Coming straight out of the southern Brazilian city of Criciúma in Santa Catarina, the genre-bending outfit As the Palaces Burn have been one of the country’s best-kept secrets, consistently releasing great material. They burst onto the scene with 2019’s End’evour, which has a furious heavy/thrash metal sound, also allowing some slightly more 90’s aspects to sneak in, allowing influences like Pantera, Nevermore and national treasure Sepultura to shine through. While the album is incredibly solid, there are still some aspects, notably the production, that were slightly green, but all of that was solved in their second LP, Drowning Into Shadows (2023), which leaned into a slightly more “-core” sound, with a less raw, more polished sound, but without letting go of the core (no pun
intended) sound they had established previously.
This brings us to the current day, having undergone some slight personnel changes, ATPB have returned to the studio for the creation of Zodiac, their third album, which is set to be released next year. The recording took place along many studios in the southern region of the country, with Carlos Fides returning as the cover artist. The first release to come from this album cycle was the title track, “Zodiac”, which dives into the infamous story of the zodiac killer, who terrorized the US in the 1960s, and whose true identity remains undiscovered.
Sound-wise, they embrace modernity more than every, with some electronic flourishes, a wide array of vocal effects on both lead vocalist Alyson Garcia and guitarist Diego Bittencourt, who not was the man behind the original composition, but also has some lines, some soft, but brooding orchestration in the background, pitch bent guitar squeals and some of their best production to date.
“Zodiac offers a glimpse into the killer’s dark, introspective psyche while weaving a lyrical thread back to ‘Arcanum,’” explains drummer and lyricist Gilson Naspolini. “While Diego Bittencourt’s original composition didn’t focus on this theme, I reimagined it, creating a seamless connection between the two songs—melodically and narratively. ‘Zodiac’ fuses ‘Arcanum’s’ enigmatic aura with a harrowing, sinister storyline.”
The first stanza mentions the “furtive glances” and “hidden aim”, referencing how a lot about the case is still unknown, with the 5 converging shadows being the 5 confirmed victims. Skipping over to the chorus (third stanza), it is quite self-explanatory, alluding to the red herrings and signs left by the killer, with the 4th verse being basically an ode to the calculated and planned aspects of the murders. The verses which close off the song mention the lack of clarity in the case one final time and end off by restating the “legend” of the killer.
It is safe to say that if the full album is as good as the title track, we already have a super strong candidate for 2025’s album of the year…
Stream “Zodiac” from the usual sources
Check out all the bands we review in 2024 on our Spotify and YouTube playlists!
As The Palaces Burn: facebook | instagram | spotify | youtube
