One of the amazing things about heavy metal is its universality. Sure, “real” music scholars at legacy publications and news sites will bloviate about the “universal language” of music when talking about Western, classical scores or whichever fading American pop star had a big show in a Hong Kong soccer stadium, but these pronouncements are either PR-driven or attempts to flatter the egos of cultural elites.
This type of coverage is basically useless. At best mind-numbing, at worst whitewashing. In either case, these types of stories almost completely gloss over the native and organic music scenes of the areas being discussed.
I highly doubt you’ll ever hear Terry Gross coo on Fresh Air about Kenyan death metal or the grand grotesqueries of European grind. Where ever you go in the world, there is a homegrown metal scene ready to greet you with a crushing bear hug. New Noise are here to pick up the slack that larger publications either don’t or won’t. You’re welcome!
While the universal appeal of heavy metal is felt everywhere, today we’re narrowing the lens to focus on Portugal. New Noise are extremely proud to premiere the new, live split LP from European grindcore goliaths Agathocles and Grog. The album is titled Smashed Hammer Feast, and it is out via Helldprod Records on September 30.
Check out the full stream below:
The split was recorded at Hammer Smashed Fest 2019, an annual exhibition of death metal and grindcore held in Lisbon, Portugal. Even though Agathocles are a Belgian band, they fit in with the grand, gore-strewn gala quite nicely, and members of the band (vocalist Jan in particular) have been in close contact with folks across the international grind community since the band’s inception in the mid-80s. Needless to say, they felt right at home in Lisbon last December when the record was recorded.
Smashed Hammer Feast is the culmination of a decades-long friendship between Jan of Agathocles and Pedra, vocalist of Portugal’s seminal grinders Grog. The two bands are both known for collaborating on hundreds of splits over the course of their careers, but somehow never appearing on a record together. With this oversight finally rectified, Pedra was gracious enough to answer a few questions New Noise had about the new release and the Portuguese scene more broadly. If you have been looking for a place to crack into the continental grind underground, look no further. Let Pedra be your guide to the sadistic stars.
The following interview was conducted via email. It has been lightly edited for the sake of clarity.
How long has Grog been around, and what does your name mean?
Grog was formed back in 1991, by me on vocals, João (guitar), Marco (bass) and Johnny (drums). Right now from this first line-up, I am the only survivor, but the current formation has been around for almost 20 years, so we get along pretty well. The up-to-date formation besides me consists of Ivo (guitar), Rolando (drums), and Alex (bass).
We play death metal and grindcore, so in the beginning, we wanted to have a short and loonie name so Grog fit perfectly. Grog results from the alcoholic consumption of a person, and since we play extreme music, we wanted people that listened to our songs to get a little dizzy, happy, and crazy. Also, it’s a short and easy name to remember. I guess we’ve all been through this state of mind at least once in our lives.
What can you tell us about Agathocles?
Well, I know Agathocles a long time ago, since their first demos in the ’80s. Along with Napalm Death, they were one of the first bands playing grindcore and one of our early influences. When Grog started, I got in touch with a lot of the people in the underground scene, and I managed to do tape trading and snail mail with Jan from Agathocles. Since then, we know each other and we have been in touch.
Personally, I have huge respect for Jan and the band, you know? You can go no wrong with Agathocles! They have been doing this for a long time, and no matter what, they still contribute to maintaining the spirit of the old days alive concerning the underground aesthetics.
What does the grind scene look like in Portugal?
We do have a healthy grind scene here, the bands that play are really good, and we have a fair amount of venues and festivals going on that offer us fair conditions to play live. But right now nothing is happening due to the pandemic.
Who are the bands we should know if we want to get a sense for grindcore, and heavy metal in general, in your neck of the woods?
If you want to dig in the past I must say that it’s mandatory to hear Som Triturador, Evisceration, Disembowel, Bowelrot, Genocide, and Gangrena, for instance. But we also have had some great bands like V12, Braind Dead, Thormenthor, The Coven, Tarantula, Downthroat, WC Noise; some of them still exist till today.
Currently, we have awesome bands playing like Raw Decimating Brutality, Analepsy, Gaerea, Disaffected, Heavenwood, Decayed, Sacred Sin, Annihilation, Equaleft, Wells Valley, Dead Meat, Gorgásmico Pornoblastoma, Namek, Simbiose, Besta, Animalesco o Método, Martelo Negro, Bizarra Locomotiva, Holocausto Canibal, Moonspell, Corpus Christii, Filii Nigrantium Infernalium, Black Alley Lobotomy, Iron Sword, Alcoholocaust, Ravensire, just to name a few.
Which bands have the greatest influence on the sound of the heavy metal scene by you?
I am a huge Led Zeppelin fan; they were the greatest rock band ever, so worldwide speaking, I would point them out as a major influence.
Regarding the early heavy metal scene, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Saxon, Slayer, Metallica, Venom, Bathory, Sodom, Kreator, Destruction, Celtic Frost, Possessed, Death, and Napalm Death can be seen as some of the most influential bands from all times.
Here in Portugal, the biggest metal band is Moonspell, but we have a heterogeneous scene from hard rock to heavy metal, from speed metal to black metal, ending on crust, punk, and grindcore.
What is Hammer Smashed Fest, and how did this recording come about?
Hammer Smashed Fest is a musical festival that is held in Lisbon, and they made their first edition last year. Ourselves and Agathocles were on the bill, and we were told that the promoter would record the band’s performances from the sound table. It was a great opportunity to make this happen, so since myself and Jan were side by side [playing one after the other] we just decided that it was about fucking time to have a split between our bands.
All production was taken care by our friend Ricardo Queluz, and then later I’ve talked with Murder Records and Helldprod Records to release it, and they accepted it.
Why was it important for you to release this record?
For ourselves, this is a symbolical release, since we know each others bands for so long. Also, we are two of the oldest bands playing grindcore and death metal in Portugal and probably in Europe as well as the rest of the world, so having the chance to be side-by-side with Agathocles represents the sealing of a friendship and honoring the underground culture.
How badly hit is has Portugal been by Corona? How has the music community been coping?
Our country is a mess; fortunately we don’t have more casualties, but I feel that we are been forced to change routines in order to achieve higher interests.
People are living based on a reign of fear-demic and behave like zombies, following every disinformation that is spread by social media. We have had very few mainstream summer festivals and overall music is passing through serious difficulties and challenges. The economy is getting weaker day by day, and the population will be in serious troubles soon enough. I believe that we have to stand up for the right information, to be the source of courage among the frail and to make the difference within our daily lives.
Do you ever think big metal fests will return to Europe in the wake of Corona?
In Europe, especially in the Czech Republic, there have been some festivals this summer. Besides those I don’t have knowledge of other countries doing metal festivals right now. Everything is being postponed. I have to believe that some part of our normality will be restored but can’t predict when that will happen. There are yet too many things at stake, and we have to be patient.
What are your plans for the second half of 2020?
Well, the split tape between Agathocles/Grog will be out by next September 30. Then Grog will also be on United Nations of Grindcore, an international compilation handled by The Hills Are Dead Records, and near the end of the year, we will announce another split seven-inch with one of our fave bands. For now, I can’t reveal which one it is. Also, we are writing songs for the next upcoming album hopefully to be out during 2021.
So, we are keeping ourselves busy for the time being.
Photo courtesy of Grog
