Ratos De Porao

I'm not exactly sure how popular Brazil's RDP are, hence I don't know about the demand or necessity for this album, which is a re-recorded version of their 17-year old debut. Sure, they're better musicians, have a better understanding of the recording process, have a different line-up and have Billy Anderson mixing and mastering, but why look back? The unique thing is that the band has tacked the original version on this as a bonus track. As expected, the original recording is sloppy and raw-as-hell three chord-core that sounds like every band these guys could have got their hands on via the tape trading scene back in the day (Black Flag and Raw Power comes to mind). The RDP of today polishes the performance, owns some decent equipment and adds a touch of the thrash sound they experimented with during their Roadrunner days and have come up with a good hardcore album. Obviously, playing material this old isn't going to win any originality points, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the energetic core that Sistemados... has to offer.