Deadland

Chakal nearly boarded the front echelon of Brazilian thrash in the late-80’s/early-90’s with a trio of fairly good, maybe not exactly exceptional, albums, showing at times hesitations as to whether to try something more brutal and death metal-ish, but not willing to fully capitalize on those darker shades.

After the more moderate, less intense, but still strictly classic-sounding “Death Is a Lonely Business“ the band hid from sight although it never became clear whether they split up or just took a low profile for a number of years. Whatever the reason for the lack of activity in their camp, it did keep them away from the public eye for over a decade until the album reviewed here sprang up, the guys willing to give it another try.

If there ever was, and still is, an ultimately annoying tendency in the new millennium among the old timers, this is the sudden impulse to pay tribute to the faded 90’s groovy/numetal movement on a comeback effort, either as a belated afterthought or as an idiotic sense of guilt for not giving their share to it when the time was right (what!? right time for that…). Chakal were arguably the first to initiate this horrible trend, and one can’t help but cringe at the sprawling uneventful grooves on lengthy draggers like the title-track and “Amputation Prayer” where the one-dimensional chugga-chugga riffage seems to last for ages; no respites, no highlights. Yes, in the midst of the 00’s we were going to experience another modern 90’s groovy charade brought to us by renowned Brazilian veterans.

Things only get worse later with short industrial/electronic etudes like “Communication Room” scattered around, making the situation barely tolerable with references to techno/industrial acts like later-period Front Line Assembly, Schnitt Acht, etc. Regardless of how good the nearly classic power/thrasher “Call of the Undead” sounds, one may as well pass it by his/her ears since there’s no support to this isolated outcry anywhere, the experimental Hawkwind-esque psychedelia on “Lazarus Waltz” making things even more confusing. And this is where they stay, in nomansland, with a wide range of influences awkwardly stitched together with no regards to how incompatible they sound when played next to each other, the groovy tag eventually semi-consolidated towards the end with the appearance of the heavy nervy, but still increasingly monotonous “Flying to the Empty”.

By 2003 it was way more than obvious which way the winds were blowing on the scene; it was clear that the old school would restore its dignity and popularity even without the help of unexpectedly reformed dissipators like our predators, or rather scavengers here. In fact, nostalgic recordings like this one were barely noticed, and I clearly remember how one guy I knew, a fan of Brazilian metal, exclaimed when he heard the follow-up “Demon King”: “Chakal are here again!” He wasn’t aware of the existence of this “Dreadland”… sorry, “Deadland”.

And for a very good reason as the guys themselves were only too quick to bury it deep with the mentioned opus less than a year later, an explosive statement of intent, a classic thrash beast that almost matched the finest moments from the band’s first three outings. Content with how convincingly they managed to erase the memories from this seriously miscalculated experiment, they took another long break before “Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!” put an end to the dormancy with a pretty decent combination of the last two efforts, by no means the most destructive opus out there, but far from the next in line flop. “Man Is a Jackal 2 Man” is a re-recording of the sophomore the band bringing arguably their finest hour to the table… hopefully to get them in the mood for the next deadly retro thrashy outburst.