Lampião Rei

LAMPIÃO REI is the second studio album by the Brazilian prog rock / avant-garde metal band Papangu. Recorded by 3x Latin Grammy-winning engineer Fernando Sanches and mixed by Berlin-based heavy psych expert Richard Behrens, Lampião Rei continues Papangu's series of albums on the Cangaço movement that began with Holoceno, the band's critically acclaimed 2021 debut. While Holoceno is a Faustian allegory for the climate crisis, Lampião Rei instead presents an epic, biographical narrative of magical realism, recounting the trials and tribulations of legendary bandit leader Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, a.k.a. Lampião (1898 – 1938), from his birth until his rise as the most fearful man in Brazil. The rest of the story—Lampião's downfall and the infamous beheading of his whole crew in 1938—will be continued in a future recording. Now functioning as a sextet, with brothers Rodolfo and Pedro steering the songs into jazz-rock territory, and drummer Vitor—a forró percussionist and death metal expert by trade—grounding everything down with brute force and class, Papangu showcases their sophomore record with aplomb. Unlike the half-bedroom recording of Holoceno, most of Lampião Rei was recorded live in the studio as first takes. The result is Papangu's own brew of colourful, sludgy zeuhl taken to a rolling boil, showing not only the high-octane intensity that brought them comparisons to King Crimson and Magma, but also proudly displaying their Brazilian heritage, with influences ranging from Hermeto Pascoal and Edu Lobo to Sepultura.