Black Pantera: Brazilian band reveals information about 4th studio album, bassist talks last EP exclusively

Celebrating 10 years on the road, Uberaba crossover outfit Black Pantera gears up to release their 4^th studio full-length still during the first semester.

Formed in 2014 in the city of Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Black Pantera, power trio – comprised of brothers Charles and Chaene da Gama, guitar/vocals and bass respectively and Rodrigo Pancho on drums – that have a furious blend of crossover thrash and funk metal are gearing up to drop “Perpétuo” (Perpetual, in English), the follow-up to their critically acclaimed EP “Griô”, sung fully in English.

Chaene da Gama talks Griô (exclusive):

With exclusivity for Chaoszine, Chaene talks about “Griô”:

“It was definitely an important step. We had recorded “Griô”back in January (2023) so we had the opportunity to travel and keep expanding our horizons, playing in other continents, and even other parts of our own continent, South America. With our prior experiences, we understood that English was the universal language, the language which would allow for our sound to propagate the most, even if that hadn’t been a problem for us so far. From that moment on, we were laser-focused on writing songs in English, with the help of some friends who were English teachers.”

“We did our best to make it sound true, to make it sound exactly like how we sound in Portuguese, our mother tongue. By the way, Portuguese shouldn’t even be our mother tongue, as we should still be speaking the indigenous tupi guaraní, but colonizers came and split the world apart. I believe (in “Griô”) we were able to sound true to ourselves and get our personalities across, even having written songs in another language. It didn’t sound pasteurized.”

“We are very proud of the end result, songs like “UKUMKANI”, “DREADPOOL”, which went on to get a version in Portuguese, “BURNOUT”, which speaks about mental health, “SHUT UP N’ FUCK OFF”, which skews more towards punk, hardcore and also “R.I.S.E.”, which reminds me a bit of Bad Brains during their prime. It was for sure a major leap in our career, as we had released “Ascensão” in the year prior, we released our single “Legado” in November of that same year, so for 2023 we wanted to also do something big. Even if it is only 15 minutes long, it was of extreme importance to our career.“

“About the title and the cover, which was originally meant to be a flyer for a gig we did in Ireland, to think how it became the cover for something so important to us, that brought “DREADPOOL”, for example, which is now a fan favorite in all of our sets. It has a truly incredible bassline, and I don’t say that just because I wrote it… Griot, the French word that inspired the album was how they used to call the Africans. The Griot would go around telling stories and sharing their culture and customs around many villages. They did this so that their culture wouldn’t die. I believe we are being able to do something similar, be the Griot of our generation – bringing black culture to the forefront.”

Black Pantera’s official announcement:

In relation to the band’s other albums, lead singer and guitarist Charles da Gama comments: “All of our albums permeate through the times we are living in. Our first album didn’t have a name, it was titled only “Project Black Pantera”. Our second, “Agressão” was super direct, we were speaking out against a wide range of things on that one. Ascensão (third album, 2022) was meant to make everything we said ascend, ascend our lyrics, anthems, war cries. “Perpétuo” came to us with its title practically done. Its lyrics, how visceral they were. It is a strong name which also basically defines a whole process, not only to do with the album, but also speaking about the band in general. Sometimes one word just summarizes everything perfectly.”

“It is as if we’d like to leave a legacy, we want it to perpetuate for years and years, we want to take our music throughout the whole world”, adds Rodrigo Pancho. “It is about our children, our parents, our wives.“ “It is also the title of a track, which for some reason, just happened to come to us. The new full-length talks a lot about our ancestors, representation and also a bit of spirituality”, comments Chaene.

Accolades:

Since 2022, when they released their last full album, the also critically acclaimed Ascensão, they have become major players in the Brazilian metal universe, having played in big festivals over in their home country, such as Rock in Rio (alongside national hardcore staples Devotos), Primavera Sounds, the inaugural edition of Knotfest Brazil, Afropunk Bahia and Lollapalooza Brazil, as well as having played concerts in Portugal, Ireland, England, Colombia and Chile. They were also nominated for the Multishow Prize for best group in 2022, as well as being nominated for the São Paulo Critics’ Choice Award for best concert and best release, following “Griô”. Chaene, the bassist was also considered bassist of the year by Luis Mariutti (former Angra, Shaman bassist). It is safe to say that their future is surely quite bright.

The first single off the album (titled “Provérbios”) will be available on streaming platforms April 26^th.