In Brazil, everybody who is into metal and hardcore knows Uganga. They are one of the most respected thrashcore bands of the country. And if you are in Europe you also have a chance to have heard about the band. After all, these five brazilian musicians are for 20 years on the road, have released four albums and completed two tours in Europe, besides countless shows in Brazil. But Uganga is not on the road because of numbers or adjectives. The only thing that really matters to theses guys is music. Manu "Joker" (vocal/ex-Sarcofago), Christian Franco (guitar), Thiago Soraggi (guitar), Raphael "Ras" Franco (bass) and Marco Henriques (drums) regard Uganga as a big family. Not by chance they keep the same line-up for over 10 years. Between good and bad events, the band follows its path always united, and it is with great integrity that they now presents their new studio album, "Opressor". Artistic, technical, professional, personal and, why not, spiritual integrity. “Opressor” is Uganga in it’s music adulthood. Direct reflection of lived and proven experience, successes and failures, dreams and disappointments. With “Opressor”, Uganga is more sincere than love and hate. And the choice is yours. “Opressor” was recorded at Rocklab Studio in Goiania/Brazil and produced by the experienced Gustavo Vazquez (Black Drawning Chalks, Macaco Bong, Krow, Hellbenders) that really got into the spirit and proposal of Uganga’s music: to mix thrash metal and hardcore independently of any stylistic, philosophical or conceptual moorings. "For some time we decided to produce our records counting with somebody from outside with enough technical experience to take care of the entire part of audio engineering”, tells Manu Joker. “For Opressor we choose our friend Gustavo Vasquez, that besides knowing everything in terms of timbres, recording and mixing, gave us many arrangements ideas. We were able to record the band's sound live without all these digital tools and studio makeup that we can listen on current productions. We searched for something more analog and raw. It was two years of extreme dedication for the writing process of these tracks. I think that both musically and lyrically, the band moved forward”. “Guerra” opens the album with the urgency inherent to Uganga’s music. “O Campo” was inspired on the band’s visit to the concentration camps in Auschwitz, Poland, during it’s first european tour in 2010. The intensity prevails on the title track – that brings inspiration from the 90th’s heavy bands -, while “Moleque de Pedra” brings hardcore to the surface, highlighting the participation of Juarez Tibanha (Scourge, ex-Cirrhosis). “Casa” is the archetype of the thrashcore made by Uganga, while “Modus Vivendi” was created during a jam with all the band members and once again brings much from the characteristic rock/metal made in the 90ths. “Nas Entranhas do Sol” speaks about extrasensory experiences with an ambiguous lyric, sinister and devotional. Based on the initial riff, “Aos Pés da Grande Árvore” could fit on Sarcofago’s “Rotting” album, but on entering the outstanding choirs is clear that this idea does not exceed the subconscious references to the past of Manu Joker. The album closes with the experimentalism of “Guerreiro”, whose lyric is basically a musical poem with a very significative meaning. The tracklist of “Opressor” still brings a version that Uganga recorded for Vulcano’s classic "Who Are The True?" that, according to Manu Joker, connects directly to Uganga’s universe, either musically or in terms of lyrics. “The song has a lot in common with our music approach that mix the old school with the groove from the 90th’s and, of course, has a very cool lyric. Metal always had some whippersnapper judging everybody in the name of what is right or wrong, what is real or false and bla-bla-bla. This is a big bullshit,man!” "Who Are The True?" still counts with the special participations of Murillo Leite of Genocídio and Ralf Klein of the veteran german band Macbeth. About the album title, Manu Joker reveals that, just like on previous Uganga albuns, the idea appeared even before any song was written. "The title is a general observation of the contemporary world", explains the vocalist with an urgent tone. "We are not dealing just about politics, wars or anything else. The approach is broad. In my point of view, the human being is degraded, becoming more futile each day. Me, you, we're all together in the same boat. The millions forms of opression, drugs, vices, ego, corruption, violence, hungry, the false truths that doesn't stop falling, all this sh*t inspired me. I like to search for something positive in everything I write, even dealing with darker subjects, and for sure this album will bring heavy themes”. Signed by the Brazilian artist Beto Andrade, the album art cover summarizes the content of the lyrics. "The cover is an imaginary entity, the Oppressor," explains Manu. "We can define it as a mirror of our own weaknesses. It is powered by the vices, the delays of the human being. On the entity figure some of these elements are represented as greed, drugs, wars, sex, etc." The band have released two video clips for “Opressor”: “Guerra” and “Casa”. Both were directed by Eddie Shumway – that have worked with the band on “Fronteiras da Tolerância” video – and brings images shot in Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, France, Slovakia, Switzerland, Áustria and Italy during the second european tour of the band in 2013.