Reborn progressive death/thrash metallers Vertebra deliver their debut album, The Same on Xtreem Music!

Vertebra were born into the Brazilian underground music scene in the mid 1990s, where they captured hearts with some powerful live performances, their unquestionable integrity and remarkable music - a progressively minded blend of death and thrash metal with an inherent sense of melody. A single track demo, Humanity, was released in 1995 and a further demo recorded but not released before the band imploded, driven apart by the often overwhelming pressures of daily life. However, those recordings were not made in vain. During the turbulent period of the pandemic, Vertebra’s founder, guitarist and vocalist Arildo Leal, was driven to create once again – and four of those old demo tracks would be the starting point for rebuilding the foundations of Vertebra. Now Vertebra are back with their so long awaited full length debut album, the fulfilment of all that early promise, The Same.

The Same opens with the explosive ‘Oblivion’, a hard-edged thrasher with a sharp, authentic sound that wastes no time in unveiling the fantastic technical ability that the whole of Vertebra have at their disposal. The instinctive, free-flowing interplay between bass and drums, the meticulous precision of the riffs, the dazzling solos are all there, dancing around the snarled vocals, delivered with a palpable passion and intent. Even more impressive though is Vertebra’s masterful songcraft, the manner in which they use their abilities to sculpt exciting, addictive, sleekly structured songs. Be it the powerful, free-willed and exploratory first single, ‘Behavior In The Eyes’, the outstanding melodies and solos of ’95 Eyes’ or the bustling riffs that open out into spacious vistas of ‘Fanatic And Picturesque’, there is so much to explore throughout this incredible album. Rarely is music so heavy yet so elegant, so intricate but so memorable and immersive. This is extreme metal at its most engaging, complex and accomplished.

Vertebra are a band driven by conviction and absolute belief in their music. This return is not based on nostalgia for the halcyon days of youth, but on a need to express their creativity and their individuality – and to take a stand for individuality in a wider sense, in a world becoming ever more apathetic and homogenised. This band still have a lot to say and a lot to offer. When Xtreem Music release The Same on July 29th, on CD (with bonus track) and digital formats they will blaze a path through the metal underground that will be impossible to ignore.