‘I refuse to accept things I cannot change, I no longer accept things I cannot change, I am changing things I cannot accept, I won’t accept’ (I Refuse)

Anti-Corpos have been active now for over twenty years, having first formed in Sao Paulo in 2002, before releasing a trio of EPs between 2014 and 2020.  Now, having relocated to Berlin, the trio’s debut full-length, Backlash, has landed.

This is noise-drenched, metallic-edged post-hardcore.  Jagged shards of discordant riffage and swells of dissonant melody are underpinned by a rhythm section that sweeps from staccato stop-starts to semi-blast beat eruptions, by way of atmospheric, martial inclined interludes with a ferociously controlled brutality.  These sharply mutating dynamics are readily matched by vocals that segue with relish from the abrasively barked to the melodically off-kilter and ominously spoken.  The savage contortions of Hellfire and Migrant Hearts capture this intensity particularly vividly.

The menacing build of the opener I Refuse, which calls on the writing of Angela Davies, provides the perfect introduction to the album’s themes.  The band’s focus is on the intersection of female, queer, and emigrant lived experiences as they tackle the relentless, and exhausting, struggles of living in the face of systematic bigotry.