Band info
Band: A//Plague
Location: Brazil
Band: Arbeiter Und Soldat
Location: Argentina
Band: Neverchrist
Location: Brazil
Genres: black metal
Review 
How does one defeat fascism? That question is certainly something all of you have pondered, given the rise of far-right movements worldwide and their policies of shifting the burdens of collapse onto our shoulders. Well, today’s album is a very pointed example of antifascist propaganda: this three-way split between Neverchrist and our old comrades A///Plague from Brazil, along with Arbeiter und Soldat from Argentina, is themed around perhaps one of the greatest cases of success of antifascist struggle around the world, that of Brazil in the 30s, where Integralism was destroyed before it even reached power! You see, Integralism was the largest fascist movement outside Europe, gathering thousands of people in marches in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and the Brazilian government of the time, Getúlio Vargas, sympathised not only with it, but with Hitler and Mussolini as well. Following Stalin’s orders, the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) decided to refuse any sort of alliance against Integralism, claiming all other leftist forces were “social-fascists”. Everything pointed to a repetition of the tragedies of Germany and Italy… until, whoa, in comes the unexpected: the Trotskyists!
Following Trotsky’s suggestion, the small faction of Brazilian Trotskyists, LCI, proposed the creation of a United Antifascist Front, and convinced the Brazilian Socialist Party, Italian antifascist migrants and trade unions to join. Though the PCB and the main anarchist groups refused to be part of the Front, the Integralist attacks on demonstrations and picket lines eventually forced everyone together. The end result, partially depicted on the album cover, was the Battle of Praça da Sé, on October 7th 1934, where the UAF, the PCB, the anarchists and independents all gathered to violently attack a huge Integralist march, leading to the deaths by gunshot of one communist student, three Integralists and three cops, as well as dozens of wounded. The Integralists fled and tried to remove their green shirts, leading the whole event to become humoursly dubbed as the “Flight of the Green Hens” and utterly demoralising the Integralist organisation, which was soon afterwards abandoned by Getulio Vargas. Long story, eh?
The twelve tracks of ‘Bajo la sombra de la intolerancia antifascista‘ speak also of Palestine and of more intimate themes, and celebrate the Battle, and the example of unity against fascism it gives, in twelve tracks that transit between atmoblack, raw black and some hardcore. But enough of our words, go listen to it! We finish, like the last song does (spoiler), with the chorus of the Internationale in Castilian:
“¡Agrupémonos todos en la lucha final! ¡El género humano es la internacional!”
“So comrades, come rally, And the last fight let us face: The Internationale unites the human race!”
Other links and platforms:
NEVERCHRIST – https://neverchrist.bandcamp.com/music
ARBEITER UND SOLDAT – https://aus-1917.webnode.page/
A///PLAGUE – https://aplagueblackmetal.bandcamp.com/