Matanza

Matanza is a Brazilian rock band from Rio de Janeiro. Their music is a blend of hardcore punk, country and heavy metal, thus falling into a subgenre known as countrycore.

Matanza was formed in 1996 by Jimmy London and Donida, with the idea of exploring the simple and straightforward melodies of the early career of the American singer Johnny Cash, adapted to the drum tempo of Scottish punk band The Exploited. With drummer Nervoso and bassist Diba, they recorded a demo in 1998 called Terror em Dashville.

In 1999, a new recording would attract the attention of producer Rafael Ramos of Deckdisc, and lead Matanza to sign with the now-defunct Abril Music for the release of their first CD. With China on bass guitar, Santa Madre Cassino was recorded in December 2000, and released in March the following year, shortly before the band was dropped by their record label for the lack of a radio hit.

Matanza then brought Ramos to the studio to record their second album, Música para Beber e Brigar (Music to Drink and Brawl), with Fausto on the drums this time.

An album highlight is “Bom é Quando Faz Mal” (“It Is Good When It’s Not Good”) whose music videos were directed by Eduardo Kurt, who was also responsible for “Ela Roubou Meu Caminhão” (“She Stole My Truck”) from the first album, and all the videos from their tribute to Johnny Cash.

The project To Hell with Johnny Cash started out as a set of four songs the band would play at their shows, but in a short time, grew to a full 12-track album, containing only covers of Johnny Cash songs.

Recorded in mid-2006 and released in October of that year, A Arte do Insulto (The Art of Insult) revealed a vastly more professional band. The seriousness of the music was expressed in the tone of the lyrics, the weight of the composition and intensity of their live shows, which would later become a DVD.

Promotion of the album also included the video for “Clube dos Canalhas” (“Scoundrels’ Club”) directed by Rudi Lagemann and shot by Tuca Andrade, as well as the magazine Matanza Comix with comics by Alan Sieber, Arnold White, Daniel Ete, among others, Donida himself being the editor of the publication.

The record MTV Apresenta Matanza recorded at Hangar 110 in December 2008 and directed by Romi Atarashi, featured Jonas on drums and marks the transition to a new phase. Guitarist Donida left the stage to devote himself exclusively to composing the band’s music. He was replaced onstage by Mauricio Nogueira (Ex-Torture Squad).

Five years after A Arte do Insulto Matanza released Odiosa Natureza Humana (Hateful Human Nature) in March on Deckdisc. Work on the fifth studio album (and fourth of new material) began in 2010 and was recorded in three days, live to tape (no digital recording), produced by Rafael Ramos.

In their fifteen-year career, they have released six CDs and a DVD and performed an annual average of ninety concerts.

Genres: Brazilian Rock, Hardcore