UNITED FORCES: An Archive of Brazil's Raw Metal Attack BOOK

“A ground-level view of the underground in Brazil…including early coverage of bands like Darkthrone, Mystifier, Carcass, Sarcófago, and, of course, Sepultura.”—Decibel

“A true historical document of Brazilian heavy music… a magical time that will always be remembered”—Rodrigo Magalhães, Holocausto

“A cool zine”—Iggor Cavalera

“Overflowing with the essence of the golden years of Brazilian metal”—Zhema Rodero, Vulcano

Before Sweden, before Norway, before Florida, before the UK, there was BRAZIL.

In 1986, São Paulo teenager Marcelo R. Batista channeled his love of pure, wild heavy metal into the self-produced fanzine United Forces. Over the next five years, his homemade publication captured the explosion happening before his eyes thanks to riotous Brazilian metal upstarts including Sepultura, Sarcofago, Vulcano, Holocausto, Mystifier, Sextrash, Ratos de Porão, Skullkrusher, Necrobutcher, and hundreds of others. Simultaneously, he exposed readers to future legends from abroad, including Napalm Death, Carcass, Morbid Angel, and Darkthrone.

United Forces presents the story in vivid color, along with Batista’s own headbanger tale—from humble origins collecting scrap metal to buy Motörhead albums to DIY operator funneling his country’s metal passion to receptive listeners in Europe and North America. The changes in Brazil during the 1980s and early 1990s serve as background for a full-bore metal revolution, as Batista’s story brings to life the crucial South-of-the-equator 1980s scene that inspired all the forthcoming underground extremes to come.

Heavyweight English-language hardcover includes: 

• 528 color pages on heavy-duty 130gsm paper w/over 1,000 color images, photographs, and flyers from the archives of Brazil's metal uprising
• Forewords by Rodrigo Magalhães (Holocausto), Zhema Rodero (Vulcano), Cristiano dos Passos (Necrobutcher), Renato da Costa Souza (Armmagedon, Megathrash, Holocausto), Paulo Gepeto (Ação Direta), Jan Frederickx (Agathocles), Georges Kormikiaris (Low Life Records, Radical Livros), and Borivoj Krgin (Blabbermouth.net)
• Exhaustive “United Forces” Summit w/Max and Iggor Cavalera
• Ten illustrated narrative chapters detailing the rise of Brazilian metal and hardcore throughout the 1980s through the eyes of author Marcelo R. Batista
• Over 100 original handmade Portuguese zine pages joined by over 100 English translation pages covering the entire United Forces zine run
• Dimensions: 8.25″ x 11″ x 1.85″ (210mm x 280mm x 45mm); 4.75 lbs. (2.1 kg)

Bazillion Points 2023