5 Great Brazilian Metal Bands You Need To Hear
The top rising bands from one of metal's most underrated nations.
Throughout the history of heavy metal, certain nations have stood out as being particularly essential to not only the genre's survival, but also its thriving success. From the creation of metal in Great Britain thanks to Black Sabbath and Budgie, to more modern names from the United States like Slipknot, Norma Jean and Avenged Sevenfold, some countries simply have a knack for producing great metal. Other countries like Sweden, Germany, Finland and Norway (to name but a few) also have great reputations within the metal community.
However, these cornerstone nations seem to lap up all the spotlight, stopping other equally capable nations from receiving fair credit for the incredible metal music they unleash. Some of these more underrated nations include Indonesia, India, and most relevantly to this article, Brazil. With the number of globally known metal bands originating from Brazil being somewhat limited, it’s easy to see why the South American nation is so critically overlooked. However, there is so much more to Brazilian metal other than Seputlura, Cavalera Conspiracy and Soulfly, as the rising names included here will hopefully prove.
5. Válvera
For fans of Slayer and early Metallica, Válvera are one of the most experienced bands to feature on this list. Forming in Sao Paulo over ten years ago, Válvera have earned a great reputation within their local metal community thanks to releasing a number of fantastic thrash metal records.
Válvera released their debut album, ‘Cidade em Caos’, in 2015 and followed up this chaotic record with their second album, ‘Back to Hell’, in 2017. After spending years as an independent group, they were finally signed by American record label, Brutal Records, in 2020 and immediately began work on their third studio album. ‘Cycle of Disaster’ was released in August 2020 and is by far the band’s most successful release to date.
Key features of Válvera’s latest album include the crushing ‘All Systems Fall’, the engrossing lyrical narrative of ‘Born on a Dead Planet’ and the simply stunning ‘The Damn Colony’.