The Troops Of Doom – the Brazilian band featuring former Sepultura guitarist Jairo “Tormentor” Guedz – have announced the upcoming arrival of their sophomore album, “A Mass To The Grotesque”, as a limited LP vinyl edition and CD digipack on May 31. The record will be released by Alma Mater Records, the Portuguese label run by Moonspell singer Fernando Ribeiro.
The album’s first single, a brutal banger titled “Chapels Of The Unholy”, will be released on April 12.
“Imagine a death metal world unaltered and pure since the 1990s, a musical style so dear to the fans, that time, business and trend, could never hurt,” death metal fan Ribeiro recommends. “Go back to the glorious time where death metal reigned supreme, thanks to some bands, artists, studios, and an untameable will of progressing and delivering extreme music to its finest shape, like occult jewelry, filigree, brutal yet elegant in its overwhelming task of splitting your ears. The new The Troops Of Doom album, ‘A Mass To The Grotesque’, which Alma Mater Records is brutally proud to present, rescues this long-forgotten death metal class. They are the flag carriers of the authentic Morrisound sound (the legendary Florida studio where this album was mixed and mastered) and they leave no stone unturned on this one. Brace yourself for the best and most authentic death metal album in ages!”
The Troops Of Doom was formed in 2020, during the pandemic, by Guedz. He recorded the albums “Bestial Devastation” (1985) and “Morbid Visions” (1986). Jairo left the band in 1987, making way for Andreas Kisser, who continues with the band to this day. The Troops Of Doom‘s lineup also includes other significant figures from the Brazilian metal scene, such as guitarist Marcelo Vasco, a globally renowned graphic artist known for his work with bands like Slayer, Dee Snider, Kreator, Machine Head, Soulfly, and many others. The vocalist and bassist Alex Kafer, former live guitarist for Matanza, and drummer Alexandre Oliveira, a former member of the band Tianastácia, complete the lineup.
The Troops Of Doom emerged to revive the classic death metal of the 1980s, inspired by Sepultura‘s early era with Jairo and other influential bands such as Slayer, Celtic Frost, Kreator, and Possessed. It serves as a time machine for those nostalgic for the golden age of death metal. In just two years since its formation, the band has released three EPs: “The Rise Of Heresy” (2020), “The Absence Of Light” (2021), and “Prelude To Blasphemy” (2023), along with their debut album, “Antichrist Reborn”, that was released in 2022 on CD LP, and cassette by Alma Mater Records and lauded by both fans and music press alike.
Now, the band is gearing up for the release of their highly anticipated second album, “A Mass To The Grotesque”, produced by André Moraes, a multi-talented musician known for his work on Sepultura‘s “Dante XXI” and the soundtrack of the film “Lisbela E O Prisioneiro” at Audio Porto studio in Porto Alegre/RS. The mixing and mastering of the album were done by Jim Morris at the legendary Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida, known for producing some of the greatest death metal classics of the ’80s and ’90s.
Guedz comments: “The entire production and recording of the album were done in Brazil, while the mixing and mastering were handled by the great Jim Morris at the legendary Morrisound Recording in Florida. It’s a production that completely diverges from today’s standard productions. We are very proud of it.”
“Every aspect of this album was chosen meticulously,” Vasco adds. “What could be more intense than having the record mixed in the studio where the greatest death metal classics of the ’80s and ’90s were mixed? Our idea was to take the production of this album to another level. The sound breaths, it’s organic and lo-fi, old school as hell. It’s an experience!”
The cover art was painted by the acclaimed artist Dan Seagrave, responsible for numerous classic death metal album covers. Guedz reveals: “The title ‘A Mass To The Grotesque’ carries the symbolism of a true ode to the ugly, the evil, the feared. It encompasses everything and everyone that doesn’t fit into the molds of a so-called ‘evolved’ society, choosing to live in the shadows. A dark liturgy to the rejected and their followers, who find shelter and comfort in the absence of light and in the supposed dictatorship of the divine word, whatever it may be. The grotesque is resistance, where nothing is sacred!”
“There wouldn’t be a more perfect artist to paint the album cover than the master Dan Seagrave, whose distinctive style is deeply rooted in the genre and has created numerous album covers for death metal that have become iconic and, of course, a great inspiration in The Troops Of Doom‘s music. We are huge fans of his work,” Vasco admits, “and it is a giant honor to have him as the cover artist of this new album. It’s a dream come true.”
“A Mass To The Grotesque” track listing:
1. Solve Et Coagula – Introduction
2. Chapels Of The Unholy
3. Dawn Of Mephisto
4. Denied Divinity
5. The Impostor King
6. Faithless Requiem
7. Psalm 78 – God Of Bizarre
8. Terror Inheritance
9. The Grotesque
10. Blood Upon The Throne
11. Venomous Creed
The Troops Of Doom have been confirmed to headline the Waves stage at the Brazilian edition of the German festival Summer Breeze, taking place at the Memorial da América Latina in São Paulo this April, followed by The Troops Of Doom‘s first-ever European Tour in August.
