Scarificare- Postulado (2013)

Scarificare- Postulado (2013)

Definitely, Norwegian black metal and Swedish death metal are classics, you tend to measure any new branches against these forerunners, and is obviously difficult to cope with them, in recent days, Portugal defeated Sweden on the road to the football road cup, maybe Portugal is better in football, yes, they have the androgyny crack Cristiano Ronaldo, anyway I have always thought of Portugal as a very special place, a quiet and peaceful one where few things are going on, of course they were severely hit by the world crisis which took Europe by storm, they have beautiful fado music, which I like a lot, they have Maria de Medeiros, an extraordinary beautiful chanteuse and actress, and yes they have Cristiano Ronaldo, but wait a second, that’s not all about Portugal, if you thought they couldn’t, yes, they can compete in a very decent way with Norwegian black metal bands and that’s thanks to Scarificare, a savage black metal band from that region, Oporto to be more exact, a very brutal act that immediately brings me to mind the great Satyricon, making it crazy to think about the cold landscapes of Norway, while you are on a sunny beach at Portugal, but yes, it works anyway.

Ab Aeterno is a great and wild ride thru black metal intensity at its best, we have guitars that roll in a furious way, we have ground shaking drums, the band really knows how to play and how to put us in the center of the enormous hurricane of sound they create, in the center we are greeted by a powerful growler or should I say vocalist? Who really knows how to sound bestial, and the Celtic Frost approach of extreme metal is really perceptible in these Portuguese who play as if their bloody lives depended on it, in a pulverizing way that really left little to be desired, drums sound desperate and carry in a perfect way the tune in a way that would make old Tom G Warrior very proud.

The band wastes no time and they once again put themselves to heavy work with Kybalion, which once again finds the band at full speed and with dissonant guitars that bring to my mind the almighty Voivod is such a thing could be possible, what is important to signal here is that the band is capable of invoking wild fury, but at the same times they show remarkable musicianship, and if the Satyricon comparative is a valid one, they sound as capable and confident as the Scandinavian guys, as songs like Praise The Nut (what a title!) show clearly, the band knows how to create tension, they sound powerful and confident like old Celtic Frost, and their malevolence is put as center without sounding rubbish, perfect double bass drums get a major role in this theme, as guitars grind at their side, and monstrous blast beats are thrown in for extra intensity, and by Hypnosis Religio we are completely absorbed by these powerful darkness architects, tunes like Samadhi show the band at full raging power, and others like Vitruvius show a little more melody inducted into the song structures, something that definitely, in the long run set this guys apart.

Postulado may not be the most varied collection of tune sin the black metal realms, but classic bands like Burzum or Mayhem were never about diversity they were about full demonical front exploding into one direction, and that’s something that Scarificare know how to do it, and they excel into applying full power into each one of their themes, the band is intense without a doubt and its just a matter of time for them to become a more well known name in the black metal world scenario, perhaps one day we can speak of Portugal as another hot bed for black metal bands, who knows? In the mean time Postulado is sure to please the thirstiest and hungrier black metal fans with such devastating recordings, as we come to know that fado and Maria de Medeiros are not the only good things coming from Portugal.