes (Obskure) formed the band in 1997. Influenced by many different styles of music, but mostly by bands like Napalm Death, Sepultura and D.R.I, the Brazilians will release their first demo "Return to Ashes"in 1998. Since then there have been quite a few changes in the band’s line-up before they managed to settle down with New Aeon Media – with which they finally released their debut album "Subversive By Nature".
As expected, the album is a display of fast guitar riffs, Hardcore influenced vocals and thunderous drumbeats. The band is angry about many things, and "Subversive By Nature" is the tool that helps them express this anger. On this 20 track album you can find songs like "Say Your Prayers" that targets directly the institution of the church and it’s representatives, the very sarcastic "Fairyland" that sums up the daily problems and worries of this South American nation, and the quite criticising "U.S.A", the lyrics of which are a fist in the face of the North American country.
The production of the album that was achieved by both Moises Veloso and the band is quite impressive, but I believe that most of the compositions of the album are lacking this extra something that would make them memorable and approachable by a wider audience.
There is of course the exception of "Fake"(influenced by Sepultura’s "Chaos AD" era), the amazing "Downfall" which is my personal favourite, "Martyr of Fools" based on really impressive riffs, and the interested cover of D.R.I’s "No Religion" (from the album "Crossover").
I am pretty sure that this band will be able to reveal their real capabilities in the near future. For the time being let’s judge "Subversive By Nature" as the debut album of a quite promising band. More Please!
***
Review by John Stefanis
|
