In recent weeks, the world has been going through delicate and difficult times. Therefore, Wikimetal has been recommending playlists, bands, and songs for you to listen to and discover as an attempt to alleviate the tension of quarantine.
In this series of articles, we propose that you get to know and support Brazilian rock and heavy metal bands, and in this second part, we bring you The Melties, Dark Valley, The Mantor, and Gallo Azhuu – Click here to see the first part of the series.
1) The group The Melties , formed in São Paulo, released their first studio album, Hit Me , in November 2019. With heavy themes in their lyrics, such as politics, religion, anarchy, and also hope, the band presents a concept of change, of novelty.
“Noise One” opens the album with the sound of the heartbeat of Deni, son of Thizzy (drums) and Macci (bass). The drummer worked on the album until she was five months pregnant, demonstrating the power and strength of its message: “We wanted to convey a bit of this idea of something new, like a beginning, a Big Bang (…) We’ve matured [since the release of the EP Rot Young , in 2015]. We managed to put into the songs what we felt, after all this time,” said the bassist.
Alongside Thizzy and Macci, the band consists of Jana (vocals) and Jesus (guitar). Listen to the album Hit Me below:
2) A fresh new addition to the Brazilian metal scene is Dark Valley . The group released their first original single, "This Is War," in January of this year, and is now preparing their first studio album, scheduled for release later this year.
The band released a music video alongside the single, which tells the story of Ophelia, a character from Shakespeare's play Hamlet . The narrative follows her journey in an alternate world called Dark Valley. According to a statement from the group, "The central idea of the album is to revive the character, giving her a second chance to value her feminine potential and life, also permeating the perception of the role of women in society."
Watch the music video for “This Is War” below:
3) The band The Mantor experiments with a combination of traditional heavy metal riffs and the distinctive characteristics of melodic metal. Featuring a powerful vocalist, the Brazilians are joined by Dirk Verbeuren of Megadeth on drums, completing the group with JP (vocals), Ed Garcia (guitar), and Heber Van Geburt (bass).
Listen below to the EP Vera , released at the end of 2019:
4) Last year, the band Gallo Azhuu , from São Luís, Maranhão, released their third album, Treva. The work marks the debut of bassist Eduardo Melo , who joins Patrick Abreu (vocals and guitar), Ruan Cruz (guitar) and Denis Carlos (drums).
Treva follows the self-titled album and Totem , released in 2013 and 2015 respectively, and showcases the strength of stoner rock in Brazil.
Listen to the album Treva below:
