Torture Squad – Devilish
Torture Squad – Devilish
Time To Kill Records
Release Date: 22/09/2023
Running Time: 49:49
Review by Victor Augusto
8/10
You are probably extremely tired of hearing me talk about all the obstacles bands suffer to keep surviving in a musical scenario of playing extreme music, especially when you are an underground band. Today I will repeat another thing that I frequently mention here, that is how amazing is when an important and famous band is able to keep surprising their fans after decades and this is what I must talk about the new album of the Brazilian Death Metal band Torture Squad.
If you don’t know them, these Brazilians have been on the road for decades with countless tours in Brazil, also out of here, including a memorable win at Wacken Metal Battle in 2007 and a great performance at Rock In Rio 2019. The line-up changes were also part of their history, but since 2015 they reached a stable formation, and this is their third release of material since then. The band’s musicians are notorious in their local scene for their capabilities, and I believe it is very explicitly clear here, offering something different from the previous albums after so many years.
They explored so many different musical patterns over their Heavy sound that to entitle them as just a Death Metal band could be seen as unfair. Maybe it is correct to say that you can expect a very wide range of music over the Death Metal base. “Devilish” shows this amount of talent together. Every time you will be surprised with many different elements, sometimes present in one single track. Maybe it would require careful listening as it required two months of listening for me.
The heaviest tracks, like ‘Mabus’, are focused on the traditional technical Death Metal that we know them for, even adding few riental or middle eastern elements like the opening song ‘Hell is Coming’. The surprises come with ‘Warrior’ starting with a bluesy riff heavily arranged and ‘Uatamã’ with several guests to join forces in a screaming against all indigenous problems in Brazil. One of these guests was perfectly thought out here and it is Susane Hécate, vocalist of Misthenia. For me, She is also the frontwoman that I most admire from all Brazilian bands.
Let me highlight a specific point and it is called Mayara Puertas. Yes, the vocalist Mayara. She has been doing an amazing job since she joined the band in 2015 and considering the level of all vocalists that were part of the band, it is not an easy task. But I’m giving emphasis because she brought back the spirit of what the first singer Vitor Rodrigues has done, and she went further. Her versatility is notorious, going from the heaviest vocal of what Death / Thrash could offer until beautiful clean vocals full of emotions.
By the way, I got to check out the band live at Porão do Rock festival this year (reviewed here at Ever Metal) and the way she is free on the stage is beautiful. If you are looking for a band who has a frontwoman that really represents the entire band and their entire career, you must check what Mayara has been doing.
Rene Simionato is another guy who kept the band’s legacy of having killer guitarists alive and he also is putting his identity on the band’s music. The old partners in crime, the drummer Amilcar Christófaro and the bassist Castor are sounding killer as they always have been. And with a dream team like that, it is not easy to put all ideas together.
The second wave of surprises appear at the end of the album with calm and acoustic songs like ‘Find My Way’. Do you remember when I mentioned what Mayara did great about putting her emotions with clean vocals? There all the band showed their sentimental side to compose beautiful songs which fit perfectly to not let the entire album sound massive with just one genre being played as you hear on the acoustic ‘Gaia’. I believe ‘Farewell To Mankind’ is where they put their best about it.
Well, I’m sorry for this long review, but we are talking about a band with four incredible musicians that have spent six years putting ideas together since their last release and the result is “Devilish”. Maybe it could sound like having too much information in a first audition? It is a possibility! What I can assure you is that you will be in front of four incredible composers. It is your choice to decide what you think about it. Now, after many listens, I’m loving it!
TORTURE SQUAD – Mabus (Official Lyric video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo68R3bDZm0
TRACKLISTING:
01. Hell is Coming
02. Flukeman
03. Buried Alive (feat Andreas Kisser)
04. Warrior
05. Sanctuary
06. Uatumã
07. Thoth
08. Mabus
09. Find My Way
10. Gaia
11. Farewell To Mankind
12. The Last Journey
LINE-UP:
Mayara Puertas – Vocals
Rene Simionato – Guitar
Castor – Bass
Amilcar Christófaro – Drums
LINKS:
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