Confronto
Humbleness and persistance have been the roots of this barrier-breaking, vanguardist quartet from Rio de Janeiro Brazil for the last 7 years.
The band Confronto, counting on Felipe Chehuan (vocals), Maximiliano (guitars), Felipe Ribeiro (Drums) and Eduardo Moratori (Bass), have defied all the expectances and crossed musical and terrestrial barriers to reach the highest number of people with their music, more aggressive each passing day and filled up with lyrics about the reality tasted in the streets of Petropolis RJ their hometown - , where a silent majority lives with no perspectives about the future, a day at a time just because it seems to be the best available option.
The lyrics, all in Portuguese, are repeatedly sung by the crowd in every single show, no matter if it takes place in Sao Paulo or in East Europe, for that they bring emotions from the bottom of our souls and ``touch the wound`` of lots of people who see their own history revealed among the guitar riffs or just because they get them through the faces of a country they would never imagine possible in the XXI century. To attend a Confronto`s show is to witness what hardcore is; fast, insane and unifying.
The history of this band dates back from 1999, with the end of Concave and the will to produce a more ripping sound. In less than an year, dedicated entirely to rehearsing pratices, they recorded a demotape and played at Verdurada,one of the most tradicional hardcore festivals in Brazil hosted in Sao Paulo-SP, whose ever-changing cast gathers a thousand of people in each edition. Their performance hit the audience straight, and assured them 3 more shows in the distant sides of this hell-city. That was the ignition: they took their chance and strode a familiar path to all underground hardcore bands: pay from their own pocket the production of their first album. With the disc in hands, with no idea about who would distribute the album, there went the third-world-soldiers to one more battle: play live at two big festivals: Rancor Fest in Belo Horizonte/MG Brazil and Sao Paulo Hardcore Fest. They would never imagine they would be seen by the labels who immediately got interested in releasing their album. Ladies and gentleman, please welcome Liberation Recordings and Cospe Fogo Gravacoes, who released their ``Insurrection`` album and put these four ``cariocas`` on the road side-by-side with Agnostic Front (USA), Good Clean Fun (USA), Garotos Podres (SP-Brazil), Tidal (Germany), Nueva Etica (Argentina), Entrefuego (Chile) and the germans from Heaven Shall Burn, partners in a tour through 4 brazilian states.
Contacts were made and it didnt take long for the guys to cross the limits of brazilian lands and play for the hermanos in Argentina, with 6 shows, not to mention two shows in Chile. ``The Insurrection`` lit fire in Europe, where the album was released on Circulation Records needless to say, more than enough for the guys to pack their bags in the second semester of 2003 and make their way to the old continent. From their first european tour they keep lots of good stories and the surprise of playing to almost five thousand people in traditional european underground festivals. They played 16 shows in one month. The guys took this tour as ``the completion of a stage``, from where on the band got more presence in their own lives. One of the products of this european tour was the release of a split cd with the metal act Fall of a Season on Burning Season Records, featuring 3 songs from each band and named ``Dedicated to Fears``.
Back to Brazil, they played lots of shows and in the beginning of 2005 got into the studio to record their second album, ``Causa Mortis``, produced by them and Davi Baeta. Just like their first album, ``Causa Mortis`` hits you in the face with its unique sound quality, amazing lyrics and artwork. In order to have the album distributed in the entire country, four labels got into a partnership to bring this huge project into reality: Revenge Records, Brotherhood Recordings, Cospe Fogo and Estopim Records. The result: two thousand copies sold out in less than 6 months.
In Europe the scenario was not different at all; right after putting their second album out, Confronto landed in Germany to once again show Europe what brazilian hardcore is about. Counting on the professional booking support of Broken Bones Brigade, this time 40 shows were played and 12 more were added to the original schedule, what caused them to spend more time in Europe, turning this into the biggest tour of all brazilian hardcore bands in 2005. In the end, the band was in Europe for 2 months and a half, performing almost every single day as headliners or the only band on the bill. Far different from Brazil, they managed to play to 200 people on a Monday night something completely unreal for brazilian standards showing how much dedication our scene has to have to support our bands.
Back to Brazil, Confronto has toured the northeast part of the country, with insane sold-out shows, since people had been waiting them for a long time. They sealed 2005 sharing the stage with Forca Macabra, Kuolema, Sick Terror, Uzomi, Ataque Periferico and Jason, in a famous venue in Rio de Janeiro and entered 2006 with a scheduled filled with shows through lots of different cities, just like Belo Horizonte, Sao Paulo, Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro.
Considering all their dedication, it`s not strange to frequently see Confronto on magazines, on the tip of the tongue of bands and critics as ``one of the greatest revelations of brazilian hardcore``. All this was conquered with sweat, sincerity and humbleness. It`s metal, hardcore, straight-edge; it`s Confronto.
We see metalcore as a vehicle for information, a platform for expression, an attempt to reach kids and, through our songs, get them exposed to messages of consciousness, indignation and revolt. Every attempt to direct people towards the struggle against oppression is important, be it through independent media, movies, drama, workshops, demonstrations, etc. We are totally aware of the fact that hardcore, metal and straightedge are not going to change the word, but they can awaken different feelings in kids that relate to them. Love, hate, indignation or revolt are feelings that can drive the struggle against the real enemies. Through hardcore we try to show that from the moment we are born in a third world country, thus not part of the elites, we are all condemned to the mercyless cycle of slavery, exclusion and death. Therefore, we cannot see ourselves simply as anarquists, communists, or people involved with hardcore/punk and straightedge. We are way beyond mere labels. We are part of exploited mass. We are productive force constantly fighting against property and capital, which makes confrontation inevitable.
*Deise Santos is a jornalist and cultural producer, makes colaborations to Rock Press Magazine and is the promoter of Feira Moderna Zine. buc Confronto, h 7 anos ultrapassando fronteiras Por Deise Santos (deise.santos@globo.com)* Translation by Danilo Fratangelo at (danilofratangelo@hotmail.com)
Check: www.xconfrontox.com, www.burningseasonrecords.com, www.xrevengex.com, www.estopimrecords.com.br, www.cospefogo.com, www.brotherhoodrecordings.com, www.xelcambio.com, www.veganpride.com, www.circulationrecords.com, www.myspace.com/confronto, www.fotolog.com/x_confronto_x, www.flogao.com.br/confronto, xconfrontox@hotmail.com and for Booking shows in Europe: www.brokenbonesbooking.com
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