- Ninos Du Brasil's visceral sound shows the Italian duo's roots in punk and hardcore bands. Nico Vascellari and Nicolò Fortuni conceived their batucada-infused techno project ten years ago as a warm-up act for their band, With Love. The idea was to test the audience to see who would stick around to watch the headliner. Punk scenes, after all, are natural incubators for confrontational ideas. Now on their third album as Ninos Du Brasil, Vascellari and Fortuni clearly recognised they were onto something deeper than a crowd filter.
The Dominick Fernow-run Hospital Productions is the perfect home for Ninos Du Brasil, who at times call to mind Fernow's Vatican Shadow project. Both engage in live performances that demand attention, making techno seem less faceless and abstract by establishing a direct relationship between audience and performer. Listening to Vida Eterna, it's easy to imagine the duo pounding drums and yelling lyrics inches away from your face.
This is most apparent on "Condenado Por Un Idioma Desconhecido," where percussion and vocals surge in a flurry of intensity, with only streaks of upper-register noise for relief. It's one of the most instantly striking moments on the album, and shows the pair at their most furious. It's not all blistering sonic violence, as is made evident by the measured tribal roll of the next track, "Algo Ou Alguém Entre As Àrvores." But physicality, shown by chants and heavy drum cycles, is still the key. There's an ebb and flow to these tracks that suggests they were built to be danced to.
The tension doesn't let up. Steely textures and pounding rhythms abound, but there is variation and inventiveness to match the monochromatic palette. The percussion is always interesting, while the sparing use of synthesis significantly shifts tracks' tones wherever it appears. Ninos Du Brasil's energy can seem unstoppable. It's only on the album closer, "Vagalumes Piralampos," that the pressure eases, as Arto Lindsay's vocals emerge through a thicket of melodic scrapes and smudges.
Tracklist01. O Vento Chama Seu Nome
02. No Meio Da Noite
03. Condenado Por Un Idioma Desconhecido
04. Algo Ou Alguém Entre As Àrvores
05. O Som De Ossos
06. A Magia Do Rei II
07. Em Que O Rio Do Mar Se Torna
08. Vagalumes Piralampos feat. Arto Lindsay