This lot have a bit of history behind them and Trapped is their sixth album since Simbiose formed way back in 1991 in Lisbon Portugal. With that in mind this is not modern metal but synonymous with the period they spat into life some good old fashioned crusty hardcore punk. I notice from their Facebook page that Simbiose have been raging around the UK of late and playing some gigs including one at T Chances in London with Hellkrusher. Apologies for having missed them as on the strength of this it must have been quite a night and a volatile cider swilling experience for all concerned. The one small stumbling block here is that the band sing entirely in Portuguese but then again its crust and it’s all written in the language of discontent, the lyrics universal as they rage against the machine.
After an intro of guitar playing acoustically over crackling vinyl, rage away is exactly what we get with chuggy riffs battering drums and a driving pace. Vocalist João has a pretty beefy bellow about him and the band stick to him in the main rather than go into a grinding Extreme Noise Terror sort of set up with two vocalists. However there are some occasional higher pitched vocal parts and some backing gang style bits to bolster out the sound. As for the style of the music, well you get exactly what you would expect really with a British forged sound taking right back to the old days and bands such as Discharge, Doom, GBH, Hellbastard and Antisect. Just to add an air of complete authenticity over things we even have Bri Doom getting in on the action and providing a guitar solo on fourth track ‘Deixos falar’ Listen out for that Anarcho sounding sliding guitar part at the beginning of that particular track and the higher squawking backing vocals, it’s a stand out number and bounces along causing chaos in the pit or living room if that’s where you are playing it.
As far as this type of music is concerned it’s not going to deliver any real surprises but is good and honest as it piles away over 14 tracks in 40 minutes without thankfully getting stale at all. There’s very little more to say on this one, you get what you get and as far as Simbiose are concerned this is very much a case of crust you can trust!
(7/10 Pete Woods)
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