Portuguese Sound Database: Utopium

sexta-feira, 3 de janeiro de 2014

Utopium

Bio :

UTOPIUM gathered in Lisbon, in 2007, with the initial line-up comprising R. on vocals, T. and JR. on guitar, J. on drums and D. on bass. The five-piece recorded and released their first demo in late 2008, followed by the first live performances before B. replaced D. on bass. Almost a year later, the group sees its version of «My Philosophy», from the iconic «Inhale / Exhale», included in the compilation «A Tribute to Nasum» released through indie German Power-It-Up.

Still totally DIY, they self-financed the recording and release of their highly anticipated debut EP in 2010. Titled «Conceptive Prescience» and limited to 100 copies on CD, the album quickly sells out and gathers a lot of praise by the press. 2011 marks another line-up change – with P. replacing B. on bass – and the release of a split 7” with Lifedeceiver. Over the years, UTOPIUM established a solid reputation live thanks to devastating performances, having shared stages with internationally renowned bands like Rotten Sound, Misery Index, Despised Icon or Wormrot and played festivals like SWR Barroselas Metalfest, Bracara Extreme Fest and Milhões de Festa.

Exploring the embodiment of seven vices and its seven opposite virtues as representative facets of Man, «Vicious Consolation / Virtuous Totality» includes 18 micro-discharges of a grindcore, crust and sludge hybrid, powerful enough to leave any extreme music lover with their jaw dropped. Sounding like Nasum playing Entombed covers in Iron Monkey’s rehearsal space, but with its own identity already developed over the past six years, UTOPIUM are much more than the simple sum of its influences. And they don’t even need half an hour to prove they have more than enough capacity to affirm themselves, once and for all, as one of the most explosive and compelling proposals out of the extreme underground of the XXI century.