Inquisição Espiritual

To be frank, I didn't really expect much on this record to begin with. Carniçal is a band that grew due to internet influence, more specifically due to social media, such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. They started to gain popularity thanks to this, and in the brazilian underground, people started to notice those internet kids at their live performances, as such, they've gained some "pop" notority, that really tends to push metalheads away, myself included. Personally I thought they were just cool kids with a guitar in hand, posing to be headbangers.

That initial suspicion quickly went away, as I've finally got my ears on "Inquisição Espiritual". They start off with "Despertar", a tribal-like intro, kinda like Sepultura used to, I don't really like it, but I guess they were trying to justify the title on the cover. The first track "Pedrada" Starts off simple, slow riff, rispid vocals and dirty production, kinda expected for South American metal, except for the slow part. I noticed right here that they weren't just trying to throw something we already all know what it's like. But instead it's very deep and heavy, with isolated growlings, which is enjoyable, personally I prefer fast songs, blastbeating and raging riffs, and I was afraid that album wouldn't have any of this, or if they wanted a slow-paced song, it should be later on at the album. But from the second song "Mistério Macabro" on foward, they put my fears aside, and kicks off their fast drumming and raging riffs on their songs. But then again, they still differ from what I'm used to on South American thrash or black metal, it's noticeable that they are trying to sound different in their own way, but they don't go as far as not being metal at all. I also noticed some sloppy instrumentals and vocals that sometimes seems out of tune, well, pretty much the spirit of South American metal.

The final songs, "Ritual" with loud, desperate screaming, really points out the suffering feel they wanted to give this record, and slows down at the end with "A Morte de Cristo", actually a really good rythmic instrumental, the "Sonho de Liberdade" Outro is also very nice, and the Intro would feel better if it was like this, but can be forgettable due to being after an already long instrumental.

My only issues with this EP, is the Intro that feels a bit disconnected to the rest of the record, the fact that some songs like "Pedrada" doesn't build up from a beggining, they feel as if starts right on the middle of it. And the order of the songs, personally I don't think It's a good idea to put an instrumental at the ending, because many people will just skip it, not having vocals to catch the listener, and the Outro gets even more shaded out thanks to this.

"Inquisição Espiritual" is a really good kickstart to what Carniçal pretends to be in the future, aside from their controversial background, I really think it's great that new groups such as them are playing and releasing old-school style metal nowadays, a musical genre many people categorize as being "dead", bands like this prove that it's not. And I'm also glad that they're not just a copy paste of older works. It's far from being a perfect record, but I think it's pretty solid and worth listening to.

Highlights - "Mistério Macabro", "Silêncio da Noite" and "Ritual".

Carniçal is a highly a controversial band in the underground scene of Brazil, due to their use of social media such as TikTok and Facebook to gain more followers and their claims of being a 'black metal' band (Which they are not). That said my opinion about those or other controversies regarding the band or it's bandmates will not affect this review, this an unbiased review of their EP "Inquisição Espiritual".

"Inquisição Espiritual" opens with the track "Despertar", an intro that reminds of tribal/native music from South America, but overall nothing special. The second track "Pedrada" kicks off the album with slow and simple riffs, with a very "thrashy" guitar tone and accompanied by a thin but present bass. The only problems I had with this track (and which also happens in other songs of this album) are the vocals, who get can notably out of tune in higher notes and the drums, who sometimes seem to lose tempo and also get lost during the progression of songs. Almost all Lyrics are simple, but lack rhyming or musicality, which in the long run is noticeable and can bother if you understand Portuguese.

Going through this album the songs I disliked the most were "Silencio da Noite", "Guerra Mental" and "Ritual", and for the very same reasons I listed before, tracks going for too long and feeling very tired and stretched out, riffs feeling more uninspired and repetitive, drummer loses himself and vocals get too much out of tune. While those problems appear in the rest of the EP here they seem to be amplified and potentiated to the maximum, especially in "Silencio da Noite" (A song which also has a video clip, for some reason).

With that said, the songs I liked the most from the album were "Mistério Macabro" and "A Morte de Cristo". "Mistério Macabro" seems to be the most balanced song of the entire EP, with good solid guitar riffs/solos and drums. "A morte de Cristo" is a quick but effective ""headbanging"" instrumental, serving as an obvious tribute/medley to "Electric Funeral" from Black Sabbath and "Call of the Ktulu" from Metallica.
(PS: The outro "Sonho de Liberdade" is also pretty good and it's what I think the intro should have been like).

This is not a terrible album as many would want you to believe and also not as great as many who praise it claim to be, but as I listened to it I couldn't stop thinking about Sagrado Inferno and Overdose. The only difference being that those bands have speed in their songs which is something that Carniçal could have benefited from in order to make this release feel less tiring or mediocre. In general the production and mixing are alright, most problems with this release rise from the largely repetitive nature of its riffs, the lack of speed and the vocals. My only advice for those reading is to not fall for the falacy that this is a black metal EP, It isn't, even if the band claims to be the sound is closer to old school heavy metal and thrash than it is to black metal (even 1st wave BM). If you like the sound of Brazilian bands like Sagrado Inferno, you might want to give this EP a shot, even with the slower sound to it.