PAPANGU

Metal Related / Avant-garde Metal • Brazil
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"Four-piece band from João Pessoa, Brazil. Formed in 2012 as a stoner rock trio, PAPANGU quickly moved into sludge metal and prog rock territory after the inclusion of a second guitarist/vocalist. Influenced by the modernist literature of Northeastern Brazil-a hardy, arid region historically plagued by inequality and violence-, the band exclusively writes music in their native Portuguese, and aims to reclaim the space for progressive and ambitious Brazilian rock left empty after the Tropicália movement (and later, pop rock and axé-influenced music) toned down experimentalism in Brazilian music." - Marco Mayer

PAPANGU released their first album "Holoceno" in 2021 consisting of material written between 2019-2021 with their core lineup consisting of Marco MAYER (bass, vocals, guitars, keyboards), Hector RUSLAN (guitar, vocals), Rai ACCIOLY (guitar, vocals) and Nichollas JAQUES (background vocals) along with several special guests. This is a concept album whose main character is a bandit from Brazil's backlands who starts
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Thanks to silly puppy for the addition and tupan for the updates

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PAPANGU Holoceno album cover 4.06 | 4 ratings
Holoceno
Avant-garde Metal 2021
PAPANGU Lampião Rei album cover 3.50 | 1 ratings
Lampião Rei
Metal Related 2024

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PAPANGU Reviews

PAPANGU Lampião Rei

Album · 2024 · Metal Related
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siLLy puPPy
The Brazilian act PAPANGU made quite the splash in 2021 with its eccentric and eclectic metalized zeuhl contributions to the prog universe. “Holoceno” embraced all the workings of a 21st century prog act forging ahead in a crowded room with the entire history of prog, metal and Brazilian homegrown influences to stew in a cauldron of its own making. The album was an amazing blend of over the top brutal prog and sludge metal all kept nice and orderly with the bubbling rhythms of Magma inspired zeuhl. The prog and avant-metal world has anxiously awaited a proper followup and in the calendar year 2024, this João Pessoa based band has unleashed its newest stylistic approach on its sophomore release LAMPIÃO REI, uh, Portuguese for “Lamp King?” Hmmm. No, don’t worry this isn’t a concept album about electrical apparatuses but rather the name LAMPIÃO refers to the nickname of the 20th century Brazilian bandit Virgulino Ferreira da Silva who could fire a rifle so lightning fast that the gun release made a fire that resembled a lamp.

This album while in Portuguese actually narrates the dark history of Brazil’s underclass and socio-political activism but lyrics and storytelling set aside for those who comprehend like zero Portuguese, LAMPIÃO REI is quite a musical departure from its predecessor with less focus on the sludgy Mastodon styled metal and much more emphasis on knotty avant-prog, jazz fusion and local Brazilian folk musical styles ranging from udigrudi and forró to other local flavors of Northeastern Brazil. While the hardcore metalheads will scratch their heads with this one, the hardened proggers will absolutely love the wild mix of styles that permeate each and every one of the album’s nine varied tracks which seamlessly blend moments of avant-prog, jazz fusion, zeuhl and Brazilian cheerfulness as they hop, skip and jump through varying styles. That includes a few moments of metal as well since the band has not abandoned the metallic oomph altogether however the addition of moments of Canterbury jazz and more demanding time signatures certainly gives LAMPIÃO REI a completely different vibe.

Add to that the production is much clearer this time around. If “Holoceno” was all about crafting darkened soundscapes that were murky and gravelly as to amplify the effects of the metal mojo, this second offering is more about crafting a warm inviting feel for the most part although the tracks differ so much in style that often it sounds like a completely different band. While “Boitat? (Incidente na pia batismal da Capela de Bom Jesus dos Aflitos)” features a loud and obnoxious growled vocal style with heavy guitars and busy psychedelic atmospheres, the track “Sol Raiar (Caminhando na Manh? Bonita)” exhibits Canterbury jazz warmth with Mike Ratledge styled keys along with cheerful traditional Brazilian musical accompaniments. A very strange mix and not one that i’ve ever heard! The band also offers touches of Gentle Giant knottiness (“Ruínas”) and pure samba jazz moments reminiscent of the late great Antônio Carlos Jobim. For all its wild experimentalism though, unfortunately the album fails to find a cohesion of any sort as it seems like a free-for-all which is something that may alienate a lot of fans who lapped up the debut album (such as myself!)

I’m never one to diss a band for experimenting and moving onto something out of its comfort zone but perhaps for PAPANGU the bold change of style on LAMPIÃO REI may have come a little too soon as the fanbase was most certainly expecting a similarly styled followup to the more metallic “Holoceno,” at least i was! Musically this album is quite brilliant and the musicians clearly have demonstrated their ability to pretty much tackle the entire prog universe in one sitting however as an album this one just doesn’t seem to jive well from beginning to end as the continuity is out of whack and it just seems unfocused in so many ways. It’s definitely an interestingly unique album with many interesting prog hybridization going on and i’ve been told by the band personally that this album is somewhat of an anomaly as the more familiar metal sounds will return on album #3. While i’ve tried to embrace this one at the same level of “Holoceno,” it just doesn’t come across as an album that actually can convey a concept from start to finish. Definitely a really good album but just not as much so as “Holoceno.”

PAPANGU Holoceno

Album · 2021 · Avant-garde Metal
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siLLy puPPy
One of the things i love about the internet age is that the entire history of music has been laid bare and pretty much put on an equal playing field without record companies dictating what should be heard and what should be jettisoned to the trash bin. As this age continues on, newer musicians have pretty much embraced the entire musical history as their influence instead of a few bands that existed as they grew up. This has seriously challenged the notion of labeling as the desire to create music without any restrictions continues to grow although plenty of retro bands are happy to stick to a designed genre.

Musical complacency is certainly not the case for Brazilian band PAPANGU which formed in 2012 in the city of Joāo Pessoa but has only finally released its debut HOLOCENO in 2021. Initially the band was content as a simple stoner rock trio but as time went on got into sludge metal and eventually the more progressive angsty sludge metal of early Mastodon. But why stop there? The band was equally fascinated by the tripped out zeuhl rhythms of bands like Magma and after seven years of stewing these ingredients in the cauldron of their own making, PAPANGU has hit the ground running with a rather unique mix of musical ideas in a combo effect that i have never heard before!

The band consists of Marco Mayer (bass, vocals, synthesizer), Hector Mota (guitar, vocals, percussion), Rai Accioly (guitar, vocals) and Nichollas Jaques (drums, percussion) who all came from various musical backgrounds including punk rock, thrash metal and doom metal. Their mission is to do to metal what Brazilian musician Edu Lobo did to traditional Brazilian music in the 1970s. Inspirations include not only Magma and Mastodon but Edu Lobo himself who performed traditional bossa nova and a style called MPB, short for short for música popular brasileira, is a loosely defined genre that formed in the mid-1960s as a modernised version of bossa nova and samba-canção which adopted foreign styles of music.

Add to those formidable influences, King Crimson styled progginess adds an extra helping of tight-knit time signature workouts. The band sings exclusively in Portuguese so therefore one could conclude that PAPANGU implements the zeuhl rhythmic drive of Magma, the metal intensity of Mastodon, the prog rock overdrive of King Crimson and melds it all with the immediacy of traditional Brazilian musical styles heard especially in the lyrical deliveries. HOLOCENO is listed as a concept album but i have no friggin clue as to what that may be about since my Portuguese is rather weak as far as understanding it spoken or sung.

Given these opposing influences on board it might sound like a tall order to fill but PAPANGU manages to keep the songs diverse with some sounding like “Bacia das Almas” resembling more energetic and heavy carnival music while “Terra Arrasada” taking on a menacing doom metal tone. There are also four guest musicians adding the tones and timbres of extra percussion, minimoogs, saxophones and extra dialogue. Add to that the production is excellent and a remix of "Açougue das Almas” which features Kayo Dot’s Toby Driver in the mixer’s chair is available on some editions as a bonus track.

Well, HOLOCENO pretty much checks off many things i love about adventurous music. It’s proggy, it’s heavy, it’s experimental yet familiar. It’s accessible yet weird as hell. It’s irreverence towards the status quo is high and the passion is on fire! The zeuhl rhythms keep it from spiraling out of control and the highly creative mojo on display keeps it from getting stale. This is really an outstanding example of progressive music that progresses without sacrificing the somewhat ossified terminology that has come into play. Highly recommended for those who love bands like Kayo Dot, King Crimson and even Norway’s Shining. Avant-garde and unusual but chock full of sounds that will remind you of some of your favorites!

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