Meggera - Half an Hour of Butchering - Album Review - Contemporary Thrash Metal from Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Another mystical morning in Helsinki marks my first month here, while Meggera's blood-pumping debut studio album, Half an Hour of Butchering, plays in my ears. The gentlemen hail from Brazil, undeniably offering some of the finest metal from their region with their debut work. I am here to write about my unbiased opinion on these promising gentlemen.
NO ONE | MEGGERA - Official Music Video. Songwriter: Meggera, Recording: Penumbra Home Studio, Makeup: Samira Mendes, Music Video: Penumbra Home Studio, Cameras: Juninho Rodriguez and Samira Mendes. Drums recorded at Estúdio Lima. Mix and Master: Gabriel Do Vale
Although I was properly introduced to the Half an Hour of Butchering album about a week ago with two songs from the album that were submitted to me, I remember seeing the album artwork and a piece of news published about them on social media, honoring Meggera and positioning this very album as one of the finest metal albums of 2024. At the time, it didn't really urge me to continue further exploring. Nevertheless, seeing the Half an Hour of Butchering album artwork once stayed in my memory, which also gives us a hint about the power of conceptual visuals. Once I properly started listening to the album, maybe a month from that moment, I had an idea of what to expect, and yet, it was true that these Brazilian gentlemen don't disappoint when it comes to metal.
First of all, the album stood out to me mainly for two reasons: exceptional vocal performances and bullet-proof production quality, which are more than enough to qualify the album as one of the finest sounding contemporary metal sounds. Hands down.
Musically, Meggera draws influences from well-known and established metal pioneers such as Slayer, Gojira, Kreator, Slipknot, In Flames, Godsmack, Kerry King, and Avenged Sevenfold. The general approach to the album captivated my attention with its simplicity. Meggera is here to focus on the main reason why we fell in love with metal: pure and raw energy. The musical foundation showcased in this conceptual album evoked memories of old school Slayer and Pantera albums, accompanied by brief melodic sections reminiscent of the 2000s. They incorporate elements of groove, alternative, and thrash metal, surprisingly showing immense potential with their methodology from the very beginning of their careers.
Production-wise, Half an Hour of Butchering is built with the aim of reflecting what Meggera is all about: energy and strength. As mentioned earlier, they have the attitude and power of Pantera in their origins, empowered by the contemporary heaviness of Gojira in their sound. While listening to the album on my walks outside for the last three days, many times I caught myself headbanging to the grooves they encapsulated, with the help of monstrous-sounding irresistible guitars. There's no doubt they have embraced the right methodology from the very beginning. Half an Hour of Butchering, in this sense, exceeds all fundamental expectations from an underground band with its energy level and soundscapes, making a monstrous-sounding metal album from start to finish.
Lastly, Meggera is quite bullet-proof and distinguishes themselves from others with their individual performances, especially with their lead vocalist. Having the necessary attitude and talent for the job, his vocals immediately took me back to the early Slayer days with the unmistakable vocals of Tom Araya. As someone highly inspired by Araya, Meggera's vocalist's consistent high note singing style, full of passion, anger, and strength, undoubtedly plays an indispensable and irreplaceable role in Meggera's foundation. Together with him, I feel like now the band has everything they need to dare every single challenge and eventually aim for the largest stage possible.
On the other side of the coin, I simply don't have any weaknesses to mention. As I said, I found the album overly satisfying with its top-notch, industry-leading sound, and Meggera's musical foundation had everything to qualify them as one of the most promising. They simply represent the very reason why we are all into metal from the beginning; their concept is familiar, already proven to work, their world recognition is just a matter of time.
In conclusion, it was a great pleasure discovering Meggera with their debut studio album. Undoubtedly, one of the finest-sounding contemporary metal albums of 2024 that incorporates the unmistakable vocals of Tom Araya with the Gojira strength in instrumentation, accompanied by Avenged Sevenfold's melodic influences. Strongly recommended metal. Thank you for reading.
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