Cool Stuff: South America

 So it took me a while to find somewhere in South American that really caught my eye until I ran across Brazil. These people are pretty neat in my opinion so let's get into it. 

If you know me, you know that I love heavy metal... A LOT. So naturally I searched for Brazilian heavy metal because I was just curious if I could find some really really heavy stuff. Let me tell y'all something, these people take metal music seriously. The thrash metal scene is very prominent in Brazil which I found very interesting If you don't know what thrash metal is, let me educate you. Basically thrash metal is an overall aggressive form of metal with a fast tempo, crazy guitar shredding, and rad guitar riffs. It's the kind of music that makes you want to jump or "thrash" around. Some thrash metal bands are Pantera, Slayer, Anthrax, and Motörhead. Now that you have a basic understanding of thrash metal, let's talk about Brazilian thrash metal bands. I was trying to find the band name that caught my attention. A band called Torture Squad came up and it turns out that they toured with the two biggest thrash metal bands (Overkill and Exodus). The band has been around since 1990 and their music will definitely pump you up. I listened to a few of their songs but I wanted to highlight "Nothing To Declare" which is partially in their native language. Personally, I gathered that the song is kind of political and it talks about society. Feel free to give it a listen! 

The next cool thing I want to talk about is the different instruments that are used in Brazil. Traditionally, they mostly used flutes, whistles, horns and rattles. Now that their music has evolved, their instruments have as well. The Atabaque is a hand drum and there are three different types. The tallest one, which produces the lowest sound, is called the Rum. The medium drum is called the Rum-Pi. The smallest of the three is called the Le. The drum is surrounded by metal rings and is covered in calf skin. Roping can be adjusted along the rings around the drum to change the pitch. Below is a video of a woman playing the Atabaque. 

Finally, I have found something strange. Something I have only every seen on TV... dance fighting. It's actually called capoeira. It is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that involves elements of music and dance. It has been suggested that in the 16th century, it was prohibited to celebrate culture or practice martial arts. Capoeira was a sneaky way for slaves at the time to rebel against the law. Eventually, people were punished for practicing capoeira but the art form never died. The end of slavery in Brazil caused the use of capoeira to become more sinister. It was used for criminal purposes and criminals learned to conceal weapons used while practicing the art in the streets. The true past of capoeira will mostly likely remain uncertain but the art never died and seems to continue to grow in popularity. Below is an example of capoeira. 

Sources:

https://www.ocweekly.com/the-10-best-brazilian-metal-bands-6579896/

https://www.natalriograndedonorte.com/brazilian-musical-instruments/#Cuica_%E2%80%93_the_brazilian_music_instrument_that_sounds_like_a_monkey

https://theculturetrip.com/south-america/brazil/articles/disguised-in-dance-the-secret-history-of-capoeira/