Heretic – Entity EP
Self-Released
Release Date: 05/10/2020
Running Time: 31:51
Review by Victor Augusto
8.5/10
One thing that will probably never happen is me releasing a book. Firstly, because I don’t have many interesting things to talk about, except Heavy Metal and I already talk a lot about that here on Ever Metal. Maybe, though, I could write a text that includes everything I think is important to survive in the music industry and how bands can create a good fanbase. I often highlight the bad habits of some bands, but today I must mention one important positive detail that I see occasionally, the regularity of material releases and guess what? Brazilian band Heretic is one amazing example of this!
The year was 2019 and I reviewed the album “Are You…Comfortable?”. To my surprise, they then released “(Dis) Covering” (which included covers of great bands from the 80’s) and then “Code Alive” (Their first live album that marked the first few concerts with this current line-up). Not satisfied, they have now appeared with this EP, “Entity”. Is that enough? No! They already have a new full album also ready to be released this year. Isn’t this great in terms of inspiration for compositions? Moreover, it doesn’t stop there (I sound like a telemarketing seller that always has one more good thing to offer when selling a product, hahaha). Heretic is not your typical Heavy Metal band. They have a strong Oriental and Middle Eastern sound present in their music, something that is not easy to do, if you are not from a country that is used to this sound. However, Heretic has been working hard for years to do it.
The trajectory of this incredible Brazilian band is pretty long as well. They started as just an instrumental band, created by the master of riffs, of multi-instrumentalist, Guilherme Aguiar who feeds himself on guitar riffs and Pamonha*. His inspirations, alongside his versatility, are great keys to Heretic’s sonority. He appears to have balanced his influences from all of the Death Metal and Thrash Metal bands that he is, or was, a part of or knew and has mixed these with new elements. The, not so new, singer Erich Martins provides an amazing interpretation with his vocals as well. The high level of this team is completed by Laysson Mesquita who uses a fretless bass to increase the complexity of the music.
I will mention the aggressiveness on ‘Lurking Around’ and ‘Cultural Starvation’, allied to a good cadence. In addition, the beautiful vocal lines on ‘Golden Rule’ allied to the calm guitar that becomes gradually heavier with more desperate high notes from Erich and the heavy bass on all tracks. It is hard to explain what the most interesting thing is here, because “Entity” is such a consistent EP. For me, what makes it so good is how they have found an amazing balance between the Heavy Metal and the Oriental. Sometimes the ‘Oriental’ is the main character within a song, sometimes it just complements the good, traditional, heavy metal structure. Nevertheless, they fit each other perfectly.
Even the closing song, a cover of ‘The Real Thing’ by Faith No More, has been done in such a way, that it fits with Heretic’s original material. All the tracks are examples of how mature this band has become after releasing 8 albums, 3 EP’s and a live album in just 11 years of existence (with another new album being released in July). Here we have great musicians, who look for professional promotion and have an amazing number of releases that offer a pretty unique kind of music. I can use all of those things to define Heretic and what they have achieved with “Entity”. What an amazing job.
*Pamonha is a typical Brazilian food made by corn and cooked with the corn skin as wrapping.
‘Lurking Around’ (Audio)
TRACKLISTING:
01. Deceiver Ghost
02. Lurking Around
03. Golden Rule
04. Cultural Starvation
05. Rebellions
06. The Real Thing (Faith No More Cover)
LINE-UP:
Erich Martins – Vocals
Guilherme Aguiar – Guitars/Oriental Composition
Laysson Mesquita – Fretless Bass
Moyz Henrique (Special Guest) – All Guitar Solos
LINKS:
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