The international language of brutal death metal and grindcore requires no translation. Whether a band’s grunting out lyrics in Gaelic, Spanish, Swedish, English or, in this case, Portuguese, it’s largely indecipherable, thereby eliminating any language barriers. The grunt is universally understood. Portuguese quartet Holocausto Canibal—Orca (vocals), António C. (guitars), Z. Pedro (bass) and Diogo P. (drums)—(apparently) vocalize in their native tongue on their sixth album, Crueza Ferina, but you can really only ascertain that from the song titles.
The title of the track we’re premiering today, “Êxodo Mortuoso,” the first single from Crueza Ferina, translates as “deadly exodus” (assuming Google Translate can be trusted….), and seems to be a marked change from the band’s earlier material which tended toward goregrind. Maybe that’s the influence of new vocalist Orca, who first appeared on the band’s 2019 live album, Assintonia Hertziana. “Êxodo Mortuoso” is a two-minute-plus ripper with a strong Celtic Frost influence, loads of D-beat aggression and a contrastingly melodic solo from Immolation’s Bob Vigna. It’s a solid intro to the band’s first effort for Selfmadegod Records. The album was produced, engineered and mixed by João Ribeiro at various Portuguese studios and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege (Nails, Obituary, Necrot, Torche, Ulcerate).
Crueza Ferina is set release via Selfmadegod on CD and digital platforms on May 27, and you can preorder it here.
Here’s what bassist Z. Pedro had to say about the track:
“This is the first song of the album and actually one of the first to be written. It is a perfect blend of what you will find in this new album: grinding brutality, groovy sequences and punkish beats. It was also amazing to get a contribution from our friend Bob Vigna from Immolation who played an astonishing solo on it.”
