Discriminado

Crossover generally falls into 2 categories, one being an overtly comical hardcore experience where the songs barely stay around long enough to ruin necks and has occasional thrash moments, the other being more of a miniaturized version of thrash metal with maybe a bit more of an overt hardcore influence to the vocals. Generally speaking, I tend to prefer the latter category as it goes a little bit beyond just being ridiculously fast and simply blazing away on a 3 power chord progression, giving the listener a bit more to grab onto and having some degree of depth and development. Though they are brand new to the scene, Brazil’s Triturador smashes the hardcore/thrash boundary and faces with about the same ferocity as Municipal Waste.

The format of this fleeting EP is among the more well-rounded exercises in politically conscious thrashing minimalism, consisting of a few moving parts and a general emphasis on the faster moshing sections. The riff work tends to shift between straight up Discharge brand orthodoxy and a series of fairly involved yet repetitive ideas that reminisce of the New York thrash scene. In fact, the band’s eponymous song “Triturador” would have worked well as an S.O.D. song if said band had opted to stick a little closer to the Anthrax model and drawn things out a bit longer. Taking things a step further, “Thrash Ou Morte” is more of an all out thrasher in a slightly smaller than average package, complete with a blindingly fast riff set and a fairly impressive guitar solo that could pass for Nuclear Assault circa 1988.

The only area where this band gets a little bit bogged down is in the vocal department, as Gabriel’s vocals don’t quite embody the same degree of grit as his blistering guitar work. He has one of those yelling styled punk voices that doesn’t necessarily work against the format in use, but it gets a bit tiresome even within the context of an album barely timing over 10 minutes and could stand to have a little more grit and gravel to it, though maybe not to the excess of Billy Milano lest it get a bit too comical for the subjects that the lyrics cover. The gang vocal sections, which appear at fairly spare intervals, have a bit more gusto, but it doesn’t quite hit the ears with the same degree of impact as a typical Anthrax gang shout.

This is an overall decent outing that should sit well with any fans of Municipal Waste, Iron Reagan, D.R.I. and early English Dogs. It definitely gets the job done in the guitar department and has a few really effective shifts in feel that keeps things interesting. If they were to add just a bit more attitude to the vocals and some additional guitar solos, this band could probably trade blows with Municipal Waste and answer that long unanswered question as to whether crossover lyrics pack a bigger punch in English or Portuguese. All bets are off.