Biography
Unlike the melodic and rhythm-driven sounds typically linked to Brazilian music across pop, jazz, tropicalismo, bossa nova, choro, sertaneja, and lambada, Mental Horror has pursued an entirely different path since the early 1990s. The Porto Alegre-formed band concentrates exclusively on ferocious, amelodic death metal, black metal, and grindcore delivered at a single, relentlessly rapid tempo. Their compositions avoid conventional structures, instead erupting as raw, high-intensity bursts of sound, while vocalist C. China employs the guttural, larynx-shredding delivery standard to those genres. Although the resulting vocals obscure the words, titles such as "Tortured (Bleeding for the Plague)," "Burning Alive," and "Genocidal Inquisition" reveal the same preoccupation with darkness found among many peers. Within Brazil's death metal and black metal underground the group earned praise for remaining "uncompromising," even as outsiders dismiss the approach as one-dimensional noise. After building experience through live shows, Mental Horror issued its debut demo cassette two years after forming in 1993; the release circulated mainly at performances and helped cultivate a modest cult audience without achieving broader national recognition. Mainstream Brazilian listeners drawn to artists like Daniela Mercury in Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo have shown no interest in attending Mental Horror concerts—an outsider position the members deliberately maintain. A second demo, Extreme Evolution Trauma, appeared in 1998, followed by participation in a split CD on the small Brazilian imprint Mutilation Records before the century's end. Signing with Necropolis' Deathvomit label in 2000 led to the recording of Proclaiming Vengeance, issued in the United States in February 2002. Lineup shifts occurred repeatedly after 1993, yet by the early 2000s the band operated as a power trio comprising C. China on lead vocals and electric bass, Adriano Martini on guitar, and Robles Dresch on drums.
Albums
