Being part of what people call the Heavy Metal scene may seem like just being a member of a band or a reviewer in any magazine, as if they are all independent and not connected. No, we are all working in synchronism to make a huge machine (music) reach around the globe. The best part of this machine is the many incredible bands I have met so far. Not only that, but also all the friends that I made after one review. Here it was the same. My friend Raphael Olmos from Kamala introduced me to Pedro Valença (guitars) and I discovered one more good and professional band. Once again, the good music has connected people from different places and I was lucky to receive this incredible work to review, so let us start our journey about the Brazilian Death/Thrash Metal band Pandemmy.
The band has a good maturity after several releases over the last decade. On a first audition, you will be sure of good Death Metal played brutally, but after listening carefully; you will realize that their music contains more than just one genre. It is a perfect match of Death Metal and Thrash Metal. Maybe in its essence, Death Metal comes first, but the versatility and all the tempo changes throughout are amazing. Overall, we have a dark atmosphere, sometimes even a small Black or Doom influence, which is a good soundtrack of the albums subject. The lyrics are about human beings lack of morality that we all have to face in our daily lives. Pandemmy decided to be a bit more specific and stick the finger in the scars that are old problems in Brazil and other new issues that we are suffering in this country.
Straight away, the first song shows it. ‘Deforestation’ is perfect Death Metal with a strong and doomy cadence, showing the power of the guitar work on riffs with a dramatic atmosphere and the sound of a burning forest. It is inspired by an old problem of the Amazônia forest devastation in Brazil. We have been facing this problem for decades, but just this year it was brought to worldwide attention. ‘Webchaos’ is about the war of information that occurs on the internet, mainly when a nation suffers with distorted information by the news, sometimes just to create panic or to hide a more critical problem. ‘Neo Hate’ and ‘Xenophobia’ go the same way. Each track has an important message about and against all the chaos we live in.
Musically, there is a strong work on intense atmosphere. Pandemmy bring a sad vibe with the reality they mention, but they also bring a kind of hope with certain melodies. Melodies that come after all the destruction are uplifting and make you feel strong to stand up and fight. Brazilians will probably feel and understand better what the band exposes with small details, such as the short Maracatu percussion section (local music typical of the northeast, where the band live) at the end of ‘Xenophobia’. Why? Because people from the northeast suffer with a kind of Xenophobia inside Brazil. Moreover, this short percussion sounds like the last breath of hope for a people who have been struggling with poverty for so long, and who now despair after being forgotten by politics.
I love how Pandemmy mix many genres in their music. There is the amazing guitar work of Guilherme Silva and Pedro Valença. Good riffs and the solos are very catchy, not so exacerbated in speed or aggressiveness, but can hear a good balance of melody and heaviness. Marcelo Santa Fé has the hard job to follow them and his bass is not hidden. The drums of Vitor Alves are the soul of everything. What a killer and unrelenting work. He uses cadences that come from dancing percussion through to furious blast beats. In addition, the Thrash Metal beats are all incredible. You won’t get tired of this album mainly because of the creativity of different tempos used.
This album is not a conceptual album like a history divided into chapters, but it could easily be considered one. It sounds like a paradox to what I have just said, but if you stop to analyze the world we are living in today, you can see that it is pure chaos, but with hidden traps to slaughter you slowly. New and different traps that we’ve been facing for a long time. Considering the way that Pandemmy expose everything could be seen as chapters of this book of hate.
“Subversive Need” has many important chapters, with a killer soundtrack behind, to bring consciousness to all people who live in society. It is rich musically and lyrically and you don’t need to put the chapters in a correct or particular order. If you hear any song, no matter the sequence, you will feel what Pandemmy is showing you through their music. Is it a complex album? Absolutely! However, it is also very easy to digest and to enjoy. Amazing work!
By Victor Hugo
Link: https://ever-metal.com/2021/01/08/pandemmy-subversive-need/
Listen Subversive Need on links bellow:
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