Review: Papangu – Lampião Rei

Style: Progressive metal, progressive rock, avant-garde metal, zeuhl (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Mastodon, Sun-Ra’s Arkestra, Magma, Gentle Giant
Country: BRASIL CAMPEÃO DO MUNDOOOOOOOOOO
Release date: September 6, 2024

Change is scary. What’s even more scary is that at any moment, your favorite prog influenced metal band could drop the thing that made them cool and become synonymous with dad rock (Opeth, Leprous, etc.). But prog is all about change, going against the norm, doing your own thing with the music. Damn the fans, and give a big “Fuck you!” to genre labels. Just don’t go too far against what I want to hear, or else I’ll give you a bad score.

I’ll be real with you prog nerds for a moment: all your favorite albums have been the successful result of someone slamming two of the opposite genres together. Fusing rap and metal has been done before, but this year’s JPEGMafia has proven to be far more innovative and interesting than, let’s say, Skindred. But it shocks me that not many people have tried to slam zeuhl and metal together, especially considering the two are practically distant cousins of one another. Hell, nobody gets it right the first time, but Papangu somehow has. Twice.

Holoceno was characterized by grinding riffs and a fusion of Mastodonian sludge sensibilities with Gojira’s environmentally conscious storytelling plus the zeuhl of Magma. While this works for an album about the slow, inevitable death of planet Earth by human means, this doesn’t strike as something that would work for a story about the Brazilian historic figure Lampião. Papangu were already five steps ahead, as they’ve completely revamped their sound, ready to tell a tale of the hardships that brought young Lampião to his place in Brazilian history.

I’m an ignorant American who only knows the likes of George Washroom, Thomas Jetson, and that guy they made the musical about, so I figured I owed it to myself to do a bit of research on Lampião and his place in Brazil’s history. He was a bandit leader who fought against paramilitary police forces, even when the odds were stacked against him, and was  characterized by both the brutality he showed towards his enemies and the loyalty he showed to his comrades. Even if I can’t understand the lyrics, Lampião Rei perfectly captures this life story in its musical storytelling.

Unlike Holoceno, Lampião Rei starts with quiet acoustic guitar and clean vocals. Gone are the sludge riffs, replaced with the imagery of young Lampião working as his father’s farmhand in Northeast Brazil. ‘Acende a Luz II and III’ builds where our intro left off before erupting into harsh vocals backed with keyboards. Before I realized it, I was witnessing the most perfect union of Magma and metal I could imagine. The production absolutely shines in this first track, even with blaring keyboards for practically the whole song. None of it felt overblown or cramped, and it was clear that Papangu understood how to craft this record to get their message across sonically.

The replay factor of this album is almost immense. Every new listen, there were new layers to uncover, especially as Papangu have grown into a six-piece jazz orchestra (seriously, look at the Bandcamp credits for the immense number of instruments and guest players involved), each song has so much more to chew on than Holoceno. With this almost whiplash-inducing change in style, Papangu have practically mastered their descent into jazz-rock-mixed-with-metal territory. As much as I liked the sound of Holoceno, I feel that this is the sound Papangu were always going for. ‘Maracutaia’ as a single almost feels like this new sound’s mission statement, starting with its off-kilter piano all the way to its many jazzy breakdowns. 

‘Boitatá (Incidente na pia batismal da Capela de Bom Jesus dos Aflitos)’ is just about the most you’ll get of “old” Papangu, with a much more laid-back approach to its bass driven main riff. But the jazzy, staccato guitar and vocal combo keep it leagues apart from the previous effort, once again proving that they refuse to be constrained to just one sound. Even as the song starts with that grinding riff, the song crescendos near the five-minute mark before boasting an incredible flute solo. As much as I hear Giant and Jethro Tull in here, I also hear The Sun-Ra Arkestra, and Milton Nascimento. If that mix isn’t enough to sell you on the band, I don’t know what else will. 

‘Ruinas’ is an uncharacteristically soft song reminiscent of Gentle Giant mixed with traditional folk, and just goes to show the lengths of the Brazilian’s songwriting prowess. Just as the intro riff of ‘Rito de Coroação’ repeated at the end, I couldn’t help but think I missed so much of this album. Papangu haven’t done a change for prog’s sake, but to better evolve with their key themes and sound. With two monster releases under their belt, I think that they’ve basically got the entire prog world watching their efforts. Now, with the fall of Lampião, let’s see what they’ll do next.

Recommended tracks: Acende a Luz, Oferenda no Alguidar, Maracutaia, Ruinas, Rito de Coroacao
You may also like: Subterranean Masquerade, Seven Impale
Final verdict: 8.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram |

Label: Repose Records – Bandcamp | Official Website

Papangu is:
Rai Accioly – (electric guitar, lead & backing vocals)
Vitor Alves – (drums, triangle, agogo, zabumba)
Pedro Francisco – (flutes, electric & acoustic guitars, percussion, vibraphone, Fender Rhodes, Clavinet, rubber chicken, lead & backing vocals)
Marco Mayer – (bass, electric & acoustic guitars, lead & backing vocals)
Hector Ruslan – (electric & acoustic guitars, lead & backing vocals)
Rodolfo Salgueiro – (Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Mellotron, piano, organ, synths, triangle, lead & backing vocals)

Album art by: Eduardo Ver