Valkyrian Music

My Enchantment, Equaleft, Tales For The Unspoken, Diabolical Mental State, Kapitalistas Podridão, Burn Damage
Sociedade Filarmónica Estrela Moitense, Moita (PT)
29th March 2014

For the Portuguese metalheads, the last weekend of March means Moita Metal Fest. As I made an introduction to this fest when I wrote about what I’ve seen of last year’s edition, I invite you to read the first two paragraphs of it here https://valkyrianmusic.com/2013/03/27/moita-metal-fest-2nd-day/ instead of writing it all over again (and please don’t mistake my practicality for laziness).

This year we managed to see the first band. Not from the beginning, but I think we’ve only missed a song or two – brownies for the bus trip promoters. That first band, Burn Damage, was a groove-death-metal one formed in 2008 and which has been female-fronted for the last three years – something for which Inês was very grateful and publicly expressed so, thanking her bandmates for helping her grow so much as a singer.  She’s quite good indeed, her growling brutal and steady. Bass player Sílvia (yes, another girl) uses her fingers instead of a pick, which always deserves my respect, and guitarist Nuno shows how fiercely he is into the music through funny faces. Together with drummer Alex, they put up a heavy and loud gig. Highlights on the title-track of their debut EP “Reborn” and on “Burn ‘Em All”. (4 / 5)

https://www.facebook.com/BurnDamage

When I first saw the name Kapitalistas Podridão (kapitalists rot – yes, with a “k” – the Portuguese correct form is also with a “c”, as in English), I immediately assumed it was an anarcho-punk band. I was wrong. The anti-political lyrical theme is pretty much the same, but Kapitalistas Podridão is a death metal band. Or at least I think the lyrical theme is the same, given the song introductions made by singer/guitarist Bixo – you can’t really understand the words in a death metal piece unless you have the lyrics in front of you.
Formed in early 2012, I don’t think they have any recordings yet but they’ve been playing live quite a lot, so songs such as “Podridão Nacional” (national rot), “Epidemia Social” (social epidemic) or “Sanguessugas Esturpadoras” (raping leeches) were recognized by some. And rejoiced by many. (4 / 5)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kapitalistas-Podrid%C3%A3o/206774852779498

Groovy thrash is Diabolical Mental State flavour, although the groove part gets somewhat undermined live, given the blasting force of their performance. It was the first time I was seeing them, but I’ve heard of them before, and the rumours were true – these kids are great.
Like many bands, they’ve had a few setbacks in the beginning – a.k.a. line-up changes – which delayed (but didn’t stop) their progress. They finally had their live debut last year and have been hitting the stage on a regular basis, in addition to some studio work: the EP “Basic Social Control” should be released shortly, featuring what promise to become big hits “Warfare” and “The Village”. Dice from hardcore band Steal Your Crown got on stage to help Fanã sing a song, but I don’t know which one, sorry. (4,5 / 5)

https://www.facebook.com/diabolicalmentalstate

A little bit of thrash, a little bit of death, a little bit of ‘core… yeah, “metal” is the most pragmatic choice when it comes to describe Tales For The Unspoken. Also the African and Brazilian heritage of some of the members spice up the writing formula and the outcome is pretty powerful. Especially live.
Their debut and only album so far, “Alchemy”, is already three years old (released through the British label Casket Music) but they’re currently working on its successor, which will have the Portuguese Raising Legends stamp this time. And as MMF is the underground fest they most respect, they chose to play one of those new songs, “Soul For A Soul”, for the first time ever – singer Marco warning that there would probably be lots of slips but “it’s heavy metal, fuck it” (he curses A LOT, by the way).
They finished the set with “N’Takuba Wena” thanking the crowd, Mosher clothing, the promoters (the “brothers” in Switchtense) and Equaleft, for lending them the amps. “Don’t miss them, they’re playing next – that’s why they’re here listening to this shit”. Ha ha! (4,5 / 5)

https://www.facebook.com/talesfortheunspoken

Equaleft also got a deal with Raising Legends for their upcoming debut album “Adapt & Survive”. The release is scheduled for 31^st May, so they thought it was about time to play some new tunes: “New False Horizons” (which kicked off the gig), “Human” and “Maniac”. During the latter, singer Miguel dived into the audience and crowdsurfed to the back of the venue, as if to bring the songtitle to life. But it was probably just a coincidence, as he’s famous for doing this kind of thing. Same with the lightsaber he coordinates the mosh pit with in the beginning of “Invigorate”, a joke that’s become a mandatory tradition now.
The new songs sound stronger than ever, all those strings (6 in the bass, 8 in each guitar) giving a richer meaning to the band’s motto “in groove we trust”. Amazing gig, as alwaays. (5 / 5)

https://www.facebook.com/equaleft

The last band before the break for dinner was the dark melodic death metal act My Enchantment, who are currently promoting their new EP “The Death Of Silence”. They have a long and somewhat successful career around here, so it was no surprise to see many devoted fans approaching the stage even before the intro echoed. As the fest was running late and I knew the promoters would cut that break shorter, I sadly only stayed for the first three songs. But it was enough to rate it as great (even with the few technical problems that bass player Fernando faced around the second track). (4 / 5)

https://www.facebook.com/My.Enchantment.PT

More pics here.

Text & photos by Renata “Pieni” Lino

This entry was posted on 6th April 2014 at 6:16 pm and is filed under Festival, Live with tags Festival, metal fest, MMF, Moita, Moita Metal Fest, Portuguese underground, Switchtense. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.