words: Marcos Leal (edited by Raquel Pinheiro); photos: Telma Mota
“Good evening. Welcome to the spectrum of fascism” – This is how Adolfo Luxúria Canibal greeted the audience at Casa da Música, after several songs from Viva La Muerte, their new conceptual nine songs album being performed.
Adolfo, the band, and male choir were dressed as if part of a revolutionary movement. Adolfo, with an assertive stance, standing on a platform, gestured, and, with his deep, hoarse voice, recited the songs’ lyrics like a speech, akin to a political rally.
It was, undoubtedly, a highly political concert. That is not new for Mão Morta, but not in the fashion of Viva La Muerte. In reality we live in, with, the rise of far-right movements, and the establishment of oligarchies and totalitarian regimes. With Viva La Muerte Mão Morta reaffirm themselves even more as a band of political and social intervention.
The band perfectly reproduced the stylistic variations of the album, ranging from the folk/jazz influences of Liberdade to the doom-like tones of Pensamento Único. Between songs, various recordings of thinkers, philosophers, and revolutionaries, such as Tim Leary and Angela Davis, further emphasized the political context of the show.
The concert followed the album’s sequence, opening with Deus Pátria Autoridade with its choral voices, and closing with Viva La Muerte!, the title track. Thus, the finale echoed with the sentence “Ninguém nasceu para ser servil e morrer” (“Nobody was born to be servile and die”)repeated until the last chord—a final message to take home and into life.
Viva La Muerte:
01: Deus Pátria Autoridade
02: Corre Corre Corre
03: É Proibido
04: Ressentidos e Ressabiados
05: A Liberdade
06: Pensamento Único
07: Líder Povo Nação
08: Ratoeira Bélica
09: Viva La Muerte!
Mão Morta are:
Adolfo Luxúria Canibal (vocals)
Miguel Pedro (drums, electronics)
Antonio Rafael (keyboards, electronics)
Vasco Vaz (guitar)
Ruca Lacerda (guitar, percussion, drums)
Rui Leal (bass, double bass)
Choir:
Fernando Pinheiro (conductor)
Jorge Barata
Lucas Lopes
Paulo Santos Silva
Tiago Regueiras
Mondo Bizarre Magazine 