Anatomy of Brazil: Overdose II

 

  

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And so two years after the famous Seculo XX, the "Conscience" has awakened. For some reasons, Overdose decided to not continue with Cogumelo, but to rather release it under the banner of Heavy Discos, the home for another Brazilian classic, Dorsal Atlântica. The vinyl is said to be released in a very luxurious manner at the time, with rich illustrations, photos and lirycs.

On the musical side, it's a continuation of the Seculo, but with a higher dose of Power Metal, and of course, better skills, albeit it still has that pleasant rawness of the sound. What's the most important, is that the album is rich with masterpieces: "Children of War", which will be later re-recorded for the famous series of compilations, namely Metal Massacre IX (Metal Blade), "Última Estrela" (band's first official song, recorded already in 1985 as a demo), and last but not least, my personal fave - "Messengers of Death".

Music is quite ambitious and complex, but foremost, it's Metal that is optimistic in its meaning, countering the then-popular trends in Brazil. It can be noticed while glancing at the titles, like  "God Save the Metal", "Save Our Hearts", or "Peace". Make no mistake, it's not soft, as from the lirycal side, the topics touch the subject of wars and injustice, as in the 80s, major conflicts were still pretty common. By the way, it seems as if we, as society, got out of touch so hard with reality, that when a threat is looming on the east, we have no knowledge how to deal with it, or any clue about how to react to it.

Is it bad that music is melodic and positive? Someone who is addicted to constant satanic bullcrap and total sonic chaos, will probably dismiss this album. But I would still recommend giving it a spin, just for the sake of mental health. I also dare to say that Overdose pioneered the path that future bands roamed, like for example, Angra.

In the future, the group will move into darker realms, therefore "Conscience" remains a postcard of the more "innocent" times. But that's another story for another time.