‘Glória ao primeiro mundo, pela extinção da desigualdade, onde as lutas do socialism, chegam de tesla na sua cidade, aqui se morre de tédio e de ansiedade’ (Glória) / ‘Glory to the first world, for the extinction of inequality, where the struggles of socialism arrive in your city, here you die of boredom and anxiety’ (Glory)

Naõ (No) released their self-titled debut 7-inch last year and are now back with their first full-length, Obrigada (Thank You).  Sharing members as they do with fellow Bremen-based band Inferno Personale, the sheer velocity of their delivery comes as little surprise.  That said, their palette is a more restrained and stripped back one, fusing together raw 1980s’ Italian hardcore with fuzzed, but not overly distorted, d-beat influences.

From the savagely fluid Obrigada – Todos Querem Dominar O Mundo (Thank You – Everyone Wants to Rule the World) to the rhythmically seething Admirável Mundo Nuvo (Brave New World), the intensity is utterly remorseless yet impressively tight.  The bass punches resonantly through as the waves of riffage unfurl, squalls of fleeting melody deftly flare amid the onslaught.  Meanwhile, the snarled Portuguese vocals lock-in with a howling, exuberant ferocity as they dissect the intersections of class consciousness and the emigrant experience in our increasingly fragmented and technologically ensnared lives.  The strikingly ghoulish cover art rounds things off a treat.