Feel like a bit of “world music”? This could do the job quite nicely. VIVISICK from Japan and MUKEKA DI RATO from Brazil, have joined forces to produce this very worthwhile split CD.

First on the bill is VIVISICK and I have to say these speed/thrash punks from the land of the rising sun put on a great performance. Their frantic pace and totally crazed vocals are balanced with a great underlying melodies; a quality found in most great punk rock. The psychopathic lead vocals are offset with classic sing-along backing vocals. The frenetic pace of the music at times feels like it is swallowing the band. However they miraculously manage to rise above the ballistic onslaught that they have created and pull off eight great songs.

MUKEKA DI RATO really mixes things up in the second half of the CD. Their opening song begins with a death metal-style vocal and ends with groovy female punk vocals. The rest of their eight songs hover somewhere between great hardcore punk, driving dirty rock ‘n roll, and a touch of metal. Although the mashing of styles may sound like a put-off, the songs come across very well. It keeps things very interesting and in no way do the songs get dull or repetitive.

This album gets the two thumbs up from me. The disc includes great production and the music from both bands has a ton of energy. The two bands compliment each other well, and I'd love to see them play live together. They have extensive back-catalogs, so go and seek out more!

- Saltry

OFFICIAL SITES: myspace.com/vivisick, myspace.com/mukekadirato

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