Malvina
Originally from Nova Friburgo, in the mountainous inland part of Rio de Janeiro state, the band is made up of the twin brothers Vinícius (vocals and bass) and Bernardo (vocals and guitar), and Renato Avellar (drums).
Their influences, alongside the “ABC” of punk and hardcore (Ramones, Bad Religion, Descendents, and NOFX), take in bands like Opeth, Voivod, Nirvana, Propagandhi, and King Crimson, which explains the sound they have refined over the years.
The year of 2010 saw the fully independent release of Malvina’s first full-length, “Claustro”.
The positive reception it earned from audiences from Brazil and elsewhere prompted the band to fill the distribution and publicity gap felt in 2010 in a bid to widen the market for the album, signing a full contract with Green Gold Records (USA) in 2014.
With ten tracks, half in English and half in Portuguese, “Claustro” has been cited and praised by leading Brazilian hardcore veterans like Rodrigo Lima, of Dead Fish, Phil Fargnoli (CPM 22) and André Alves (Nitrominds/Statues on Fire).
In other countries, the American band A Wilhelm Scream and the Canadians from Belvedere have already expressed interest in sharing the stage with Malvina on tours in South America.
Positive feedback and reviews have been published on websites and blogs and been broadcast on radio stations across Latin America, North America, Eastern Europe and Asia. With an online release in 2011, the three-track EP “Vomit Juice” is a throwback to the punk rock sound of the nineties.
Between 2012 and December 2015, Malvina took the songs from these two works across the whole of Brazil, from the southeast to the extreme north of the country, wrapping up the cycle with a six-gig tour in Argentina.
The Argentine public were surprised by the release of a new EP during this tour: the two-track compact disc “Nankeen”, under the Brazilian label Monstro Discos.
Malvina released its lyric video of “Scenario” to coincide with the opening of the Rio Olympics, in 2016, criticizing the forced removal of families in the west zone of the city to make way for the developments for the Games.
Their rebuke had major repercussions in Brazil and internationally, with press releases published on websites in Europe, the USA, and Latin America.
The cause was supported by the Canadians from Propagandhi, who publicized the video and asked their fans to spread the word.
In August 2018, after over a year spent concentrating on the production of the new album, the twins Bernardo and Vinícius went to the Blasting Room Studios, in Fort Collins, Colorado, to mix the album with Jason Livermore.
“Hybrid War” will come out on CD and vinyl in the first half of 2019 and will be distributed by record labels from Europe, the USA, Canada, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. Its tracks address the circumstances that led to the 2016 state coup, the destruction of national industry, and the rise of fascism in Brazil.
The band draws on the concept of Hybrid War developed by the political analyst Andrew Korybko to speak out about the strategic machinations behind the criminalization of the Workers’ Party, the use of propaganda to create schisms in society, and the destruction of the multipolar projects that were designed to give Brazil greater autonomy in its economic policies.