Laurence Miranda (vocals and guitar) and Luiz Amadeus (guitar), musicians from the thrash metal band Faces of Death, which is currently promoting their new album, “Evil” (2023), participated in the Valley of Metal project, an initiative by bassist Fabrício de Castilho (Steelgods). The song “Unbreakable” was recorded at Vibe Vale studios in Taubaté (SP) and produced, mixed and mastered by Rodolfo Bittencourt.

“The idea for Valley of Metal came about after the sad announcement of the death of Metauro’s guitarist, Marco Aurélio, affectionately known as Marcão. When reading the band’s statement about this loss, I remembered the first time I witnessed a live performance by Metauro, in 1998, at the Emilia Riolfi bar, in Taubaté. At that time, we were in the early stages of structuring Steelgods. The sad news made me reflect on our journey, persistence and resilience,” he explains.

According to Fabrício de Castilho, author of the lyrics of the song “Unbreakable” and the music, alongside Elton Silvarum and Saulo Carvalho, also from Steelgods, many bands from Vale do Paraíba have fought a long battle for their music and expression. “Even in the face of the indestructible force of time, great musicians from the valley remain insurmountable, unbreakable. From this reflection, the idea of creating a record, similar to Dio’s Hear N’ Aid, was born, with the purpose of further strengthening our scene and documenting this force that drives us.”

Check out “Unbreakable”, from the Valley of Metal project, at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=SP7gDQZrLBU

Regarding the choice and participation of the band Faces of Death, Fabrício de Castilho highlights that it was “very important and essential, as it represents everything that the project wants to express, as it has existed since the 90s and remains strong and insurmountable”.

In turn, the vocalist and guitarist of Faces of Death, Laurence Miranda, praised the scenario of the so-called “Vale do Hell”. “Vale do Paraíba has always been rich in metal, hardcore, hard rock and punk bands. So, I was really excited when they invited me to participate in the project, which will even be released on CD! There are several incredible musicians and bands in the Valley, but some bands were unable to participate and we can think of the ‘Valley of Metal 2’, including bands from Serra da Mantiqueira, Litoral Norte and the bottom of the Valley. Let’s go ahead and show the strength of Hell Valley.”

Created in the city of Pindamonhangaba (SP) in 1990, Faces of Death soon attracted attention with their thrash metal. At the time, the group released two demos, but never recorded an official record. After almost two decades of inactivity, he resumed activities in 2016 and started to catch up, releasing the EP “Consummatum Est” (2017) and the albums “From Hell” (2018), “Usurper of Souls” (2020) and “Evil ” (2023), in addition to the live “A Drink with the Death – Rehearsal Live (2021)”.

“Receiving the invitation to participate in the Valley of Metal project was something that took me back to the past where we always interacted with events in the late ‘electro square’, where rock events always took place in the 80s/90s. It was an honor and a pleasure to be part of this and I am very grateful to brother Fabrício Castilho for the invitation and the initiative”, concluded guitarist Luiz Amadeus.