Torture Squad have been annihilating the Brazilian metal scene for over 15 years now, playing visceral and powerful death/thrash metal that has been proven on 4 studio albums and a live CD and DVD.
The group has gathered legions of fans with their electrifying concerts all over Brazil, Latin America and even hitting upon Europe as well. Torture Squad have played with great bands such as Anthrax, Dimmu Borgir, Kreator, Tristania, Krisiun, Monstrosity, Incantation, Desaster, Exodus, Angra, Shaaman, Korzus and others!
The band’s first line-up was, Vitor Rodrigues (vocals), Cristiano
Fusco (guitar), Castor (Bass) and Amilcar Christofaro (Drums).
Torture Squad released their debut album, “Shivering”, in 1998.
The album was originally recorded and supposed to be released in 1995,
but due to label problems it was not released until 1998.
“Shivering” was quickly followed by their 1999 sophomore album, “Asylum of Shadows”. Proving to be a landmark album for
the band, it launched them into Europe to play 7 dates in Germany,
giving the European metal scene a true taste of Brazilian metal.
In 2001, Torture Squad released their third album, “The Unholy
Spell”, which was elected by audiences and Brazilian metal magazines
as one of the 5 best Brazilian metal albums ever released! In this same
year, the band shot their first video for the song “Abduction Was the
Case”, which was showcased on Brazil’s MTV.
The following year saw the departure of guitarist Cristiano Fusco,
who left the band due to personal reasons. Joining the ranks of Torture Squad was former Krisiun axe-man Mauricio Nogueira.
2003 arrived and Torture Squad released the acclaimed album “Pandemonium”. Since the release of this album, it has
drawn fans from all over the world. An album that has been highly
praised, elected by Roadie Crew Magazine, one of the biggest metal magazines in Brazil, as the best Brazilian metal album ever released!
It also got Torture Squad voted to be the headliners of Brazil Metal
Union Fest, a great and important Brazilian metal festival at DirecTV
Music Hall, São Paulo, Brazil. From webzines, to metal magazines
all over the world, “Pandemonium” was indeed taking place.
Between 2004-2005, Torture Squad would release their first
live CD and DVD, “Death, Chaos And Torture Alive”, and played
throughout Brazil for almost two years in support of this release and “Pandemonium”.
In 2006, the band returned to Europe for 18 concerts between
Germany and Austria including one gig at Musikmesse in Frankfurt
Germany, which is the second biggest music fair of the world!
When Torture Squad returned to Brazil, crowds of over 10,000 people
came to see Torture Squad at the Porão do Rock Brasília/DF.
The return home also marked the third time they would perform at the Brazilian Metal Union.
This followed the “Death, Chaos and Torture Alive” tour which
was an extensive one over American Latin territories like Paraguay,
Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama. During this time,
the band was working on their next chapter in new music.
In November 2006, the band released the EP “Chaos Corporation”.
The EP featured 2 brand new tracks, “Chaos Corporation” and
“The Beast Within”, plus 3 songs from their 1993 demo tape
“A Soul In Hell”.
In June 2007, Torture Squad was chosen (after winning the
local Metal Battle) to represent Brazil in the Wacken Open Air
Festival to take place August 2-4, 2007 in Wacken, Germany.
Then, once at Wacken Open Air they played in the Metal Battle
(at the W.E.T. Stage) with several other bands, having won the
contest. With that, they won prizes along with a contract with
Armageddon Records from Germany which will release their
upcoming album Hellbound and will be released at some point this year..
In January 2008, Mauricio Nogueira leaves Torture Squad
for personal reasons and Augusto Lopes joint in the band replacing him.
Their most recent album, Hellbound, was released in europe in May 2008 by Wacken Records and at same year Torture Squad embarked on a 60-date European tour, which will include a show at Wacken Open Air in August 2008.
The year of 2009 started pretty well for Torture Squad. After the release of Hellbound and its excellent repercussion in Brazil, Europe and the United States, the band will be in a European tour with two legends of thrash metal, Overkill and Exodus. The tour begins in mid February in London, where the Brazilian group performs for the first time, and includes 12 more shows in countries like Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
Line-up:
Vitor Rodrigues – vocals
Augusto Lopes – guitar
Castor - bass
Amilcar Christófaro - drums
