Artist: ACIDEMIA
Release Title: Podridão
Label: Acid Swamp Records
Release Date: 31 July 2021
Location: Lages, Brazil
Digital Price: 4 USD
Length: 73min
A friend of mine brought ACIDEMIA to my attention, and boy am I glad they did, because they are yet another example of a set of quality Brazilian artists in what is a vibrant and deep musical scene. Acidemia originally formed in 2015, with members Henrique Soares (Bass/vocals), Granetto (Drums) and Mateus Varela on guitars, but Podridão was their first LP, with an EP preceding it in 2018 named Extinction. Most recently, ACIDEMIA released another album entitled Mórbido, but in order to prepare you for their latest hotness, I present Podridão, a release which shouldn’t be skipped.
Their sound is inspired by bands like Black Sabbath and Electric Wizard, and those elements are certainly there. Listening to the second track Mórbido, one can hear those Iommi-like evil guitar tones, that ominous sound that really is evocative of something menacing coming your way. That said, Podridão is also long-form material that brings to the table everything we want to hear out of fuzzy stoner/doom metal, without sounding cliche.
That’s because while many of these tracks start off evoking a certain sound – there are often experimental twists and turns that lead us in different directions mid-track. These directions feel like turns on the highway rather than sudden swerves, so when Mórbido hits us with an extended breakdown with faintly jazzy vibes it feels like an organic shift. When the heavy crunch of guitars comes blasting back into the track, it feels natural again. There’s a nice rhythm that brings everything together, whether it’s the fuzzy, distorted riffs, extended psychedelia, or the strange, almost electronic sounds in parts of tracks like Existência it all fits together in a way that produces a greater whole.
The psychedelic aspects of Podridão build and get deeper as the album goes on. Once we arrive at Existência, we’re steeped in strange strings and sci-fi vibes, distortion abounding. This all adds up to a spaced out track steeped in atmosphere. Later, we have tracks like the title track Podridão which is approaching the epic length at twelve minutes. Podridão slowly builds and travels, a plodding sort of journey through sound that break out into madness. The album ends with a true epic, the 21-minute long Caximbo which is truly an odyssey to listen to. From the psychedelia and fuzz of the opening minutes to the discordant blasts of sound in the closing notes, and the grinding, oppressive tones and drums around 7 minutes in, we have a great closing track here. Please do yourself a favor and check this track out at least. As the lyrical notes for Caximbo on Bandcamp say, ‘it’s a fucking jam!’
Overall, we have a great stoner metal release here that has plenty of experimentation without being so wild as to turn one away from repeated listens. To the contrary, there is so much to take in here that repeated listening bears fruit, and you’ll find yourself returning to Podridão time and again. That’s part of why I found it necessary to cover before presenting their latest release (Mórbido). Make sure you give this one a listen – you won’t regret it.
I hope you enjoy Podridão.
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