Dumb band name, perhaps something got lost in the translation. What comes through loud and clear is the music on this apparently self-financed debut, which shows the Brazilian traditional metallers have learned a lot since their ’04 inception. Lots of gritty mid-tempo to upbeat numbers, with plenty of fast widdling guitar breaks. Surprisingly, they sound nothing like Angra (the leading cultural export), adopting a more American style, ala Omen or Metal Church. Carlos Sousa’s raspy voice recalls Evergrey’s Tom Englund, especially on the slower passages. Bells chime in the mid-paced ‘A Thousand Deaths’, while the out-of-place ‘Wasted Bullets’ could be a country ballad, beginning with a gunshot, acoustic guitar and harmonica, only to be joined later by a female scat singer.

In the sparse sections, Sousa’s accent and vocal deficiencies are obvious. The bass strings on the rapid ‘Battle Splendour’ are so loose they threaten to fall of the neck. ‘Silent Grave’ locks into a primordial headbanging melody. The intro to ‘Insane Minds’ rips off Accept’s ‘Fast As A Shark’ and their signature tune is one endless shred. Breaking from the mold and letting a couple more tracks rip, start-to-finish (like the opening ‘Will Of Steel’), certainly seems warranted.

A good first step.