...and Evil Returns

Murder Rape started out as burly strong-arms on their grainy but atmospheric demo. Their debut still hit the weights and maintained a deadly sound, though they put on prominent and thicker wardrobes and their movements became noticeably clunky and occasionally unsynchronized as a result. Their second full length trimmed the garbs and shed a few pounds off their bulk. They're done killing with large, heavy blows and concentrate on seeping mind games and slow torture—a characteristic use of black metal where the victim is held onto longer and nearly every thrust is delivered like needle pricks.

Slower tendencies were no stranger to certain black metal bands in Brazil. Mystifier reduced speeds on "Goetia," Mephistopheles and Asaradel got there when they got there on demos, and specifically Amen Corner's "Jachol Ve Tehila" set up some of the structure for Murder Rape with this dark and pondering style. "...and Evil Returns" can crawl along like Bethlehem with these rung out notes that are occasionally crossed with a simplistic use of melodic palm mute and chord combos like earlier Varathron and Rotting Christ. "Wonders of Shadows" has a few that are crunched aggressively and sound lifted directly from Samael's song "Worship Him."

In comparison to the last album, this is level with each instrument and also has a layer of effects to project the sounds outward. It takes on higher tones without being piercing or grating: the guitars are thinner but have a fair amount of distortion; the drums are less in your face but have a tighter snare to make the beat easier to follow; and the vocals match the roundup mainly with spreading screams. It could have used more volume on the double bass pedals and also a little more "bite" when they switch over to palm mutes, as it's more of a smoothed out sound and can make some difference to their impact, but when floating notes along it definitely matches.

The song writing is minimalist and purposely repetitious. This can help the band build this growing black-universe that gradually pulls its listeners closer and closer to its encased atmosphere of hopelessness and melancholy. It's music that demands your entire attention, but some issues arise when Murder Rape doesn't take advantage of switching it up a little more, as there might not be a significant structure change due to the composition being thoroughly simplistic. Like that mentioned Samael riff, which can carry on and instead work better with the brawny production on "Worship Him."

The vocals, even if not the most stand out in bm, are usually pretty active with their extended howls and partial growls to the point of hoarseness. There are some buried and more engaging keyboard sections which can help add little shifts by including emulated sounds such as choir and organ. There is also the occasional pick-up part where the beat can venture to a middle ground. "Echoes from the New MIllenium" uses faster oriented double picking and a galloping tempo to open up with. "Celebration of Supreme Evil" eventually breaks into a lead that plucks a few strings harmoniously; that's one thing this could have benefited from, by having more separate guitar lines.

This is music that might only produce a light nod of your head from a concentrated dark force that drains instead of energizes or rejuvenates. "...and Evil Returns" made a sizeable transformation for the band. In the past, they took on more characteristics from death metal, though here, they still maintained the slowness but would use melody, screams and nearly bass-free production. My listening tastes could go either way and I don't mind the snail-movers when it comes to tempo. In comparison to the debut, I feel that this is a style that suited them better and lent out more substantial ground.

Here we have the very first album released by Brazil's Evil Horde Records (its proprietor is involved with the band). Not a bad start.....

Looking at the booklet, with its earnest hymns to a certain infernal warlord and corpsepainted misanthropic horde, or especially the rear inlay (which entertainingly depicts a goatish demon sodomizing a nun), one could be forgiven for the assumption that this is black metal of a rather traditional sort, or at least a serviceably impassioned chunk of norsecore. Hell, it's the impression I got, which is why I got the damned thing. In truth, it's not exactly what one might at first expect...

....Instead of a cacophony of blastbeats and shrieking guitars, the listener is treated to a very considered, doomy sound--by both regional and stylistic standards, this is slooooooowwww. Most of the songs follow a somewhat plodding, 'marching' sort of tempo. The fastest track here, 'Echoes from the New Millenium', would be considered on the slow side of mid-paced for most black metal tunes.

However, this is certainly not just typical BM played slow, (or typical slow BM, by the same token). Indeed, the rhythm guitars and occasional lead breaks present a sort of classic metal/rock feel (albeit from the significantly slower/heavier strata). The vocals are perfectly serviceable, quite intelligible, and also mostly unremarkable. The drumming is competent, keeping the pace well enough, and occasionally making noteworthy use of the snare and/or hi-hat to break up the pace a bit. Some church organ-like keyboards are present, and are used mainly as supplementary color for the songs. This, coupled with the generally clear and distinct production, serves to add a bit more flavor and atmosphere to the proceedings....

....Which, quite frankly, they seem to sorely need. The problem with the album is that its plodding tempo and lack of any really extraneous structures or instrumentation make it sound a bit samey in places. In many other contexts this wouldn't be a major problem in and of itself, but I seem to have a tough time keeping my mind on the music...it's not striking or poignant enough to really be captivating, and it's not quite varied enough to retain a strong grip on the listener's attention.

On the whole, it's well played and professionally presented, and would serve well as 'something a little different' for those only familiar with the stylings of the more well-known bands of early/mid 90's Scandinavian scene. However, it's just not quite well-written or memorable enough to warrant more than an occasional partaking. There is very real potential here, which unfortunately wasn't really realized on the follow-up to any considerable degree.

Standouts: Pail Air of Melancholy, Echoes from the New Millennium