HEADHUNTER D.C.
God's Spreading Cancer
(Obscure Domain Productions)
53:31min

Somehow I already knew that this album would blow me away before I even had listened to it for the first time. Brazil’s HEADHUNTER D.C. have been around for so long by know and never ever betrayed the roots of old school Death Metal that I would’ve been really surprised if they all of a sudden would’ve come up with something weak these days. Luckily my already high expectations weren’t only fulfilled, but even surpassed immensely! This is old school Death Metal in perfection! Every riff, every drum-beat and every vocal line comes across so perfectly that you can easily forgive the band for taking seven long years to deliver the highly anticipated follow-up to “… And The Sky Turns To Black…”. It’s worth every minute of it, believe me and completely blows its predecessor away! While other Death Metal acts nowadays either come up with ultra brutal US-styled material, start to incorporate unnecessary Black Metal elements into their writing or increase the technical level way too much HEADHUNTER D.C. obviously didn’t give a fuck at all. They simply wrote a whole bunch of ripping songs, destined to become classics in the not too distant future. And the good thing about ’em is: even though they are heavily influenced by a lot of bands that started this whole movement, they never ever sound retro or fake! It’s actually more like they could already have been part of the scene when POSSESSED released “Seven Churches”, SEPULTURA came up with “Morbid Visions”, DEATH served us “Scream Bloody Gore”, NECROPHAGIA wrote “Seasons Of The Dead” and SLAYER were still considered “evil”. HEADHUNTER D.C. mix the best of all of that and add their own little unique note to it. It’s brutal, it’s dark, it’s raw, its got a lot of feeling and an overall very sinister atmosphere that you already have become an addicted before you finished listening “God’s Spreading Cancer” for the first time! With ‘Angelkiller’ (a re-recorded song of singer Sérgio’s previous band THRASH MASSACRE) and ‘Long Live The Deathcult’ there’s two tracks that really stand out. The first simply for being a killer, aggressive old school Thrash tune, while the other could turn into the band’s anthem pretty easily. Remember that PENTACLE used Tom G.Warrior’s famous “Uh!” from an old CELTIC FROST live tape as an intro to one of their songs? Well, HEADHUNTER D.C. did the same with POSSESSED’s Jeff Becerra here… Very cool as it perfectly captures the album’s entire atmosphere and the band’s attitude! To sum it all up: an essential buy! I just hope that the young label Obscure Domain Productions will benefit from this release in the same massive way as the band will benefit from the label’s fresh enthusiasm. www.myspace.com/headhunterdc, www.obscuredomain.com

Frank Stöver

Frank Stöver

HEADHUNTER D.C.
God's Spreading Cancer
(Ibex Moon Records)
71:01min

They’re back! HEADHUNTER D.C. is a band that will never let you down when you’re a fan of evil and intense (old school) Death Metal! This release on Ibex Moon Records is a re-release of their 2007 marvellous “Gods’s Spreading Cancer” and offers 4 bonus tracks apart from the original tracklist. There’s a limited LP edition with bonus 7″, released by Evil Spell Records / Undercover (in 2008) and these EP-tracks are featured on this as well. Formed in 1987, this unholy cult band from Brazil will be the last one that needs introduction. Still, I believe they don’t get the recognition they truelly deserve. Not in the underground of course! For those who aren’t familiar with them, they’re far from the Brazilian hurricane Death like KRISIUN, ABHORRENCE. More something like (old) ACHERON, SUMMON and likes to give you a hint. This or whatever comparison doesn’t estimate how great it is! It’s Death Metal from a golden age. Still here are trademarks like the lovely old Thrash riffs (and leads!) and the superb evil vocals of Sergio ‘Baloff’ Borges. Some well suited keyboard parts encourage atmospheres. The heavy production finally complete to make this a perfect record! Flawless in every aspect, well-structured and just as intense now as it is over 2 decades. The 4 (or three on how you see it) bonus tracks ‘And The Sky Turns To Black’, ‘Death Vomit’ and ‘Am I Crazy?’ are live recordings (as well as the NECROVORE cover ‘Slaughtered Remains’ in a studio recording – Frank) with a fair execution and definitely prove what a great vocalist Sergio is! If I could pick an all-star line-up he would most likely handle the mic. This their strongest album yet and one of Brazil’s most precious minerals. Get this gem! Don’t know any price but check: www.myspace.com/headhunterdc, www.ibexmoonrecords.com

Michael Tak

Michael Tak

Related reviews / interviews:
HEADHUNTER D.C. - Pandemic Unredemption - Live At... (Frank Stöver)
HEADHUNTER D.C. - A Hail To The Ancient Ones... (Frank Stöver)
HEADHUNTER D.C. - Punishment At Dawn (Rick Peart (CD) / Frank Stöver (DVD))
HEADHUNTER D.C. - Born... Suffer... Die (Frank Stöver)
HEADHUNTER D.C. - Death Kurwa! Live In Warsaw 2013 (Hacker)
HEADHUNTER D.C. - ...In Deathmetallic Brotherhood (Thomas Ehrmann)
HEADHUNTER D.C. - Brazilian Deathkult Live Violence... (Hacker)
HEADHUNTER D.C. - ...In Unholy Mourning... (Kunal Choksi)
HEADHUNTER D.C. - The Darkest Archives... From The Death... (Frank Stöver)
HEADHUNTER D.C. - ...In Unholy Mourning... (Stefan Franke)
HEADHUNTER D.C. - Born... Suffer... Die (Manolis A.)
HEADHUNTER D.C. - ...And The Sky Turns To Black... (Frank Stöver)
HEADHUNTER D.C. - ...And The Sky Turns To Black... (Hacker)
HEADHUNTER D.C. - Punishment At Dawn (Lem Lycurgus)
HEADHUNTER D.C. - Interview (Frank Stöver)
HEADHUNTER D.C. - Interview (Nathaniel Colas)

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