Cold, grim and frostbitten are not the first words that come to mind when one thinks of Brazil. Likewise, black metal isn’t a genre one intuitively associates with any country in South America. However, Evilwar is a Brazilian trio who play a brand of cold and grim black metal in the vein of Mayhem, Immortal and the rest of their Nordic ilk. Listening to Bleeding In The Shades Of Baphomet conjures up images of robed and cowled figures performing Satanic rituals in the bloodstained snow, miles away from subtropical heat.

The overriding principle of this album is simplicity, bordering on minimalism. There are no symphonic pretensions here; tremolo picking and simple melodies woven into the riffing are the order of the day. The drumming is straightforward, using fills only sparsely and mainly geared toward intensity and speed. However, Evilwar knows how to use such relatively simplistic drumming to its full advantage; it drops in and out as the melody changes, adding texture and weight to the songs. The vocals are one of the high points of the album; vocalist Halphas uses a gravelly, growl-tainted screech that complements the buzzier guitar tone well.

The production is relatively clean, for this sort of straightforward black metal. It’s close to what Immortal has on Sons Of Northern Darkness, although there’s still enough fuzz and distortion to add a raw edge to it. As expected, there’s very little low end; Shaitan’s bass is nearly inaudible at times. However, that’s mostly likely intentional, and the balance between drums, guitar and vocals is very good. Keys and samples are used sparingly, and almost exclusively in song intros.

Speaking of intros, the first track is a little over two minutes of atmospheric organesque sounds. It probably could have ended thirty second earlier, if only because that last fifteen seconds involve what sounds like bizarrely distorted whalesong. The track itself balances the album well with the last track, S.A.T., an instrumental that ends on an insidious, marching note. Two other songs have brief intros, with low, menacing keys and evil-sounding whispers. Both of the songs, Eternal Master Of Darkness and Offending The Divine Laws, are among the best on the album. Both are more varied than the others, and Offending The Divine Laws has an epic, almost Viking feel to it, with a set of riffs that evoke an impassive mountain landscape.

One of the advantages to Halphas’s vocals is that the lyrics are fairly easy to understand, even without the booklet. This is especially true on the first full song of the album, Seven Whores For Satan. If there were any doubts as to Evilwar’s religious alignment, they are quickly laid to rest by this ode to the subtle art of nunfucking. The rest of the songs are equally as blasphemous; they don’t seek to expound upon the spiritual nature of the universe or make any sort of political or social commentary, beyond the fact that Christianity is a weak lamb to be lead to the slaughter.

If you’re the sort who longs for the glory days of Norway in the early nineties, you would do well to try Evilwar. Despite being a decade and half a world apart, these Brazilians are keeping the style forged by the second wave black metal bands alive and well.