MX

MX’s 1988 debut Simoniacal is bursting with raw energy. It fits right alongside early works from Attomica, Mutilator, and Sepultura. The music here is violent, fast death/thrash with a rough production job that suits the material perfectly. This is exactly how this kind of music should sound. While the overall mix is murky, the guitars retain a sharpness, like a cheese grater to the face. The riffs are aggressive but not chaotic; there’s real skill behind them, and tracks like “Inquisition” and “Dead World” show a surprising level of thought. In particular, the lead guitar solos are much more thought-out and add a sense of depth to many of the songs. “Fighting for the Bastards” and “Satanic Noise” are especially feral, pushing things into truly savage territory. Filled with killer riffs, aggressive energy, and solos that cut through the murk, it sounds far more vicious and evil than anything from the Teutonic scene by 1988, making them sound like pop music by comparison. Like many of the underground Brazilian records of the late '80s, Simoniacal deserves more attention than it gets. This is highly recommended!

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