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Vulcano > Bloody Vengeance > Reviews
Vulcano - Bloody Vengeance

Brazilian Vengeance - 79%

DesecratorJ, June 19th, 2019

During the 80s, the South American metal scene was mostly dominated by the extreme metal bands that were releasing among the most aggressive and brutal stuff in the world at the time. Mainly inspired by bands like Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Sodom, Destruction and more, the Brazilians were fed up with the violence and poverty that was going on in the country, according to some interviews from musicians of that scene. The main bands we're speaking about here are Sepultura, Sarcofago, Mutilator, and of course Vulcano. In term of musical approach, the guys from Vulcano did not really make something much different from what these other bands released in 1986 for instance. Although they formed a few years before, they quickly changed their style to adopt that far heavier sound, which is the reason that they got a bit of recognition. Unfortunately though, Vulcano did not go really far, even if they released a bunch of records, they just didn't make the cut for most adepts of the genre.

Well, despite their lack of success in long term, we have at least one great release from the band and it's obviously the famous "Bloody Vengeance" album. Definitely one of the heaviest records in 1986, but not the best and not the most original though. As you listen to this short 23 minutes piece of early death/thrash metal, you can easily notice that the main goal was to be as fast and aggressive as possible. The music is pretty much straightforward from the beginning to the end, except for some slower doomy riffs or transition at times. As soon as the album kicks-off with "Dominios of Death", you instantly get what this record is all about. For an album that was recorded and mixed in 24 hours, we get something quite good in term of production. The overall sound is a bit like "Morbid Visions" of Sepultura. The guitars sounds like chainsaws, which is awesome, but the drums are a little bit less prominent than the latter album. The vocals are kind of similar also, but the singer "Angel" has something unique on his voice tone that makes it different.

To be quite honest, most tracks on "Bloody Vengeance" are decent. However, nothing really caught my eyes to the point that I wanted to listen to the album on repeat for example. It's one of these second tier albums that you go back to casually because it's good, but not that memorable. Although I must give them credit for coming up with tracks like "Spirits of Evil" or "Death Metal", which are brutal as hell with their killer riffs and great choruses. Other than disliking how the vocals tries too much to fit with the riffs on "Holocaust", the songs "Incubus" and "Ready to Explode" are too short to bring much value to the album except some cool guitar parts. Through all the record length, you will always hear from time to time those messy guitar solos as well, most likely fillers to the songs, but this is no surprise as most bands at their debuts dropped those kinds of solos. Even on this album, Vulcano experimented a bit on the self-titled track "Bloody Vengeance". Its structure is different and more varied, but the pace is way slower.

As seen on the lyrics and image, the band tried to sound and look evil, but didn't succeed quite as much as Sarcofago for instance. This record will most likely please old school death/thrash metal fans, and especially if the Brazilian sound is your thing. Although I found this album to be too short and lacking originality and content for a full length, I still recommend giving it a listen. Maybe you will find something even more valuable than I did on this, just be prepared for the intensity it involves.

Favorite tracks:

Death Metal
Dominios of Death
Spirits of Evil

More Brazilian awesomeness - 89%

colin040, January 18th, 2019

By 1986 plenty of extreme metal bands had become much more intense in just one year. Kreator stepped up their game and Dark Angel turned into something you probably couldn’t imagine had you only heard their debut album. Vulcano, too, turned into something much faster, heavier and overall extreme in just one year – to claim this band expanded their horizons would be an understatement.

Hailing from Brazil and playing extreme metal around the same time, it would be easy to put Vulcano in the same category Sarcrófago and Sepultura but Bloody Vengeance doesn’t bring to mind the blasphemous annihilation of I.N.R.I. nor diabolic force of Bestial Devastation. While lacking evil atmosphere, Bloody Vengeance expresses itself in ways you’d expect out of those early Brazilian releases, yet this never comes off as an impulsive record. Despite the rapid fire pacing most of these compositions partially rely on, there are plenty of midpaced sections that are surprisingly catchy. Take ‘’Dominions of Death’’ for instance, which for a minute or so puts you in a state of trance due to its non-stop blasting and a rambling vocalist who sounds like Jeff Becerra with ADHD before giving you a chance to catch your breath. ‘’Spirits of Evil’’ picks up the rapid fire pacing even quicker yet relies on a memorable chorus with a riff that's just so much fun to hear. This is pretty much the basic songwriting formula here and it works excellent: this way you can shout along to the choruses and hum along to the blazing riffs in between (or if you’re one of those weirdo’s the other way around.)

I also like how each track has a clear sense of identity – something you wouldn’t necessarily expect from these kinds of albums. ‘’Incubus’’ is by the far most thrash-inspired thing here, with riff before the solo starts having quite a bit in common with Show No Mercy (as opposite to Hell Awaits which one might expect) whereas ‘’Death Metal’’ opens up with a cryptic harmonic lead before all hell breaks loose again. After the scary noises of hell the title track opens up with a massive yet majestic riff, recalling a king walking up his throne before giving orders to his mortals below him. Even the vocalist spits out his rage in a more controlled manner here while the verses are strangely futuristic. It’s almost as of the guitarists travelled through time and while looking for inspitation, stumbled upon Mystifier’s third album and thought ‘’this sounds pretty cool, let’s write one track inspired by this record!’’

There’s really not much else to mention about Bloody Vengeance. I can imagine the production not being everyone’s cup of tea but that shouldn't be much of a surprise. The gritty guitars tend to sound like a wall of noise from time to time and the vocalist becomes slightly distracting with his loud yells but those shouldn't be any deal breakers. I'm sure anyone interested in the early variants of death metal, Brazilian extreme releases, or just like their metal fast and heavy should definitely find this album valuable. Are you ready to explode?

Muthalode - 98%

TripeOverload, August 7th, 2015

This.

This was made in 1986. This is without doubt the greatest achievement in aggression from that year, beating even Kreator's frantic Pleasure To Kill and Dark Angel's raw Darkness Descends. There is no need for dark or melodramatic introductions on this album. It just takes off with a loud bang, going for your jugular with the very black metal-like riffing of Dominions of Death. Crazy double bass races along with the riffs - who will be the first one to make you yield? You just cannot know, especially when Angel's vocals enter the stage. An insane roar that seems to verge on singing, but man, that's some righteously crazed singing. The drum sound is nothing short of awesome with its crispness, achieving that seldom encountered hypnotism that is found on Darkthrone's Transylvanian Hunger. Last but not least, Dominions of Death includes two guitar leads, and both of them are gorgeous. This is not Slayer divebombing + whammy bar nuttery (and Reign In Blood was a bit marred by the loquaciousness of King and Hanneman, whose solos went on and on like an uncle who loves to hear himself talking, no matter how shitty the topic), and it is so much more delicious than the horrendously inept leads that Kreator delivered on Pleasure To Kill. Hendrix, Arthur Lee, Ron Asheton, Keiji Haino smile from the flames, and the flames seem to be fueled by amphetamine galore. You just don't fuck with this - wheezing, yelling, scraping flurries of metallic notes are lashed out by the mighty electric axe.

From here on, the fun just keeps on flowing from giant goblets. The songs on this album are quite similar in structure (except the grind blitzkrieg of Ready To Explode and the doom and gloom of the title track, which sounds highly similar to Celtic Frost and early Root), but when one is dealing with such sturdy songs, the only thing to do is lay back and shut the fuck up. The drummer shuns Dave Lombardo or Gene Hoglan acrobatics, usually opting for a style rather devoid of fills, but he clearly beats them at the speed game and delivers a fascinating performance on Ready To Explode with a jazz-like build-up at the middle of the track that is every bit as soulful as a Walt Whitman poem. At times, Vulcano make even Siege sound like The Who, without reaching Repulsion standards. The riffs' punishing melodies and grim tone drive the songs home with class, and the fact that a song does not feature n-squared riffs is nothing to be ashamed of with such high-octane riffs galloping around. I do prefer two-three yummy, efficient riffs to a whole bucket of abortions. The guitar leads are similar to the first track in their approach: the banshee-fucking-a-cyborg-in-agony approach. They are chock full of high notes and flutter in and out of timbral chaos, sometimes sounding like coming from a detuned guitar (take the brilliant Spirits of Evil for example with its bloodthirsty lead ending in atonal squeaks), but sounding exciting is the main goal, not tuning one's guitar properly, duh. And they succeeded on this album. Every song has a little something to distinguish itself from the others, and some of them (Spirits Of Evil and the title track) feature prominently the full-bodied, round sound of Zhema's bass, rivaling Mortuary Drape... hold it, I missed something. Yes, as a whole, this band is actually above Mortuary Drape, at least on this album. Angel's vocals stay riveting throughout the whole album, never letting down. The raw emotion in the vocals is so palpable that you can almost chew on it.

The album benefits from an inspired combination of songwriting and brevity. Vulcano realized the vital importance of being to the point - probably because they only had 24 hours to record the album - and didn't have any dreams of crafting songs of epic lengths. But they surely did their best to put out songs of epic intensity, and this masterpiece is the result. The only (very petty) complaint that I would have is due to the ending of the title track, a bit anticlimactic in comparison to the rest of the pieces on this album, and for that I have chosen to take away 2 points.

The rest of 98? Totally deserved. Words have failed me in this review, and this album is an immortal favorite in my heart. Get it now or get the fuck out of this planet, a world without Vulcano's Bloody Vengeance is no world worth living in.

Vulcano's debut is AWESOME! - 95%

Akerthorpe, July 20th, 2015

A band that I had missed out on the first time around was Vulcano, who hail from Brazil. So, when the chance arrived for me to review the reissue the remaster/reissue entitled “Bloody Vengeance” I was absolutely thrilled. I knew that not only did Vulcano have a heavy influence in the Brazilian metal underground but also underground metal in general, regardless of how obscure it was. My anticipations were high for this one and I am happy to say that I was not disappointed. My only regret is that I did not give these guys a chance a lot sooner.

Vulcano is an extremely dirty, gritty, and blasphemic sounding black/death/thrash sounding band who’s history goes all the way back to 1980. That alone should inform all metal heads that these guys have the experience it takes to have such a legacy as the one Vulcano has. The music on this remastered version of the now classic debut, bear some of the roots of the aforementioned genres, but while it is a bit rough sounding, Vulcano are one of the best Brazilian bands as far as fluency goes. Imagine, if you will, a more fluent version of the band Necrofago with elements of classic Venom, Sarcofago, and even the Italian band Bulldozer. This is the type of metal you would find on a foggy night in an old abandoned cathedral-like church spewing forth metallic doctrines of death and doom. And from the sound of things, it almost sounds like that is exactly how the band recorded this particular album. The way the band plays the music combined with the ever so slight yet hollowing “echo” type feel of some songs on this remastered version, really makes for a great night of pure metallic awesomeness as well as one of the greatest history lessons that these genres could ever give. By no means is this the “perfect” metal album, but it is awesome enough to make even the most sophisticated metal head take an interest in the obscure history that this band, or any band of this nature for that matter, has to offer.

One aspect that made this release even more great for me was the thick accent of the vocalist. It really added to the obscurity and overall feel of the material on this album. I really wouldn’t say that there is a language barrier where the vocals are concerned, but the accent of the vocalist adds a really awesome perspective of the music. The sound and feeling that this release provokes is extremely sickening and horrific for its time, so from that perspective, I am kind of thankful that I didn’t check them out back when this album came out, for the simple fact that I am not sure that I would have appreciated them for what they were doing then like I do now. Even so, part of me will always wish I would have after hearing this and knowing what I know now.

It is safe to say that Vulcano is among the founding fathers of Brazilian metal, and while their legacy might not be the biggest or greatest in metal, that legacy still bears the undeniable feeling and truth of what it means to be metal right down to the very soul, which can be felt in every note and vocal of this remastered/reissued edition of Vulcano’s debut release.

If you have never heard of this band, or have heard of the Vulcano name but not the music, I highly recommend that each and every one of you get this album and immerse yourself in absolute Brazilian metal awesomeness. I also would recommend this album to absolutely anyone into the obscure history of metal in general. These guys are still at it after all these years, so that should say something about their resiliency and love for this particular form of art. This version of the album was released by Greyhaze Records through Cogumelo Records. As an added plus, there is a dvd of a live show from 1986 called “Festival da Morte”. So, if the main album isn’t enough of an incentive to get this masterpiece, the live dvd should pretty much seal the deal!

More Devastating Than Mt. Vesuvius - 95%

Byrgan, July 9th, 2008

Taking the Roman mythology route, this band decided to purposely name themselves after the god of fire, and of course volcanoes. Identified in Greek mythology as Hephaestus (Hefesto/Hefaísto in Portuguese tongue), and to us English speaking folks as the equivalent of Vulcan. Although, having a band name like Vulcano or the casual perception of volcano, which leads you to push aside academics and possibly think of loose, synonymous wordings like big and crusty, and be careful not to forget its ominous erupting properties. Along with the intentional song title with the word "explode" in it. This band packs in so much delicious, raw metal, served in a crammed-and-cramped package, that only after its done will you get a chance to burp up hazardous excess. Yep, that one was definitely not good for you. Either that, or implode from combustible energy.

It is interesting when a group takes what is available to them and turns it around into something that can be worthwhile, and then often gets imitated. Bloody Vengeance's production would probably be widely stamped as: Not up to standards of excellence. Although, along those lines, it is a highly atmospheric recording that combines the song writing to back it up. Let's not exaggerate things too bad here, the recording doesn't have high volumes of hiss, warping fade-ins and outs, or a complete lack of mixing on an instrument with the rest. Though, the guitars and vocal volumes are at a disadvantage. With the vocals winning the right to be loudest. This is all comparing the production on the CD version. There are some minor pops, like you would get on a vinyl, coming from this version as well. Overall, it is for the most part even, and absorbed with tons of reverb on each of the instruments, giving it a centered, unified sound. Although, there is some rawness accompanied with each of the instruments, to the point of coming across as disgustingly dirty sounding. Don't expect a positive Brazilian metal band, that is going to uplift your spirits, rather, they are going to further agitate your situation by plowing down your reasoning barrier, and make you want to indiscriminately destroy things. Exclude your surrounding environment from objects that are vulnerable. Possibly, in preparation, before pressing the self-destructive play button, and cranking the leveling volume knob. This includes but not limited to cute puppies, unsuspecting infants, glaringly bright lamps, mocking television sets and weak walls for punching practice—nothing is safe or out of the question from this elemental monstrosity. It's quite possible author Stephen King, or his alter ego Richard Bachman, had this in his sights, to make a devilishly possessed album that lurks in your closet or haunts from your speakers. Perhaps even going with, 'The Bloody Vengeance: Music That Emits Bizarre and Deadly Weather Patterns (From a little town called Santos, out of Maine).'

The vocals have a specific emotion going for them. An almost melancholy mixed with a pissed off agenda. When at fast speeds he uses a rapid string of words overtop of the music. Luckily, he has a unique and strong vocal presentation. Because I've heard other bands attempt to do this kind of disc-jockeying display, and fall under being continuous and irritating. Though, his vocal pattern follows the rhythm of the song, like a particular series of pulsating, minor tremors. And at any minute the ground is going to crack open wide from its vibrating rumblings and swallow you whole. Lost to the abyss and you shan't be missed. He uses a distinct type of gruff-bellowing, sometimes shouting. That sounds like an emotional poet that just got hammered, took the stand, and decided to express his thoughts in loud and characterized oral-tradition; possibly a little too intimately; a little too buddy-buddy and palsy-walsy for close, cringing comfort; and possibly held with too much intimidation and fear-driven fascination to even consider a steer-clear of ominous, brooding trouble.

Underneath of the vocals, there is a hail of blitzing and blistering riffs galore. Which work hand-and-hand with the prominent bass guitar. There are rhythm and lead guitar parts, but most often the bass will act as the rhythm, highlighting the chugged and often times, quickly played, high-strung guitars. The guitarists use primitive and aggressive forms. Swaying the song with blazing, simplistic tremolo sections, when the music is uniformly quicker paced. They also throw in combos of single string hits, mixed with more-metal-than-ever power chords. When the music is at its fastest, they might get lost underneath of the vocals, yet, you get the gist of them with the following clean bass hits and drum fills. There is a solo at an average of one per song. Which uses a higher volume to pierce your ear drums. Literally, they add no wavering effects, just a double-dip of reverb, accompanied with fastly played grinding and pulling of the strings. To make the faint of heart curl up into a fetal position and regress by sucking their pitiful, grown-up thumbs. Surrounded by the unsettling guitar and bass notes, pumped into your more than waiting ears. Vulcanos' drums have to be able to match what distasteful spoutings the guitars produce. The snare is the loudest drum on his set. If you could summon a meteorologist, he would have no trouble mapping it as the eye wall. Which is of course the most threatening area of a cyclonic storm. Even when the faster sections are spinning and ravishing, you'll hear snare and hi-hat, and a small, but dangerous, detectable cymbal fill. He doesn't quite reach a blast level. But more of a quick, every other hit. It also sounds like he uses a simultaneous hit, with an up and down arm-locked action, rather than the proper wrist only motion, which leads you to speedier drumming. There are double bass sections galore when at a mid-paced or slower section. He has a particular sketchy way of doing them, where they might not always be continuous. Even sometimes used more in a gallop fashion and then a snare hit.

Vulcano took their available resources and combined their raw and dirty talent, to make Bloody Vengeance into an atmospheric and great, extreme thrash release. With a death-thrash motif, and overtones of evil and perversion. Which makes it even more over the top. They should have just called the 66..6th track, opps sorry must have that key sticking, "black metal." Although, the hazy black/death-thrash metal labeling could probably go either way for them. Furthermore, musically, each instrument seems to have its own personality. From the raw and aggressive guitars, to the stand out bass, the nobody-can-tell-me-not-to-play-that-fast drums, and unique vocal presentation. Vulcano have created an innovative full length that is worth many listens, many times over.

I challenge anyone to hear this and be still! - 90%

Abominatrix, June 27th, 2007

There's a certain type of metal whose quality can only be measured by the way it accelerates the heart-rate and forces you to move, in a sort of devillish antithesis to the way a hypnotic thumping dance beat makes the denizens at a club gyrate and stomp around. Of course this power is directly related to the quality of the riffs, the dextrous charisma of pounding percussion and venomous vocal attack. If I were writing a one line advertisement in a distro catalogue, then, rather than a review for metal-archives.com, I might say: "Vulcano's "Bloody Vengeance' is like a dose of cocaine injected straight into the aorta." Ah, but any seasoned metal listener will point out that much thrash and early death metal in particular has this quality of being able to get the blood pumping manically and the limbs spasmodically jerking in time with the cranium. If you've already got loads of nebulously classifiable "evil and fast" metal from the 80s and proudly hold aloft your Sarcofago, Mutilator and old Sepultura records to all your friends, why make yet another Brazilian band a priority? Vulcano haven't even given you the conversation piece of selling out to the next trend in metal!

Here's a band that started out playing material in line with the NWOBHM and built quite a following in their homeland prior to releasing this gem in 1986. The feeling here is an absolute outpouring of energy and violence, the percussion pounding and dominant in the way that 80s South American bands seem to like it, the vocals drenched in reverb and howling with fury. The band sounds loose and inebriated, but not incredibly sloppy, and the sound on the CD release at least makes everything audible, including the rather percussive bass playing. There is a bit of a formula present here, and one can usually expect the majority of a song to be frenetic and blisteringly fast but to reduce the tempo some for a pounding chorus. Indeed, the first three songs feature nearly identical chorus riffs and patterns, but it sounds good! "Spirits of eeeevil! Commanding the deaaath!" Watch out for the solos, particularly if you're wearing headphones, because they're loud, shrill and will make your eardrums bleed. These leads sound like a drunk and possessed Kirk hammet with just a hint of rabies for spice and are recorded quite amateurly but full of fire-breathing conviction. In fact, I adore the way this album sounds in general as it is quite raw and obviously unpolished, yet extremely clear and loud. The phrase "Ready to Explode" pretty much defines the whole concept of this album, and words cannot express how well it all sounds as it rains irradiated rubble over your home. The band goes slightly experimental (in the context of 1980s Brazilian metal, anyway) with the title track, whose intro is a layered collage of growls and screams invoking various demonic names and occult concepts seemingly at random and which segues directly into the slowest and most epic (at just over five minutes!) piece on this album. Things pick up speed in the second half of the song, of course, but as the opening chuggig melodic riffs make their presence known I am instantly reminded of Rotting Christ and their debut in the traditionally Helenic black metal style, "passage to Arcturo". Perhaps it was Vulcano as well as Varathron who encouraged them to change styles?

But wait ... there is one painful flaw in this recording, and it is a bit of an exasperation, especially if you have to shell out some considerable cash in order to obtain it. yes, the damn thing is a mere twenty-three minutes long! That means though that you don't need any rest or respite from your bout of explosive, destructive behaviour as you spin this!

Brazilian Venom! - 85%

Egregius, November 19th, 2003

Woo, I finally got to lay my hands on Vulcano's albums!

It's hard to imagine this album was already made in '86; it's so damn extreme! In sounds, it can be compared to Sarcofago, yes the band that influenced so much of the black metal scene. And Vulcano was earlier! It isn't a stretch to say Vulcano had some influence on Sarcofago, and hence the bm-scene.

The music is mean-spirited, bestial and vicious thrash of the extreme kind. You could say this is (one of?) the first black metal albums from South America; it features extreme music, blasphemy and particularly an attitude. The guitars are razorsharp, the drumming is frenetic and the vocals are proto-black metal screams. Oh and the lyrics are, of course, just like all the other early extreme South American bands, extreme and in engrish (although not as bad as Torturer).

The production isn't perfect, coming from South America, but the music carries over the spirit Vulcano put into this record very well.

In summary: one hell of an album, where the strength lies in the attitude of the musicians, not their musicianship. Extreme thrash, or death metal, or proto-black, all labels apply. The songs are distinct from eachother even if simple and having the same general sound.
Oh and Ready To Explode is a bit silly.