Holocausto: Diário de Guerra (2019)

Holocausto's history dates all the way back to the mid 1980's, rising out of Brazil around the same time as the much better known Sarcófago and Sepultura.  And honestly, the music definitely shows.  While the aforementioned bands have adapted and evolved over time, Holocausto's sound now still sounds like it has not changed at all.

This is the band's first album since 2005, which is not the band's only hiatus, as that was their first album since 1993.  The band's sound on this release is rooted in the sound of Sodom demos (and the album cover proves the obvious Sodom influence) and the early extreme metal sound from South America, like the bands mentioned above.  The songs are mostly simplistic, based around one or two riffs per song and only really diversifying their sound through the use of samples of warfare that break through at times.  There are exceptions of course.  The title track is the best song on the album as it breaks into a groove-laden thrash break that will have heads banging.  But for the most part, this is extremely raw and ferocious, yet simple tracks.

This is probably not for everyone.  There is nothing particularly pretty here and it is just pure raw aggression.  It is also not particularly original.  Those who do not care for the early roots of South American extreme metal will probably not care for it.  This is nothing new, but it's still a lot of fun.