Vulcano
Live!
[Cogumelo]


Fucking hell! It's time to step back to the roots, because this live recording from 1985 (!) Sao Paulo, Brazil might give you an idea who the real proto-black/thrash country was. This is so entrenched in spirit and so far ahead of it's time that the atmosphere is simply incredible, by means of a band playing entirely with their hearts on their sleeves and an emotional crowd going absolutely psychotic. It is easily seen how even Beherit cited these guys as a major influence, because it's one of those rare immortal releases that manifests completely of its own accord and never gets detracted from by the test of time. Complete and unbridled brilliance throughout, with dripping power and seething passion.

I thought a long time about what to try and compare this to and I think the right band might be Necrofago. A listener will probably notice that most of this is not as fast as the other Brazilian legends of the time, but moreover caught up in some sort of rocking "vibe" that is similar to Hellhammer/Celtic Frost or the early Bathory albums. "Fallen Angel," a 7-minute epic that begins with the crowd screaming along with Angel (vocals) and ends with Laudir Piloni doing a killer drum solo, follows a very thick and doomlike pattern. Among the best of the more thrashing tracks are "Satan's Warriors" and "Devil on my Roof," though there's nothing weak about this classic.

There are three bonus songs on here that I don't think too much of. Logically they don't intertwine well with the rest of the release; the music has more or less become brutal death metal (not even similar to Bloody Vengeance) and the vocals are significantly weaker. Cogumelo didn't need to include these but they aren't part of the real album anyway.

Americana recorded Live! in 1985 with the final mix by Vulcano themselves and the production is close to perfect for the setting. This is a masterpiece. Possibly the best live album I've ever heard.


© 2001 hando