Viper. Soldiers of Sunrise. EX+ Heavy Metal Import LP. No Bar Code

$

36

Viper. Soldiers of Sunrise. Rock Brigade Records(CAT-RBR-060). 1988. Brazil Import.
The Brazilian metal scene was too busy shocking the fanbase, creating all the extreme branches of the genre: death, black, grind, alien cyberpornomosh (what the fuck is that!?) … the lots. There was no rest for the wicked as Sepultura, Sarcofago, Holocausto, Vulcano, Sextrash and the others were racing as to who would produce the most brutal, the most outrageous sounds known to mankind. Consequently, not much attention was paid to the more melodic genres; at least not at first sight although the pioneers Overdose quickly grasped the situation, and started churning out pretty decent epic power metal sagas. Viper were also around at that time with their demos which showed them testing the possibilities within the faster parametres disregarding the more conventional sounds of the good old heavy metal.

Their eyes must have been fixed firmly on what was going on on the German field since their debut is a smashing speed metal winner in the best tradition of Helloween’s “Walls of Jericho” and Angel Dust’s “Into the Dark Past”. “Knights of Destruction” starts the saga with blazing guitars and excellent soaring dramatic clean vocals courtesy of none other than Andre Matos (also Angra), arguably the finest singer to ever come out of Brazil. A great chorus and thundering bass aggravate the positive impression which carries on with “Nightmares”, one of the ten catchiest metal hymns ever, a masterpiece of sing-along goodness which one can spend a whole day listening to; goofy cheesy stuff, but utterly infectious. “The Whipper” will “whip” all the cream around your house despite its more officiant epic beginning; speed returns on full-throttle later the guys moshing like demented to create the most aggressive track on the album. “Wings of the Evil” is a galloping delight adding another great chorus to the foray, and “H.R.” is the next in line raging shredder, an ode to all human resource managers around the world (ha ha! kidding of course!) unless this abbreviation has some other meaning.

The title-track is the progressive sweeping epic, a 7-min composition which still keeps the speed metal flying for most of the time excluding the more pompous mid-break; the leads reach a culmination here creating virtuoso landscapes also occupying quite a bit of space. “Signs of the Night” returns to the more immediate formula, and is another great memorable anthem with rousing galloping rhythms and the umpteenth super-catchy chorus. “Killera (Princess of Hell)” proceeds with the gallops in an all-instrumental fashion the vigorous riffs “duelling” with the flashy leads to a dramatic effect. “Law of the Sword” stays faithful to the highly energetic delivery throwing fast-paced strokes and outstanding vocal feats at the listener who will be more than satisfied by the end of this highly entertaining roller-coaster.

The time was just perfect for albums like that, heroic hymns of speed and power performed by a bunch of youthful inspired metallers. The guys’ compatriots Vodu also followed a similar path (the two band shared a drummer at the beginning), and it’s hard to decide which opus should be the finest speed metal slab ever from Brazil, this one or Vodu’s “Seeds of Destruction”, released a year later.

Conditions Rated: Cover 6 or VG+ low gloss cover, with light edge wear and corner bumps, upper left corner bend, includes lyric insert///Record 9 or NM- black and shiny, heavy vinyl, play it loud.

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