Headbangers in São Paulo were able to experience a historic night when they attended Crypta and Nervosa back-to-back on Sunday the 13th, as part of the opening of Arch Enemy and Behemoth in the city. Without a doubt, this is a night to be remembered by fans of the genre.
The paths of Prika Amaral, Fernanda Lira, and Luana Dametto crossed on the same stage for the first time since the separation of the trio that formed Nervosa until 2020. While the latter two continued together to start working on Crypta with a stylistic shift towards death metal, Prika faced the challenge of restructuring the band amidst the pandemic and initiating a new phase for one of the most relevant names in Brazilian thrash metal.
That night, despite the predominance of t-shirts from the main acts, Arch Enemy and Behemoth, fans of Crypta and Nervosa were also seen in droves, proudly displaying the logos of the Brazilian bands.
Shortly before Crypta started their set, the venue was almost completely full, from the dance floor to the mezzanine and VIP boxes. A little after 7 pm, the band took the stage and proved their strong connection with the São Paulo audience by bringing all their firepower to the stage, with fans singing the lyrics from Echoes of The Soul (2021) with a ferocity equivalent to Fernanda's impossible poses.
On a night marked by the presence of so many women on stage playing extreme metal, “Kali” was dedicated to women with even more emphasis. Soon the first mosh pits of the night began, still timid, but gaining strength during “Starvation”. With a shorter set than usual, Crypta closed the show with “From The Ashes”, sung loudly and with the certainty of a truly delivered performance.
During the intermission between shows, there was the typical commotion on the dance floor as people refilled their beer glasses and stretched their legs, but soon Audio was packed again for the second show of the night.
With a particularly warm reception for Prika, the only remaining Brazilian and the band's absolute driving force, Nervosa was ready to showcase the full power of the album Perpetual Chaos (2021) to the São Paulo audience, who started the night a little timidly.
With foreign members Diva Satanica (vocals), Nanu Villalba (drums), and Helena Kotina (bass) responsible for presenting this new era to Latin American fans for the first time, it was possible to admire once again Prika's ability to move forward, even in the face of difficulties, without losing quality: in September, Eleni Nota (drums) and Mia Wallace (bass) had to leave the tour due to personal reasons, but replacements were quickly found and incorporated into the band's universe.
At the show in São Paulo, it didn't take long for the undeniable quality of the musicians on the bill to break the initial ice of this first time, with Diva Satanica revealing herself as a skillful and hypnotic frontwoman, slender as a snake in her fluid movements, which in no way correspond to the impressive brutality of her vocals.
In “Kill the Silence,” vocalist Mayara Puertas , from Torture Squad , was invited to the stage in yet another moment celebrating the women who make up the Brazilian extreme metal scene. The farewell featured a speech about how “female power is stronger when it is shared.”
Even with the lyrics from the new album being less frequently sung, the applause showed how engaged the audience was. The band's thrash metal fostered more intense mosh pits, which increased in size and speed throughout the show during songs like "Into Moshpit," culminating in the closing performance of "Under Ruins.".
The image of a couple perfectly captured the atmosphere of appreciation for two national treasures among the audience: he was wearing a Nervosa t-shirt, while she was wearing a Crypta t-shirt.
And if there were those who rooted against any of the initiatives that arose from that initial split, the show with Crypta and Nervosa playing back-to-back on the Audio stage served to demonstrate that the public gained immensely from the decision of all those involved, however difficult it may have been. If before there was one band born in our land to represent the weight of Brazil to the world, today there are two of the highest caliber, as was to be expected.
See the photo coverage by our contributor Leca Suzuki of the Crypta, Nervosa, Arch Enemy, and Behemoth shows in the gallery. (If you are not seeing the photo gallery, click here ).
