Album Review, Badtrip Surfdeath

Here is a review SERIOUSLY over due! Badtrip Surfdeath have been waiting for this for some time and I hope they will be pleased with what I produce. This is a very interesting record: quite well produced with excellent musicianship that demonstrates a dedication to the kind of music they play (wait 'til you hear it and you'll see what I mean). These guys hail from Brazil, a place that I'm gradually learning has a take on metal that is very much its own. Inspired by the record itself, I'm going to do the whole review as a single paragraph stream of consciousness, with the exception of this paragraph of course. So let's do it!

"Nunca e Tarde as 6 da Tarda" is reminiscent of 'War Pigs', with its air-raid siren opening. Quickly it goes anywhere other than a Sabbath direction, with dissonant Hardcore riffing and Black Metal style blast beats. It's all over in little over a minute, which is more than can be said for "Sambinha Black Metal" (I love when little coincidences prove my suspicions correct), which is a double riff motor that chugs to life and quickly dies to the sound of mellow applause. Track 3 is the cheeky sounding "Super Pra Frentex". I'd love to know what these titles mean, I can imagine I would have a greater insight into the music if I did. This one is a little more substantial than its short brothers; a whopping 2.52 on the clock! The pace and the tongue-in-cheeky vibe bring Dead Kennedys to mind. In at number 4 is "Vinhas e Black (Mas Nao Sabe)". I hope the band will forgive the poorly transcribed titles. This is an interesting blend of very modern and very old-school metal techniques: think a young Motorhead taking a Death Metal direction. "X-Lava" is some pure distilled, no-frills modern Hardcore, complete with skillful mid-song tempo changes and heavily distorted bass. "Nao Consigo Comecar" returns to the Dead Kennedys vibe, but with a hint of High on Fire about it, a trend which continues onto the next track, "Psychodelic World". The names I can read are extremely evocative, and the next is no different. "Surfing Tsunami" pulls out all the trad-doom stops and gives them a Badtrip Surfdeath twist. Definitely a standout track on the record. Finally we get to the concluding track and it feels like no time has past at all! "Tornado do Odio" is the longest track on record at a measly 3.11, and it's back into the traditional metal stylings to see us out. That, ladies and gentlemen, was Badtrip Surfdeath...fuck me, that was intense!

Rating: 8/10

For Fans of: High on Fire, Melvins, Dead Kennedys.

Listen here: http://badtripsurfdeath.bandcamp.com/

Edward Gerard Brophy,

bornagainnihilist@gmail(dot)com.