Chakal

Chakal arose from Belo Horizonte’s unexpectedly rich extreme metal scene in the mid-1980s, sharing the same city with Sepultura and the more obscure acts Mutilator, Sarcófago, and Holocausto. The band itself came together at the start of 1985; its name, Portuguese for jackal, was already fixed when an invitation arrived for the Metal BH II Festival. Sharing the bill with Sarcófago, Sagrado Inferno, Armageddon, Sepultura, and São Paulo’s Minotauro, the group had little time to prepare and simply hammered through its set on borrowed gear. By 1986, however, Chakal had sharpened its execution through steady local appearances, the release of a debut demo, and the placement of two songs on Cogumelo Records’ Warfare Noise compilation. That year also solidified the lineup of vocalist Vladimir Korg, guitarists Mark and Pepeu, bassist Marcelo Laranja, and drummer Willian Wiz, the same five musicians who entered the studio to cut the debut album Abominable Anno Domini. Issued in 1987, the record stood out as one of the most ferocious and technically assured Brazilian thrash/black metal statements of its era. Momentum proved short-lived: Pepeu departed before the 1988 single Living with the Pigs, triggering a prolonged cycle of membership turnover that undermined the follow-up The Man Is His Own Jackal in 1990 and contributed to extended inactivity before the final album, Death Is a Lonely Business, appeared in 1991. After more than ten years of silence, the band reconvened for selected live dates in 2002 and subsequently produced the studio albums Deadland in 2003 and Demon King in 2004.