Promising songs with an organic, visceral and striking sound with amazing riffs, ripped vocals and a violent sound of drums and bass, Brazil’s HellgardeN make no qualms in being all about metal at it’s purest and their newest release “Making Noise, Living Fast” provides everything that they promise.
Not much background could be found when digging around on their history so the best we could do is sit back and enjoy this collection of songs that upon initial listens, spawns early comparisons to Pantera with the monstrous but decipherable vocals and brilliantly catchy riffs that beg for a vigourous head nod or 5. The mantra here is metal and there’s no mistaking that with the opening track.
“Spit On Hypocrisy” has a hell of a groovy swing that screams groove metal, the sound is raw and audacious and very uncompromising and does provoke thoughts of the hardcore and punk scenes that keep things on street level. It’s gutteral and vicious and it’s unapologetic in the way it’s conveyed.
Much of the tracks that follow swing back and forth between thrashier speeds and mid-tempo grooves. “Evolution or Destruction” features some real gritty riffs and even throws some more modern elements circling around the band’s core old school vibe. Again the Pantera references on a musical front are hard to ignore but it’s subtle enough to be forgiven and ultimately dismissed as another influence that bands defiantly wear on their sleeves.
The thrash mantra really connects to the punk roots of the genre and foot stompers like “Learned to Play Dirty” and the title track take that to heart, combining the raw ingredients of the early thrash metal days but giving you that street level hardcore feel at the same time.
“Fuck the Consequences” is one of the highlights here and sadly one of the shortest but still enough meat on the bones to give you a real taste of the bands peaks. “Believe in Yourself or Die” is also stand out as it deviates away from speed and focuses more on dirty, heavy riffs to drive things along, the mic drop at the end just the cherry on the top to finish things off.
There’s a lot to like here on “Making Noise, Living Fast” from this Brazilian Quartet who as mentioned before, make no apologies in true and honest in who they are what they do as a band. Thrasher fans will be curiously interested in this but ultimately it will tap more into fans of extreme and groove metal, both modern and old school.
8/10
TRACKLIST
Spit on Hypocrisy
Evolution or Destruction
Learned to Play Dirty
Fuck the Consequences
Brainwash
Making Noise, Living Fast
Believe in Yourself or Die
