Various Artists: S.P. Metal (1984)
S.P. Metal was, to my knowledge, the first compilation of Brazilian heavy metal, and its release in late 1984 couldn’t have been timed any better.
Just a few months later, the inaugural Rock in Rio festival brought international metal legends like AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne and the Scorpions to Brazil, proving that Brazilian kids had a massive appetite for metal, whether it originated abroad or in their own backyards.
And no “backyard” was bigger than the country’s largest metropolis, São Paulo.
S.P. Metal, then, was an eight-song collection featuring two songs each by “Paulistanos” Avenger (no relation to the N.W.O.B.H.M. band, of course), Centúrias, Vírus and Salário Mínimo – all of whom evidently thought it was their patriotic duty to write lyrics in their native Portuguese.
They also had to contend with terribly inappropriate recording conditions, since there were simply no local studio engineers who even knew how to capture a heavy metal band, resulting in distortion-deprived guitars that were buried in the mix in exchange for unnecessarily prominent vocals and rhythm sections.
Even so, the barebones songwriting efficiency of Avenger’s “Missão Metalica” managed to shine through (their second offering, “Cidadão do Mundo,” didn’t sound quite finished), while future hair metallers Salário Mínimo made up for the impossibly cheesy “Cabeça Metal” with the space-themed “Delírio Estelar.”
Immaturity was certainly not an issue for the more experienced Centúrias, who incorporated discreet New Wave of British Heavy Metal influences like Diamond Head and Vardis into the motorcycle anthem “Duas Rodas” and the Dungeons & Dragons-inspired “Portas Negras,” respectively.
Finally, relative newcomers Vírus stood out from the other three by injecting a more modern and far more energetic speed metal style into both “Matthew Hopkins” and “Batalha no Setor Antares” (again with the witchcraft and spacecraft!) – forging a stylistic bridge to Brazil’s next metallic generation.
All in all, this precocious foursome provided a far from comprehensive but curiosity-satisfying glimpse into the formative days of an important Third World metal community, before the world’s eyes turned its way en masse, once Sepultura came on the scene.
p.s. – The bulk of this blog originated in my All-Music Guide review of S.P. Metal.
More Hard Rock Compilations: Brown Acid 1, Brown Acid 2, Brown Acid 3, Brown Acid 4, Brown Acid 5, Brown Acid 6, Brown Acid 7, Brown Acid 8, Brown Acid 9, Brown Acid 10, Castle Donington Monsters of Rock, Hardrock ‘83, Hear ‘n Aid, Metal Massacre, Metal for Muthas, Metal for Muthas Volume II, New Wave of British Heavy Metal ‘79 Revisited, S.P. Metal II, Scandinavian Metal Attack, Speed Metal Hell, Warfaring Strangers: Darkscorch Canticles.
