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Torture Squad: Hellbound

26/05/08 || Euthanatos

Well this is a fucking nice surprise for a change. Torture Squad is a Brazilian Death Metal act, one of the most popular nationally and only recently began getting some acknowledgment from the rest of the world. One could say a major breakthrough was the band winning a competition and being featured in the Wacken cast of 2007. So, yeah, I’d say they’re on the right track.

Concerning the music Torture Squad has released so far, it has always been solid death metal with a lot of eighties thrash metal influence, “The Unholy Spell” and “Pandemonium” being the most noteworthy albums. I’ve always liked the band, but never really listened to it in my leisure time. There were just so many other good bands to hear. Then came “Hellbound”.

Well, fuck me silly, this is one brutal, monstrous, criminal, murderous, venomous, vicious assault of an album. Torture Squad have suddenly gone from the “hey, these guys are pretty fucking good” level to the “holy mother of god, rape me, sodomize me right now because I can’t take this fucking brutality” pantheon.

Now what exactly made these guys so awesome is a mystery to me. Maybe it’s the production, which finally highlights everyone’s talents masterfully, particularly the amazing drumming of Amilcar Christofaro (the guy is a beast) and the sinister vocals of Vitor Rodrigues (who has a great snarl, but never sounded as good in the studio as he did live). Maybe it’s the songwriting that just reached that particular level of ass kicking after experience, talent and fury all mix. Maybe they made a deal with Satan, who knows?

What I do know is that “MMXII” is a good, albeit unnecessary intro, but it’s fitting to give way to “Living For the Kill”, which shows us a thrashier Torture Squad. Even though their music is now more comprehensible, they haven’t become any less aggressive, though, and that’s highly commendable. And the riffs! Killer fucking riffs, straight out of Lucifer’s anal cavity.

“The Beast Within”, “The Fall of Man”, “Chaos Corporation”, god damn, the band just keeps knocking them out of the park like there’s no tomorrow. There is not one fucking filler on this album.

“Man Behind the Mask” then totally throws me off the horse with its initial narration, slower initial riffs that break down to evil death metal mayhem. “Twilight for Mankind” is equally surprising with its acoustic beginning (and passages throughout), it’s an epic monster and just might be one of the coolest Torture Squad songs ever. I fucking love the guitar work here. The title track has some a great Arabian style guitars, which sure, have been overdone to death, but they sound fucking cool, so who cares?

The only thing I didn’t like here is that there’s one track (I can’t remember which one) that speaks of global warming. Now, theoretically there should be nothing wrong with that, but for some reason it made me laugh and think it was cheesy. Maybe I’m just an asshole.

If you don’t know who these guys are, this is the perfect opportunity to get to know them. Trailing steadily the bloody path of the death metal underground, Torture Squad have quite a gem here, an album to be cherished and remembered, the most appropriate soundtrack possible for dying and going to hell. Get this.

The cover: What do ya know, even the cover is cool. Weird, Giger/Beksinski/Silent Hill-like creatures floating in a desolate background with an evil looking mountain. Creepy.

9 absurdly unknown Brazilians out of 10.

Information
Released: 2008
Label: Paradoxx
Website: www.torturesquad.com.br
Band
Vitor Rodrigues: vocals
Amilcar Christofaro: drums
Castor: bass
Augusto Lopes: guitar

Tracklist
01. MMXII
02. Living For The Kill
03. The Beast Within
04. The Fall Of Man
05. Chaos Corporation
06. Man Behind The Mask
07. In The Cyberwar
08. Twilight of Mankind
09. The Four Winds
10. Hellbound

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