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EXORCISMO
Exorcise And Steal

Self-release (2018)
Rating: 7.5/10

From 2004 to 2007, this Brazilian death / thrash combo existed as Morgue before changing their name. Instead of focusing on the moniker, it might have been more worth their while getting into the studio because apart from a 2008 demo (Última Batalha), they did little else. Surprising it is then that suddenly a full-length debut has emerged from the shadows of Recife, and an enjoyable romp it is.

This energetic quartet opt for a sound that drifts heavily towards an early Sepultura style of aggression with frothing vocal chops, and nifty, surging chunkiness in the riffs and bass. There’s always been an abundance of quality within the South American scene; the underground channels filtered so many great bands through in the 80s, and this surge continues.

With that being said, it’s worth hopping on the Exorcismo train for what is essentially a 45-minute exercise in gang chants, hyper thrash blurs and slower, moodier practices – all enshrouded within that fizzing and belligerent lo-fi South American framework.

Opener ‘Intro / T.T.A. / Masters Of Reason’ is a dead ringer for Sepultura circa Schizophrenia (1987); the music is raw and fast and led by the frantic gasps of drummer Denis “Violence” Andrade, who certainly lives up to his name as he crashes, bangs and wallops his skins.

When the combo slows, there’s hints of ghoulish early Slayer too, while on a track such as the hilariously titled ‘Dump Of Death’ we get hit by an ominous deathly rattle fuelled by Risaldo Silva’s murky bass and the scorching twin axe attack of Carlos Ragner and the aptly named Anderson “Razor” Leonardo. Both team up to supply a gnarly, rabid wall of harshness where friskiness is the key with those seemingly loose ‘n’ lethal tirades as they accelerate us through the mire with the brief ‘God Is Dead’ and the lengthier strains of the rather epic ‘Apocalipse Nuclear / Visions Of Eternity’. The latter rumbles with such underground malice, and where the drums come to the fore as they toy with the avalanche of speeding guitars.

On the snappy ‘Surrounded By Fakes (Kill The Falses)’, meanwhile, we’re still hearing the age-old mocking of the frauds within the metal scene as Denis raps, “All will die by the sword of the true metal, the bangers will hunt, then his blood, will gush in the metal name”. Huge dollops of naivety ooze, and yet musically it’s a punky-cum-Sepultura flash of excellence, which is also showcased on the technical glimmer of ‘Epidemic Lobotomy’ with its catchy initial lead before the band embarks on a bony clunk, especially with that stony bass.

Exorcise And Steal is a riot when it comes to producing rat-infested bombs and intoxicating thrash workouts. Operating very much at gutter-level, Exorcismo’s debut expression brings enough musical wreckage and rudimentary grinding that one can’t help admire for its roguish translations.

Neil Arnold

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