A grotesque mass, live – The Troops of Doom at La Iglesia (13.7)

To most around the world, July 13th was just another Saturday, like all others. To Brazilian headbangers, though, July 13th was a day of celebration, World Rock Day (which is only celebrated in Brazil, funnily enough). That Saturday hosted many concerts, from Suicidal Tendencies playing a free gig to Belgian crust legends Hiatus, but, in spite of that, many fans were still drawn towards La Iglesia, a small venue inside a parking lot to see some of the best the underground has to offer, The Troops of Doom, releasing their new album, “A Mass to the Grotesque” and Paulista death/doom veterans Pentacrostic.

First up on the stage were Pentacrostic, who have been known names in the underground for over 30 years. Pioneers of the genre in latin-american lands, they have been surprising both fans and critics since their debut album, “The Pain Tears”. This same first album was highlighted in the set, with “Splendorous Adornment”, “Welcome to the Suffering”, “Lost in the Void”, “The Abstract Limits of the Unknown”, “Contemplation of Agony” and “Perpetual Darkness” all being played, taking up half of the setlist. The rest of the setlist was composed of a mixture of tracks from their sophomore album, “De Profundis” (“The Giants of Nordic Flames”, “Cult of Illusion”, “The Suffering From A Blessing” and “Throny Ways”) and two tracks from other materials (“Transcription of the Law” and “World’s in Corrosion”).

On stage, the trio of Marcelo Sanctum (vocals, bass), Rodrigo Malevolent (guitar) and Alex Kruppa (drums) really reflected the slow, dense and pessimistic energy of the songs themselves. While the stage was quite small and did not allow for much movement (if at all), Malevolent constantly headbanged his head off, Kruppa hit those drums like they owed him money and Sanctum sung powerfully, standing as one of the true forefathers of death/doom. While there were no insane circlepits, stagedives and whatnot, there was a great amount of slow, full range-of-motion headbangs going on at La Iglesia, and the fans who arrived early enough to see them were definitely able to enjoy the songs played that night.

As the clock neared 11 pm, to the sounds of the fans screaming their names, the main act, The Troops of Doom took to the stage. With the venue already full, Alex Kaffer (bass, vocals), Jairo Guedz (guitars), Vinnie Tex (filling in for Marcelo Vasco, guitars) and Alexandre Oliveira (drums) held back no punches straight away, starting off the night with “Devil’s Tail” first act of their 2021 EP “The Absence of Light”. Right away, the fans went insane, forming a huge circle pit right in the middle of the tiny club. The heresies continued with “Chapels of the Unholy”, off of the new album. Throwing a bone to the old school fans, “Bestial Devastation”, the song that put Sepultura on the map here in Brazil was also covered – and quite faithfully, at that.

Before starting “Far From Your God”, Kaffer briefly joked around with the fans, saying that he had stopped to look at the floor to see if “chaos could run loose”, later asking the fans to scream for the next song; “Far From Your God”. Light continued being absent with “The Monarch”, again off the 2021 EP. The circle pit had slowed down since Kaffer originally asked for chaos to run loose, but it sped all the way back up again with “The Rise of Heresy” and another cover of an early Sepultura classic, this time “Antichrist”. Next, they went from early Sepultura to their own early catalogue, bringing out “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea”, the first song they released, back in August 2020.

“A Queda”, the next song was prefaced as being in Portuguese (interestingly the only song of theirs in Portuguese, also has vocals from João Gordo of Ratos de Porão) so that the crowd could more easily understand the message they wanted to get across. Kaffer also had some not very kind words for Silas Malafaia, Edir Macedo, R.R. Soares, Valdemiro Santiago and a few other Brazilian religious figures (mostly televangelists), getting a laugh out of the fans, who quickly went back to running at each other to the sound of some of the best that modern old-school death metal has to offer. With the gig already coming to a close, they chose to hold out some of the best material for the end, being a cover of “Morbid Visions”, their own “classic” “Altar of Delusion” and of course, “Troops of Doom”.

All in all, that Saturday night had an insane number of different shows to attend within the city of São Paulo. The 200 or so people that got to experience The Troops of Doom live, in such a cool venue, on such a special date, releasing such a special album will definitely not be forgetting the concert anytime soon. I’d also like to highlight the performance of Vinnie Tex, guitarist who expertly filled in for Marcelo Vasco, due to the recent tragedies that happened over in the Rio Grande do Sul area. May they have all the support in the world soon, as they embark on an European tour, as always, aiming to make metal evil again!

Pentacrostic Setlist

1. Transcription of the Law
2. Splendorous Adornment
3. Welcome to the Suffering
4. Lost in the Void
5. The Abstract Limits of the Unknown
6. Thorny Ways
7. Contemplation of Agony
8. Perpetual Darkness
9. Words in Corrosion
10. The Giants of Nordic Flames
11. Cult of Illusion
12. The Suffering From a Blessing

The Troops of Doom Setlist

1. Devil’s Tail
2. Chapels of the Unholy
3. Bestial Devastation (Sepultura Cover)
4. Far From Your God
5. The Monarch
6. The Rise of Heresy
7. Antichrist (Sepultura Cover)
8. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
9. A Queda
10. Morbid Visions
11. Altar of Delusion
12. Troops of Doom (Sepultura Cover)

Hungry for more The Troops? Check out our review of their new album and interview with Jairo Guedz below:

Making metal evil again – review of The Troops of Doom’s “A Mass to the Grotesque”

“It was a dream come true: working with Dan Seagrave doing our cover art and the Morris brothers at Morrisound” – Interview with Jairo Guedz of The Troops Of Doom about upcoming album “A Mass To The Grotesque”