Anatomia Brazylii: Overdose V

 

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And so it was done. Overdose moved completely into mechanical, slightly industrial form of Thrash, with plenty of Groove, releasing in 1992 "Circus of Death". The point of reference would be early Machine Head ("Burn My Eyes"), Pantera ("Vulgar Display of Power"), Sepultura ("Chaos AD"), except that this album was either released at the same time, or even earlier by a year/two. And after all, the formula of Overdose got more advanced, instead of simplifying the music. It was still Thrash... but somehow very modern, looking forward into the future.

And there is nothing uplifting to be found here, unlike previously. From the beginning to end, we receive a serious criticism of this world, and with it (in that order): violence, corporatism, consumerism, terrorism, greediness, politics, disappointments with religion, and reflections about own fate. It all forms the titular  "Circus of Death", or maybe a Cycle of Life?

It was certainly the heaviest of all Overdose albums so far. Tough riffs and first experiments, like "Zombie Factory" (a remarkable flagship song). But that's not all, as there are slower moods as well. "A Good Day to Die", and "The Healer" fill this role perfectly. The album is as a whole varied and polished (no pun intended).

The main criticism that I've found on the web concerns drumming, which indeed sounds overly triggered, but this might relate to the overall dehumanized direction that the group focused on. Not a big deal, though.

One can feel that this album also kickstarted the more popular era of the group, which resulted in various tours around Europe and USA, as well as being part of famous Dynamo Fest in 1995 r. But that's another story...