Metal Brigade

**** MERGED REVIEW FOR SPLIT ****

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(Megaton)

Part 1:

The Metal Brigade split was released back in 1987 and essentially showcased four upcoming Brazilian speed/thrash bands, by the names of Megaton, Angel, Minotauro and Cruciform, which was marred by a bad production job. Unfortunately these bands wouldn’t get anywhere and would disintegrate after a few more releases.

Starting off the split is the band Megaton. Probably being the thrashiest of the lot, they sound like a cross between Schizophrenia-era Sepultura and Sodom. Although being a bit generic, they are still fairly talented, as the first track, ‘Unknown Soldier’, shows. Starting off with a slow paced intro it quickly speeds up into some speedy, almost technical riffing. There are quite a lot of riffs in this song, and although I can’t count most of them due to the poor production job there is an abundance of them. At 2:42 there’s a great solo which is intertwined with some excellent riffs in between the gaps, which continues until the end of the song. ‘In Another World’ speeds it up a little with a fast paced intro before the riffage comes in. In the choruses it slows down a little before speeding up to where it was before. There’s a competent thrash break halfway through which leads into some effective soloing after which it returns to where it was before.

The guitarists pull off some great solos and riffs, as you may have gathered by now. The vocalist sounds a bit like a more melodic Tom Araya circa South of Heaven. The drumming is also quite good, and has some fast double bass with a few fills here and there.

Megaton was probably the most promising band on the split, but unfortunately split up after another demo like the other bands on here. ____________________________________________________________________________
(Angel)

Part 2:

The second band on the split, despite having a rather inappropriate name (considering the type of music they play) are pretty damn good and have taken a lot of influence from Helloween. This was to be the last output which would be seen from the band, the only other thing they had released was a demo the previous year.

This is more speed/power metal than thrash, although there certainly are a few thrash riffs to be found scattered around the songs. ‘Metal Castle’, their first contribution to the split, starts off with some dude saying ‘God bless Metal’ before the intro comes in, which consists of the vocalist (Lone Dover) showing off his vocal capacities and some chaotic drumming. After about a minute a great midpaced riff takes over, and combined with Lone Dover’s excellent vocal performance this shapes up to be a winner of a song. Add in some falsettos and blazing solos that wouldn’t sound out of place in ‘Walls of Jericho’ and this song simply owns. It does tend to get a bit long, however, and they could’ve cut off that bass part toward the end. The next track, ‘Alcohol Banger’, is another mid paced song which starts off with a bass intro before Lone Dover comes in with more falsettos. It is a bit of a let down compared to the previous track, as it doesn’t contain the same intensity and is a little boring and unimaginative. However, the riff at 1:40 and the solo that follows it is undeniably awesome, and saves it from being a bad track. Like the previous song, it is too long for its own good and could’ve benefited with one less verse/chorus.

The guitar duo of Bob Shaker and Sandro Butcher are able to pull out some above average riffs and are pretty good at soloing. The vocalist, Lone Dover, prefers to stick to his higher range and does a lot of wails to top it off. He sounds a lot like Kai Hansen at times, in fact. The drumming is nothing special, as it is little above basic, and the bass is clearly audible but tends to just stick to following the guitar lines.

Perhaps one of the lesser bands on the split, Angel was still pretty damn good and it is a shame that they broke up.

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(Minotauro)

Part 3:

The next band on here is Minotauro, and they’re probably the most melodic of the lot.

For the most part the band is a stock standard speed metal act. A comparison to Judas Priest would not be far off, as they sound like Priest would if Halford sung in a lower pitch and they added more thrash riffs into their works. ‘Fugitivo’ starts off with a fast paced riff which goes for about two minutes until a thrash break comes in with some average soloing appearing shortly afterward. It then returns to where it started off, which lasts until the end of the song. Next is ‘Hino de Guerra’, which starts off with an acoustic intro that only lasts for about fifteen minutes before a drum roll introduces the main riff of the song. It is a bit boring to be honest, as it is too slow to have any intensity, and instead sounds like an average hard rock song. There are also some annoying backing vocals in the verses. The solo is good but feels restrained, and it leads back into the verse before a second solo that is better than what came before it comes in to finish off the song.

The two guitarists on the album seem to have some talent; it just feels like they’re holding themselves back at times. They have the ability to create some good riffs, but unfortunately this is only seen in ‘Fugitivo’. The vocalist is pretty average, and rarely goes beyond his mid range. The drumming is pretty basic and the bass, although it sometimes takes a different direction to the guitars, mostly follows them.

Had they gone on then perhaps this band could’ve perfected their sound, as they have potential but it is only realized in one track. This is not the case, and like the others, they broke up too early.

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(Cruciform)

Part 4:

Finishing off the split is the band Cruciform, who although being Heavy Metal sounds a lot like thrash in parts.

This band is Heavy Metal, but a harsher version of it, as they tend to stray away from the ‘traditional’ sound and introduce darker sounding riffs. This can be seen on ‘Marchando Para O Inferno’, which although starting off innocently enough with a bland intro eventually evolves into an awesome riff that, if sped up, wouldn’t sound out of place on a thrash record. At 1:24 another riff comes in that sounds suspiciously like Overkill’s ‘Overkill’ before some NWOBHM influenced soloing takes over. It gradually speeds up and leads into another riff with the vocalist shouting over it. The song finishes off with the same riff that started it off. ‘Armagedon’ immediately starts off with a foreboding tremolo beginning which goes through various changes before a fast paced thrash riff takes the wheel. This is pretty much a thrash metal song, sounding a bit like Pleasure to Kill in the riffing and Slayer in the soloing. At 2:56 we have a very short thrash break which leads into some intense soloing and blast beats. It then finishes off how it started.

R. Kahler and J.D are excellent songwriters, and although nearly stealing the ‘Overkill’ riff nothing sounds out of place. The riffing is top notch is mostly tremolo with some shredding added in for good measure. The vocalist does some effective death/thrash shouts while the drummer provides some great drumming. The bass is inaudible.

Cruciform could’ve gone on to great things, which is easily noted by what is shown on here.

Conclusion: Overall, the Metal Brigade split achieves what it set out to do, that being displaying promising Brazilian bands. If it weren’t for the terrible and muffled production that makes it hard to hear much at all this would be a kick ass release. However, it still remains a quality compilation of Metal that is recommended should you ever stumble upon it on the internet, as I imagine it would be near impossible to find by now.