Artist: Fumaça Preta
Album: Impuros Fanáticos
Released: April 8, 2016
Label: Soundway Records

Impuros Fanáticos is the new album from the mighty Fumaça Preta, a band that somehow manages to blend tropical punk, samba fuzz, psychedelic rock, voodoo metal and funky Latin rhythms all at once. The band’s name means ‘Black Smoke’ and they got together after Portuguese-Venezuelan producer Alex Figueira (vocals and percussion) invited Stuart Crater (guitars, moog and organ) and James Porch (bass) of the Brighton funk duo The Grits to have an experimental session at his in-house studio in in Amsterdam. Impuros is the band’s second album after their self-titled debut on Soundway Records in 2014.

Fumaça Preta is known for its experimentation with different sounds, rhythms and musical genres and the latest album continues to exemplify that ascription. The opening and title track of Impuros Fanáticos sounds like some kind of haunted rain forest before transitioning into something that can only be described as singer Alex Figueira ranting/singing over a fuzzy spaced out synth beat.

The second song, ‘Décimo Andar’ (translated as ‘Tenth Floor’) picks up the pace and features heavy fuzzed-out riffs, delicate female backing vocals and Caribbean drum rhythms. Following this track is ‘Baldoñero,’ another heavy one with a dark dirge overtone and sinister growling lyrics with vocalists lamenting ‘Baldoñero’ throughout the song.

The next track, ‘Morrer De Amor,’ which translates roughly to ‘Die of Love,’ is a melancholic song that could easily fit in on a mid 1960’s Italian Western soundtrack. After that is ‘La Trampa’ (‘The Trap’), which was previously released as a single last year on Soundway and is a frenetic, fuzzy freaked out percussion-heavy jam. The band has also recently released a video for the song and it’s as trippy as you would expect it to be.

 

The next song is ‘Migajas,’ which translates to ‘Crumbs’ and is a woeful track with whispered lyrics over laser gun sound effects, somber woodwind instruments, melodic female backing vocals and more of the heavy riff transitions that continue to appear throughout the album. Wrapping up the album is the short and funky ‘Ressaca Da Glória’ (‘Surf Glory’) and the brooding ‘A Serpente’ that breaks out into a chunky, fuzz-laden heavy rock anthem before returning to its somber beginnings.

Impuros Fanáticos is available to order on Soundway Records now.

The band is also currently in the middle of a tour to promote the new record. So if you get a chance, go see Fumaça Preta. The live shows are completely insane.

• Laurie Jane