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VULCANO
Stone Orange

Emanzipation Productions (2022)
Rating: 8/10

Brazilian death thrashers Vulcano is one of those prolific bands you can lose track of due to the amount of records they’ve put out over the years. However, due to their cult status they are a band you can just keep on going back to, particularly the releases during the early years when for a period of five years they were issuing a new record every year!

The peculiarly titled Stone Orange is the 12th full-length studio release from the five-piece, and the second to feature relatively new skinsman Bruno Conrado. Like a lot of veteran acts, Vulcano and its legacy is being dragged through the ages by one original member, this time in the form of guitarist Zhema Rodero.

This new opus, depending on which version you have, features a lot of songs; 17 in total if you include some of the extras, while the main version boasts a more concise 13.

Opening track ‘Metal Seeds’ will immediately get the blood flowing as Vulcano shows why these guys run a similar course of admiration to Germany’s Destruction, Sodom et al. ‘Metal Seeds’, however, brings more underground vim than the last batch of Destruction records put together, and that’s simply because there’s always been a speeding, evil charm to the Brazilian death / thrash scene, whether it’s in the form of the scratchy vocal snaps, the wild axe work or just an organic feel. This is epitomised with the clattering, harsh rattle of ‘Putrid Angels Ritual’ with its rumbling bass work and all round speeding hostility.

Vulcano produce the sort of thrash you need to hear so as to break away from the countless hordes of young pretenders attempting to recreate ‘moshing metal’. Stone Orange is raw, zipping and aggressive blackened nastiness that never lets up in its primitive velocity, even with such hilarious titles as ‘A Night In A Metal Gig’, ‘Night Terror With Satan’, ‘Rebels From 80s’ and ‘Witches Don’t Lie’.

This is just relentless belligerence harkening back to the glorious 80s when these sort of records were rarely found, even in the import racks. ‘7 Seconds In Hell’, the title track, and ‘Ship Of Dead’ are all delivered with a snappiness that causes extreme whiplash.

There are mid-paced passages to contend with also, and they make for slick breaks from the speed. But if it’s vicious thrash you want, then there’s no better place to be than on a record from Brazil, mainly Vulcano.

It’s all here… snarling vocals, slaps of vintage Slayer, clanking bass, hissing percussion and juddering axe work. The stench is oily, the feel is humid and Stone Orange shows that dynamic yet fusty thrash still exists amidst the glut of Ed Repka worshipping drunken teens who are spending too long trying to look the part rather than concentrating on what come from the soul. There’s no gloss here, just frenzied yet well orchestrated hostility.

Neil Arnold

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