Metal Hunter: Matanza

Matanza is a Brazilian punk rock band from Rio de Janeiro. Their music is a blend of hardcore punk, country and heavy metal, thus forming the genre that the media titled countrycore.

Biography

Matanza was conceived in 1996 by Jimmy London and Donida, given the idea to explore the simple and straightforward melodies of the early career of the American singer Johnny Cash, adapted to the tempo of a drum was heard as that of Scottish band The Exploited. With drummer and bassist Nervous and Diba, they recorded a demo in 1998 called Terror em Dashville.

In 1999, a new recording would attract the attention of producer Rafael Ramos, and lead the Matanza to sign with the now defunct Music for the April release of their first CD. Already on the charts in China, Santa Madre Cassino was recorded in December 2000 and launched in March the following year, shortly before being the band was dropped by their record label for the lack of a radio hit.

Matanza then brought Rafael Ramos of Deckdisc to the studio and record their second album Drum, Música para Beber e Brigar, which is more similar to Faust. Album highlights are "Pé na Porta", "Soco na Cara" and "Bom é Quando Faz Mal" whose music videos were directed by Eduardo Kurt, also responsible for "Ela Roubou Meu Caminhão" from the first album, and all those who were said to be a tribute to Johnny Cash.

The project To Hell with Johnny Cash started out as a compact four songs the band would play at their shows but in a short time grew to 12 songs in all. In early 2005, with the emergence of new media, the result was a CD-DVD, recognized as the first DualDisc title of a Brazilian artist in the country.

Recorded in mid 2006 and launched in October of that year, A Arte do Insulto revealed a vastly more professional band, able to face the road in a way inconceivable in their early career.^{[citation needed]} The seriousness with music would be expressed in the tone of the lyrics, the weight of the composition and intensity of the show, which would later become a DVD. The work to promote the album also featured the video for "Clube dos Canalhas" directed by Rudi Lagemann and photographed by Tuca Andrade, and with the Matanza Comix magazine with comics Alan Sieber, Arnold White, Daniel Ete, among others, Donida himself being the publisher.

The record MTV Apresenta Matanza recorded at Hangar 110 in December 2008 and directed by Romi Atarashi, has Jonas on drums and marks the transition to a new phase. Guitarist Donida left the stage to devote himself exclusively to the composition of the band. His place on the stage is occupied by Mauricio Nogueira (Ex-Torture Squad).

Five years after A Arte do Insulto the Matanza launches Odiosa Natureza Humana in March on Deckdisc. The 5th studio album (plus 4 unreleased) began to be made in 2010 and was recorded in three days, live to tape, (no digital recording) and had production by Rafael Ramos. After a 15-year career, six CDs and a DVD out and an annual average of 90 concerts, Odious Human Nature brings Matanza more Matanza than ever: heavy, fast, bad-humored, ironic and touching the country-hardcore that is their trademark.

Style and Influences

The band has a sarcastic and cynical lyrics that speak of hatred, violence, alcohol and women. They have an atmosphere of old American West. The media dubbed the style created by the band Countrycore. The band members are fans of Johnny Cash, and in 2005 they recorded an album of cover songs to songs of the early stage of his career, dubbed To Hell With Johnny Cash. In 2006 album, A Arte do Insulto Matanza explores various aspects of traditional Irish music.

The main composers are Donida and Jimmy London.

Members

Jimmy London – vocals
Maurício Nogueira – lead and rhythm guitar
Donida – lead and rhythm guitar
China – bass
Jonas – drums

Jimmy London hosted the Brazilian version of Pimp My Ride, aired in MTV Brazil in 2007. Donida edited the band's magazine "Matanza Comix" in mid 2007.