Review Summary: Thunder Dope is proof that even Matanza’s “leftovers” hit harder, faster, and more honestly than most bands’ carefully curated main courses.
I usually don’t like B-sides albums or collections of studio leftovers. And the reason is simple: leftovers are leftovers for a reason. If certain material didn’t make it onto the original record, it’s because, in theory, it didn’t meet the expected quality standard. By definition, it’s material below the final cut — unfinished ideas, discarded experiments, or tracks that simply weren’t strong enough to survive the studio’s natural selection process.
That’s why Thunder Dope, an album based on old material from the demos Terror em Dashville and De Volta a Tombstone, had everything going against it. Re-recordings and historical resurrections may sound like interesting archaeology for devoted fans — but they rarely stand on their own as a solid body of work.
At the time, Donida justified it by saying these weren’t “studio leftovers, but songs that remained incomplete, were eventually forgotten, yet somehow were important for us to understand our own sound.”
You say tomato, I say tomahto.
But none of that really matters, because Thunder Dope once again proves that I don’t want to be right — I just wanna be happy. Proportionally speaking, Thunder Dope is Matanza’s Reign in Blood: short, dry, straight-to-the-face punches (eight of the thirteen tracks clock in at under two minutes). It’s fast, aggressive, completely uninterested in subtlety. And it’s ***ing great.
And then, in the middle of this landscape of blood, sweat, and sonic hostility, “out of nowhere it emerges” (pun absolutely intended) “Mulher Diabo” (Devil Woman), one of the most unexpected tracks on Thunder Dope — and perhaps in the band’s entire discography. Instead of the accelerated, almost reckless assault that usually defines Matanza, we get something more restrained and groove-driven. The real star here is the bass: deep, full-bodied, and swinging hard, it drives the track with authority, allowing groove to replace sheer speed. Killer.
Other major highlights include “Dashville Chainsaw Massacre” and “Country Core Funeral.” This is pure, root-level Matanza — no brakes, no mercy. Step aside or get run over.
“Goredoom Jamboree” and “Devil Horse,” sung in “English,” are the most unapologetically countrycore moments on the record. “Matanza em Idaho” and “Estrada de Ferro Thunder Dope” also stand out as strong entries in what turns out to be a surprisingly solid leftovers album.
But since not everything is perfect — and precisely because this is a B-sides collection — there are more fillers than usual for a Matanza release. That’s to be expected with a record of this nature. “Alabama Death Tenebris” and “She’s Evil (But She’s Mine)” don’t really add anything meaningful to the mix.
Even so, overall, Thunder Dope shuts me up and proves that leftovers albums can, in fact, be genuinely solid.
Unfortunately, this would be the band’s last truly strong release. The final record, Pior Cenário Poss*vel (Worst Case Cenario), would prove to be merely average within their discography — perhaps a reflection of the growing tensions behind the scenes.
But that, dear reader, is a story for another review.
