Critic's evaluation
With 13 years of life, two albums and three EPs under their belt, the São Paulo group Mattilha are taking off on their next chapter. Entitled Coração Anárquico, the band's new EP describes itself as a trilogy of the phases of the heart, as well as marking a new phase for the quartet.
A sinister roar combined with a kind of rattle that resembles the rattle of a rattlesnake's tail is heard, breaking the absolute silence. Likewise, Pedro Quintana's guitar invades the scene with a boisterous grunt that veers towards something irresistibly sensual. Together with the punch provided by Ian Bueno's drums, the sound becomes delirious and lascivious, recreating the hard rock ambience of the 80s. With clear influences from the likes of Whitesnake, Alice Cooper and Smith/Kotzen, Kobra's structure is completed with the entrance of the lyrical lines dominated by Gabriel Martins. Sour, raspy, high-pitched, slack and stinging, his voice is all too reminiscent of Joel O'Keefe's, while being one of the main elements in the dramatic chorus. Full of simple rhymes, Kobra is a song that, immersed in a context of love disappointment, talks about judgment and hypocrisy with a lot of rhythmic density.
Victor Guilherme's guitar enters the scene under a grayish sky in a way that fosters the same melancholic energy exuded by many of Charlie Brown Jr.'s songs. With the velvety, icy touch of Richard John Lintulahti's keyboard, the first part of the introduction soon takes on curiously contagious dramatic contours. Mixing references to Metallica, due to the use of the tremolo picking technique on the guitar, and Survivor, the latter with special reference to its track Eye Of The Tiger, the title track exudes a sour taste when it reaches its first verse. With a more intimate feel, the song, through Martins' lyrical interpretation, is reminiscent of Billy Idol's timbre and the energy of his single Rebel Yell. On this last point, much is due to the participation of sequential keyboard drips, which bring even an embryonic boogie-woogie to the sound structure. As the first declared ballad of Coração Anárquico, the title track brings a contagiously icy softness with its eighties hard rock that serves as a bed for yet another plot of romantic disappointment. Here, however, unlike Kobra, the track explores the end of the relationship motivated by the insane sense of despair that dominated the lyrical character. The title track is a bet on reconciling an unsuccessful emotional bond that led the individual to live with pain and loneliness. It's about overcoming the consequences of a behavioral addiction that is detrimental to the harmony of a couple's life.
Sexy, dangerous and honeyed. The guitar that appears in the new dawn, with its muffled sound, recalls the exaggeratedly sensual theme used by the likes of Van Halen and Steel Panther. It is in this introduction that, for a few moments, the listener can clearly perceive the sudden, boomy groove of Camilla Rodrigues' bass, which fades away as easily as the guitar and drums dictatorially take over the melodic foreground. Even so, Inabalável is the track that makes clear the presence of the instrument in the rhythmic base. Between the bass and the stridency, the bass provides support for a rhythmic ambience that stands out for its regionalism, based on the pronunciation of certain words said by Martins. It's interesting to note that, even though the title track is the album's real ballad, Inabalável meets two important requirements: commercial and thoughtful. With a bubbly, well-crafted melody, the track involves a plot that, like Kobra, is a work that revels in the context of judgment. Involved by the oppression of not following the socially accepted standard, the lyrical character finds himself needing to rely on his own strength and persistence to affirm his authenticity, as well as his essence. This is exactly where Inabalável's pride lies: in being a product that stimulates and encourages the listener to protect their truth, no matter what others think.
It's short, no doubt. However, at just over 10 minutes, Coração Anárquico manages to get its point across lyrically and Mattilha, for their part, are able to showcase their various musical backgrounds to create an authentic, retro sound.
Immersed in the aura of 1980s hard rock, the EP sells itself as a product that melodically explores other aspects of this rock subgenre. After all, in addition to hard rock itself, the listener can notice the presence of glam metal mixed into its rhythmic recipe.
In this respect, Henrique Baboom was an important part of Mattilha's success. The professional has made Coração Anárquico a material that sells itself with a powerful, mature and consistent sound, even though the overwhelming duration of the album is overshadowed by the sonar of the bass. Even so, Baboom did his job well in providing the EP with a firm sound.
Taking the context of relationships as a starting point for the themes of its songs, Coração Anárquico is, within its lascivious, libidinous and sensual pleonasmatic scope, a product that discusses important issues in a hyper-connected, post-pandemic and post-Bolsonaro world.
The EP encourages listeners not to be afraid of their own identities, but to have the courage to show themselves to the world without being bound by the judgments of others. This is one of the most sought-after freedoms today, as it guarantees lightness of spirit and a high degree of confidence in the context of trial and self-acceptance.
Although the listener will notice a great deal of influence from names such as Van Halen, Steel Panther, Whitesnake, Survivor, Metallica, Alice Cooper and Smith/Kotzen, Martins' style of pronunciation inevitably makes the listener recycle in their musical arsenal that same pubescent vocal cadence of names from the Brazilian pop rock scene, such as Restart and Cine.
Rounding off the technical scope is the cover artwork. Signed by Guilherme Kim, it features a drawing of a post-apocalyptic scenario in which the members are transfigured into the image of humans with the heads of dogs, thus forming a pack. With this image almost reminiscent of werewolf mythology, Kim's work imputes notions of aggression, even hope, due to the sun's rays penetrating the scene from the horizon.
Released on 09/21/2023 via Canil Records, Coração Anárquico is a sensual-sounding EP that sells itself as commercially motivational material. Contagious, reflective and melodically libidinous, it's an EP that drinks from the wellspring of a saturated subgenre, but never loses its luster, especially when brought to you by a band with a conscious timbre.
