And they’ve managed to capture their manic live energy on record!
If you’ve seen Fantazmaz live, you’ll know that the mostly-Brazilian London-based quartet are less a band than a force of nature. Vocalist Thami, in particular, is a photographer’s nightmare – simply unable to remain still for a split second, and nor would we want her to, not when they deliver such explosive performances. This album was recorded in just two days, and we’re happy to report that it’s as blisteringly intense as you could hope for.
The intro track (‘Are You Enjoying The Peaceful Sky?’) sounds like a recording of an idyllic Brazilian seaside, lulling us into a false sense of security before the awesome hardcore one-two blast of ‘Dead On The Way Home’ and ‘You Owe Me A Fortune’ burst forth. The former was inspired by a news story from Brazil about a group of young people mistakenly shot dead on the way home from a night out, and unsurprisingly the song – as with much of the record – is brimming with righteous rage.
From then on, whether going full-tilt hardcore or pacing themselves (relatively speaking) with an anthemic punk rock sound, they keep things raw and street-level at all times. We don’t know what the band have been through to relocate, survive and form a band in one of the world’s most expensive cities (a subject they tackle on the visceral ‘Scars Of Downtown’), but as Thami venomously spits out the chorus of ‘Pobreze É Violencia’ (that’s ’Poverty And Violence’ in Portuguese), it hits you that these songs sound lived – as in, born of struggle.
Final track ‘Just Before Hell Comes Around’ is built around dark hip hop beats, soulful vocals, and a great scratchy guitar line. After the relentless attack of most of this record, it comes as quite a surprise – and you get the feeling that’s exactly how those mischievous Fantazmaz folks want us to feel.
Only eighteen minutes long and with not a moment wasted – as debut albums go, this is one hell of an opening statement, and a great advert for the Fantazmaz live experience. Go check them out.
‘Fantazmaz’ is released via Ghetto Bitch Records on July 4th – pre-order it HERE.
- Are You Enjoying The Peaceful Sky?
- Dead On The Way Home
- You Owe Me A Fortune
- Distortion
- Does God Know Misery?
- Bullet
- Pobreza É Violencia
- Scars Of Downtown
- Corporate Behave
- Warheads
- Just Before Hell Comes Around
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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