Burn the Promised Land

The first effort by these crazy Brazilian guys, Rebaelliun, came out in 1999 and it was already truly promising. The technical level of this band and its sheer heaviness contributed in raising the curiosity of many in this genre. The burning sound and the unmatchable velocity were essential characteristics of this young band and Burn The Promised Land was already great in this sense. As always, forget about melodies and cheesy parts because here it’s all about the pure violence. The production is already very good but it doesn’t reach the peaks of the following Annihilation.

“At War” accomplishes the mission of opening this album in a perfect way. The gun shots immediately announce the blast beats and the ultra heavy riffs. They are schizophrenic and uncontrollable, passing through furious tremolos and bludgeoning palm muting parts. The heaviness of the drummer is like a panzer, pulling the entire band behind him. The refrain shows high whistles by the lead guitars, while the rest is just incredibly fast and with an awesome, long solo. The Krisiun influences are evident and at times they are just embarrassing. However, for those who love this genre, it doesn’t matter where the style comes from.

From now on, the songs maintain the same level of intensity and speed. By the way, they are not always, completely fast like the ones on the following Annihilation and on “…...And The Immortals Shall Rise” we can even find a trace of melody for the slower sections. The guitar solos are always great in technique, mixing lots of techniques to create the right impact through quite difficult parts.
The vocals are the classic growled ones we can find on this genre and once again they are strongly influenced by Krisiun. The tonality is never “cold” or aseptic, but always warm and devastating; however, I think that they are there just as a surplus in violence, being the music the most important part of this brutal music.

“Spawning The Rebellion” is surprisingly quite groovy in some parts and it’s not completely on speed. There are numerous breaks even if the fast paced sections are the ones to mark out, also because they are filled with always great solos. “Flagellation Of Christ [The Revenge Of King Beelzebuth]” is the track that differs the most from the rest being a quite ritualistic and dark interlude. The bells and the distorted guitars add darkness to the album, while the following “Hell’s Decree” is completely different: it’s hyper fast with massive fast bass drums sections, but the mid-paced fragments by the end let the dark atmosphere return.

“The Legacy Of Eternal Wrath” is nothing but pure speed but the title track displays again few different riffs and structures, especially during the first parts. This style let the most violent sections acquire more power as “Triumph Of The Unholy Ones” ends this album with the same formula based on sheer speed and brutality. The blast beats seem neverending and the riffs are based on hyper fast palm muting essentially, without rejecting the tremolo picking for the fast bass drums sections. At the end you are just stunned by such brutality. Everything is so “in your face” here, so nasty and worth checking out if you had a bad day and you want to relax in a personal way.

Brazil at it's best!
This is death metal following in the old school path. I got this cd at a sale for almost nothing at all. I didn't expect much so this was a pleasant surprise!

The first song At War gives a good insight of the album. It starts off with an intro featuring gunfire, explosions people screaming etc.
Then hell brakes loose. Tremolopicking is essential through out the whole album. It sounds a bit like Krisiun’s "Apocalyptic Revelations", though the tremolo stuff is blended up with some fast riffs. The album has got that muffled sound, I guess that’s one contribute to the old school feeling.
The vocals are strictly based on guttural growling. If you’re looking for high pitched screams or something like, that you have to look elsewhere!

I read somewhere that the band had to sell off a lot of personal stuff just to afford the money to get to Europe to record. I don’t know if this is true or not, anyway I think it shows a dedication towards the music and that’s positive.

This album doesn’t really strike something new or groundbreaking into the scene.
It’s just a solid death metal album! I’d recommend it to anyone who would like to hear some fine Brazilian death metal.

When you think of Brazilian Old School Death Metal bands you think in Krisiun, Sarcofago or Old Sepultura but nobody seems to remember Rebaelliun. Well, that’s a shame. Rebaelliun were perhaps one of the most technical, fast and brutal hordes out there. Indeed, too bad they split up. So, this is the first release from these guys and it totally destroys!

The line-up is the same except for Marcello Manzari, their first bassist and vocalist. IMO, his voice, although not very different, suits better for Rebaelliun. You can understand almost everything he growls. Excellent vocal performance by Manzari. The two guitar players play fast crushing riffs and maniacal solos, pretty much like Moyses from Krisiun. If you look carefully, this band has a lot in common with Krisiun. The drumming is pretty good packed with blast beats and all that ultra-aggressive stuff.

Now, the production is VERY good. This is a debut album from an underground band. Krisiun would wish to have that kind of production on “Black Force Domain”. Everything is crystal clear leaving much space for the relentless brutality.

All the songs are excellent and the lyrics are pretty cool. I love when Manzari screams “SATAN!” in “The legacy of Eternal Wrath”, fuckin´ badass. This album is completely merciless, when “At War” kicks in, lookout, because your head will probably bang automatically!

Highlights: “At War”, “Killing for the Domain”, “The Legacy of Eternal Wrath” and “Triumph of the Unholy Ones”