Genre: Brutal Death / Grind
Country: Brazil – Finland
Label: Guttural Brutality Productions
Release: 2021
3rd War Collapse is the international, extreme metal proposal of the week. With members from Brazil (Rodolfo Carrega & Cristiano Martinez) and Finland (Kalle Lindfors), the band released their first official album, entitled “Damnatus”, mixing elements from the American Death Metal scene, bringing in mind bands like Dying Fetus, the European Death Metal scene as formed by bands like Severe Torture, while certainly there’s a touch of old-school Swedish Death Metal during its darkest moments, and if I’m not mistaken, I can hear some elements of German Thrash. “Damnatus” has the ideal duration of almost half an hour, so it is consumed as a cool vodka shot during the heatwave. From an aesthetic point of view, 3rd War Collapse create a malicious atmosphere and at times you can feel their hate induced eagerness to destroy everything, something that’s amplified by the themes of their lyrics (war, political and social issues). Synthetically, we don’t come across innovative or pioneering compositions that can change the field; instead, they follow a well-known path, with dynamic rhythm sections, riffs that can hook you with their groove and some repetitive patterns that stay in your mind (after all, that is their purpose). Luckily, the album as a whole is far from being monotonous or annoyingly expected. It flows pleasantly. I single out the completely exotic and oriental “Forced To Suffer” because, in the midst of the continuous blast beasts and deep guttural vocals, it’s an oasis of difference. I would prefer a slightly different approach in production, in terms of the space given to the instruments, considering that (especially) the drums are quite “forward” in some parts, detuning the balance.
4/6
