Artist: Terror 83
Title: Demo
Release: Tape / Digital
Year: 2021
Label: Rundgång Rekords, Sista Versen, Grönpeppar Records
Swedish punks paying homage to the classic sound of the ’80s is nothing new under the sun. Fantastic bands like Śmierć singing in Polish or the ripping Japanese hardcore influences in 偏執症者 (Paranoid) are not only classic in their approach, but also breathing a new life and interest into international scenes that shouldn’t fade into obscurity just because it’s been a while since the heyday of their popularity!
Malmö’s Terror 83 are setting the time machine to take us back to São Paulo in the formative period of Brazilian hardcore punk around 1980-1985. Their first demo tape consists of ten raw cuts of simple, barboned and ill-tempered hardcore in Português brasileiro. For the uninitiated, the number 83 in the band’s name stands for 1983, the year when the absolute classic SUB compilation LP was released on vinyl by Estúdios Vermelhos.
Terrorized by these hard times we live in, we felt forced to play terror punk songs very terribly and bring you back to the Brazilian punk scene of 1983, where you will feel terror enough to not fear anything else anymore!
The five original Terror 83 songs are clearly influenced by the sound of all these old São Paulo bands. The other half of the tracks on this tape are actually covers of Brazilian bands from that era. Two Psykóze tracks taken of the aforementioned compilation, and just when you think you’ll hear some sick Ratos de Porão, Fogo Cruzado, or Cólera covers, the band surprisingly comes up with two songs originally played by an all-female band called Mercenárias, who later in the ’80s changed their name to As Mercenárias and went into a full-fledged new wave / post-punk direction. The closing track is as classic as it gets though, with a great rendition of “Botas, Fuzis, Capacetes”, originally by the almighty Olho Seco.
Add to that a brilliant cover artwork depicting the current Brazilian fascist-in-charge Jair Bolsonaro as a devilish figure staring at you, and I’m sure you will enjoy this down to the very last bit. I will be listening to this on repeat for a while now.
