Antidemon - Demonicídio (independent) 1999
1. Intro (1:12)
2. Demonicídio (3:05)
3. Suicídio (3:25)
4. Usuário (3:18)
5. Carniça (1:38)
6. Açoite (3:06)
7. Libertação (0:04)
8. Causas Alcoólicas (2:23)
9. Profundo Abismo (3:32)
10. Massacre (3:41)
11. Holocausto (3:33)
12. Ida sem Volta (0:58)
13. Apodrecida (2:47)
14. Escravo do Diabo (1:38)
15. Guerra ao Inferno (3:24)
16. Protesto A.M.N. (1:46)
17. Mundo Cão (1:59)
18. Terminada Maldição (0:09)
19. Cadáver (2:51)
20. Salário do Pecado (1:48)
21. Cadeias Infernais (1:48)
22. Droga (2:00)
23. Inferno (1:20)
24. Demônios Inativos (1:31)
25. Viagem (4:03)
26. Libertação II (0:04)
27. Confinamento Eterno (5:34)
Antidemon is a death metal/ grindcore act from Brazil formed in 1994 in São Paulo. After releasing several demos the band finally self-financed their debut full-length studio album "Demonicídio" in 1999. As would be expected, the band's sound is primal, guttural and mostly beats you over the head with aggression. That is exactly the case with Antidemon's debut. For the most part, I would mostly describe this album as short bursts of spastic aggression. There are hints of some influences outside the typical death metal and grindcore bands. For example, a few songs like "Causas Alcoólicas", "Viagem" and "Protesto A.M.N." have a definite punk influence, sounding like a cross between the Ramones and Napalm Death. "Massacre" and "Viagem " even feature some hardcore-style yelled vocals. However, most of the vocals are of the gutteral, growled variety. Being that the songs are mostly short, there is no guitar leads to speak of. Frankly, I would have liked to have heard some lead work on this album. The lyrics are mostly sung in Portuguese, which means I cannot decipher a word of what they are saying, though the band is proud of their Bible and Christian-based lyrical stance. "Demonicídio" is not an album to listen to for artistic nuances or musical experimentation. Antidemon are unabashedly old-school, stripped-down to the basics, grind-influenced death metal.
Antidemon - Apocalypsenow (Rowe Productions) 2012
1. Apocalypsenow (4:47)
2. Infernal (3:40)
3. Welcome To Death (4:47)
4. Virus (4:13)
5. Dominio (3:15)
6. Fuera Diablo (3:34)
7. Nao Tardara (5:42)
8. Rei Da Gloria (3:40)
9. Abominacao (4:40)
10. Possuidos (5:00)
11. Lamento (3:37)
I will preface my comments on Antidemon by just admitting up front that I am far from being an expert on death metal. Back in the late 80's and into the 1990's I was into bands like Death, Possessed, Carcass, Bolt Thrower, Mortification, Obituary, Napalm Death, etc. However, as the 90's turned into the 2000's my interest in death metal wained and I didn't keep up with the scene at all. Rather, I continued to follow a handful of bands that I really liked such as Death and Six Feet Under. It just seemed that it became a contest to see who could be the heaviest, the darkest, the most brutal with less and less thought put into solid songwriting and musicianship. As well, the vocalists were all starting to sound the same and one dimensional. I like growled vocals, but there needs to be some variety and charisma to add some spice and interest.
With that in mind, the latest addition to my death metal collection is Brazilian band Antidemon. The band is led by lead growler and bassist Batista. "Apocalypsenow" is the band's fourth full-length CD, following "Demonicídio" (1999) and "Anillo de Fuego" (2003) and Satanichaos (2009). In all that time between albums the band recorded many demos and some live releases.
Antidemon's sound is primal, guttural and mostly straight-forward death metal. You won't find Antidemon straying into core sounds or attempting to overcomplicate things. This isn't melodeath or mathmetal. However, what Antidemon offers isn't one dimensional either. Though the songs are mostly fast and heavy, they offer plenty of tempo changes from song to song, some memorable sledgehammer guitar riffs, a touch of intricacy and drum work that isn't one dimensional whatsoever. Sure, Juliana uses plenty of blastbeats. After all, it wouldn't really be death metal without some blast beats, however, she also mixes things up and helps to keep the songs interesting. Not surprisingly, the songs actually have melody as well, which adds to the overall appeal. Adding to the primal, straight-forward nature of this record is the production which is thick and heavy and not digital. You can hear the buzz of the amps during quiet moments and you can tell these are real drums played by a real drummer. There aren't layers upon layers of guitars, but the down tuned guitars and the natural amps sound fantastic. Though the songs all blend into one another (purposely), the album as a whole doesn't suffer from all the songs sounding the same. The one thing I would have liked to have heard was some fiery axe work in some areas. There is not a guitar solo to be found on any of the eleven tracks. Instead Luis sticks to only playing grinding rhythms.
As usual for this genre, the vocals are growled and guttural, sounding fairly one dimensional like cookie monster gargling with razor blades. If I could understand the lyrics, it probably wouldn't matter as they are mostly sung in the band's native language, Portuguese. The booklet offers the lryics in both Portuguese and English. Reading the lyrics there is no doubt where Antidemon stand; they are a full-fledged Christian band backed by Rowe Productions, the record label owned by Mortification's Steve Rowe. Steve would have it no other way.