Black Pantera goes beyond hardcore thrash on the album 'Continental' without diluting the band's fury, weight and activism

The band Black Pantera releases their fifth studio album, 'Continental', recorded with musical production by Rafael Ramos Hugo Brito / Disclosure ? ALBUM REVIEW Title: Continental Artist: Black Pantera Rating: ? ? ? ? 1/2 ? Now Black Pantera is a star. The fifth album by the thrash metal and hardcore punk band from Minas Gerais, “Continental” arrives in the world this Friday, August 21st, with the mission of balancing the need to nod to the market – a noticeable flirtation in the adherence to feats, until then leap years in the trio's discography – with the weight and activism of a trio (re)known for their militancy in the fight against racism and social injustice. The great news is that Chaene da Gama (bass and vocals), Charles Gama (vocals and guitar) and Rodrigo Pancho (drums and percussion) escape this equation unscathed. With calibrated musical production by Rafael Ramos, the album “Continental” sounds like the natural successor to its predecessor “Perpétuo” (2024), an album with a more melodic sound that had already sounded like an expected sequel to the previous album “Ascensão” (2022), which, living up to its title, raised the status and popularity of Black Pantera in the heavy rock scene, even making the group intensify the international agenda started in 2016. For those who want the weight of Hardcore metal, it's all there, in the fast track “Yasuke”, in the title song “Continental” – a track that opens the album with a speech in which geographer Milton Santos (1926 – 2001) places Latin America as a territory of resistance to the oppression of European colonizers – and in “Obsoleto”, a furious song lasting one minute and 42 seconds recorded with the help of singer Derrick Green. Derrick is the throaty vocalist of the Minas Gerais band Sepultura, an inevitable reference for the trio formed in 2014 in Uberaba (MG), as evidenced by the recording of “Negusa nagast”, a track with a solid percussive base and incandescent guitar. The band Black Pantera addresses themes such as racism and ancestry in the lyrics of the songs written on the album 'Continental' Hugo Brito / Disclosure In terms of feats, the presence of Chico César – an artist also (re)known for his activism – is in tune with the Afro-Caribbean balance of “Banzo”, a song that exemplifies Black Pantera's ability to go beyond the universe of metal hardcore without moving away from the band's thematic universe. “They don’t understand our anger, they don’t know our pain”, shout Chico and Chaene da Gama in the most surprising track on the album “Continental”. In the same way, Sandra Sá’s voice harmonizes with the praise of the ancestry of black people in “When I Canto”. Duquesa’s brief spoken intervention in “Serotonina” sounds almost decorative in this weighty and direct speech range. A recurring subject in Black Pantera's activist discourse, the daily racism suffered by black people is addressed in the verses of “Hórus” – a track presented on July 31st as the second sample from the album “Continental”, following the initial single “Start the game”, released on July 13th. “W.P.P.” – acronym for white people problem – exposes and denounces white privileges in a racist society. However, “Continental” is an album without laments in which the band Black Pantera exposes pain and injustice with its head held high, ready for combat, with notorious pride. “Punhos cerrados”, in fact, is symptomatically the name of the thrash metal track that ends the album “Continental” with sound, fury and a killer chorus, showing that the Black Pantera trio remains attentive and strong at this moment of peak. Whether in the dominant thrash weight of songs like “Sic mundus”, or evoking the atmosphere of 1980s punk in “Velho denim ripped”, Chaene da Gama, Charles Gama and Rodrigo Pancho do not shy away from the fight. Cover of the album 'Continental', by the band Black Pantera Arte by Ramon Álvaro (Beeboy)