On this split CD released by Polish label Defense Records, two Brazilian bands are causing some serious noise. Extinction Remains are extreme metal, but Mácula classify themselves as punk rock/crust. Well, here they have some metallic traits anyway. Their three songs are featured first, so let's get dissecting.

Punk rock Mácula (est. 2010) does isn't like Ramones, Sex Pistols, Bad Religion or Green Day; it is mean for sure, partly epic, and certainly not after millions of real (well, there's bleak reality in their lyrics, but real is Brazilian currency, too). The rhythm guitar is sludgy and fucking distorted with semi-distorted, open-stringed, reverbing lead guitar work accompanying it. It is dirty, heavy and gloomy. The pace varies from slow, doom-ish to very fast D-beats and almost blasting. Okay, slow doomy stuff, assaulting fast black-ish parts, epic-as-heck bits ('Cultivando certezas rúpteis' features the best High On Fire riff they never wrote, at 00:53; straight from a barbarian movie soundtrack, that!), and they also offer an otherworldly instrumental track. The song lengths also vary quite a lot, so Mácula certainly are a rather mutating entity. The vocals are low throaty growl, something between death and black metal, and they sound suitably unhealthy for sure. The sound is raw and crusty, with a very ominous vibe added by the lead guitar. In all, Mácula aren't making very catchy tunes, but they can make one feel uneasy and oppressed.

And then it is time for the part of Extinction Remains (est. 2013), whose crusty death/doom is savage statement about the human being's devastating life style on this planet. Hard-hitting riffs and drumming (also double kick style) are both rather simplistic yet effective. The bass guitar rumbles in the mix, and low-tuned guitars are somewhat beefy. The band kind of alloy together the things they've done in the past. The songs vary from sludgy doom to more, at times punky, death metal assault, which must have been, at least partly, influenced by old Swedish masters. There's discords and open-stringed playing to give it a more foreboding atmosphere here and there. Often, the lyrics are short, so there's not a lot of vocals heard, plus two of five songs are instrumentals. When the vocals happen, they are reverbed growling from between throaty and guttural. So there's quite a bit variety there, and on 'Human Presence (After the Earth)', they start are distorted speaking and then start to go more lower and more guttural. From the two, Extinction Remains's style is catchier, even though the music mutates between the styles and offer space for jam-like excursion.

The booklet features not just beautiful artwork, but all the lyrics (ER's lyrics in English and Portuguese, Mácula's only in Portuguese). Nicely packed, these two bands are not similar, but they share some traits and I expect people to stomach both of them.

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
04/05/2020 19:21