Hierarchical Punishment / Vlfxvrz – Madness / Espectros na cidade fosforescente

Nigra Mors Productions

Review by Miloš Šebalj

https://hierarchicalpunishment.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/hierarchicalpunishmentband

https://vlfxvrz.bandcamp.com

Here’s a duo you won’t find on a front cover any time soon. Not unless my boy Steve here decides he’s sick and tired of having any readers at all. And it’s not because this release is ugly, because it’s actually quite carefully designed CD packaging. Neither is it because I’m dealing with some physical degenerates among the ranks of these two bands. The one reason is because this split album reeks of underground all the way. Brazilian grinding death metal and Galician (Spanish) experimental noise. Need I say more? Well, it would be helpful, yes…

Hierarchical Punishment comes from São Paulo and their earliest demos date back to mid 1990s. Though they’ve been fairly irregular with publishing new material for the better part of their existence, last twelve years saw the release of no less than four full length albums. One of those was 2019s “Madness” which appears on this split as well. The original record, though, contained twelve tracks and for this CD the Brazilians have added two covers, namely by Doom and Agathocles.

Those would be two suggestions for depicting in words the sound emanating from Hierarchical Punishment’s side of this split. But those would be quite loose. While the quintet does hold a note of crust punk, it is just a hint and their grindcore line goes further up the road of Napalm Death, Repulsion or Extreme Noise Terror (whose cover is also present here). On the other side, Hierarchical Punishment doesn’t dwell in the dreadful hideout of grindcore simplicity and nastiness just for the sake of it. Their grind is very much drenched in death metal, so the fans of Cannibal Corpse, for instance, or their spinoff Six Feet Under (another band that’s covered on “Madness”). As an example, take a quick listen to the song “Human Nature” and tell me I’m not the only one hearing “Hammer Smashed Face”. There’s also no denying some local death metal influences, like Headhunter D. C.

Outside of music, Hierarchical Punishment also pays tribute to both death and grind. Cover artwork for “Madness” is a typical horror, gory image, while the lyrics cover the topics that are nowhere near such a theme. These are mostly dealing with social and political injustices, inabilities of human minds to find their ways around the chaos of the world and such. The cover suggests Lovecraft, while the lyrics scream Johnny Rotten.

Oh, and please, the next time you think of combining a couple of different recordings on one release, please do some mastering, so as not to make me almost shit my pants when the “Everything Louder Than Everything Else” song “Road” starts.

As for Vlfxvrz, the above mention of experimental noise is also a rough estimate. Correct, but somehow lazy. The band is only a few years old, comprised of two musicians that appear to have recorded this sixteen minute long track on a single day and likely live in studio. And they also seem to have had a helping hand of another person. The cover artwork for their side of the split is much less intricate that Hierarchical Punishment’s, but this one seems to be spot-on with the topic. This spectral presence could just as easily be felt in the room with the listener. The whole track has a feel of a silent b-movie haunted house horror score. From the beginning that reminisces an abandoned mansion where a record spins on end, though moments of higher, almost industrial suspense, to a dramatic climax evoking some grinding black metal, to a twisted finale where the hero accepts the inevitable fate. The whole thing is not out of character for Vlfxvrz, considering their influences are often found in cinema.

“Espectros na cidade fosforescente” is made with use of noises, samples such as the mentioned record crackling, but also deep, pummelling bass guitar and drums, with a weird screeching voice appearing out of nowhere. It may not be your Sunday afternoon delight for a romantic meal, but don’t let the word noise or experimental deter you from Vlfxvrz. Particularly if you’re drawn to atypical sounds from atypical movies.