VAURUVÃ - Mar da deriva

Não há por aqui ou noutro lugar caminho de chão que leve até lá; preciso aprender o segredo das águas, cruzar o vazio no canto do olhar.

Vauruvã is the name of a curious Brazilian musical project born in 2020 in Rio de Janeiro. Its founders are multi-instrumentalist Caio Lemos (also known for Bakt, Bríi, Kaatayra, Serafim, Vestígio) and singer Bruno Augusto Ribeiro, who also writes the lyrics. Together they offer an atmospheric, progressive black metal, sung in Portuguese and deeply inspired by nature, with a spiritual, contemplative feel.

The debut, “Manso queimor dacordado” (2021), drew attention for its emotional intensity and evocative atmospheres, alternating with fiercer moments. With “Por nós da Ventania” (2022), the band experimented with a freer style of songwriting, emphasizing the folk component while still remaining anchored to the stylistic traits of traditional extreme metal, even thrash-metal in some passages.

This “Mar da deriva” (2025) is even more ambitious: just three extended compositions, bringing atmospheric, progressive and mutant black metal into deep union with Brazilian musical tradition, in a long meditation on the relationship between man and nature. “Legado” (nine and a half minutes) opens precisely with a traditional dance, melancholic and desolate, before surging into a black metal that is at once melodic, ferocious and highly elaborate, with obsessive guitar work, melodic interjections and bestial drumming. After seven minutes, one melody insinuates itself more than the others, opening onto a lyrical, tragic coda, between traditional percussion and a funereal dirge.

“Os caçadores” (almost 11 minutes) opens with sounds of nature and gentle melodic touches, which then transform into a solemn, mid-tempo black-metal march, carried forward through feverish accelerations, broken up by softer, more melodic vocal passages and made more dynamic by constant guitar work. Just before the seventh minute, all that remains is a hushed, tense dance, accompanying the final verse of the lyrics and the conclusion of the tale of the two hunters named in the title.

There's still time for another black-metal blaze, while the coda floats ethereally amid disembodied echoes. “As selvas vermelhas no planeta dos eminentes” is the fulfillment of this atmospheric, ancestral and spiritual black metal. Over 15 and a half minutes, the duo has room to develop a more fully realized musical narrative. The initial cosmic dirge turns into a black metal with progressive touches before breaking into a headlong rush. The cosmic breath returns, transfigured into a sorrowful, extremely fragile melody and a liturgical vocal that blends with the bestial scream. Halfway through the track, the various souls that make it up take turns holding the listener's attention, until one final explosion reduces everything almost to silence. A mysterious chamber dance emerges, at once ancestral and futuristic, over which a sad acoustic-guitar ballad blossoms, before leading back into black metal for another terrifying onslaught, ahead of the mystical, disembodied finale, amid idyllic melodies.

For those particularly well-versed in atmospheric black metal and its more prog and folk incarnations, it will be easy to spot parallels with other, more famous bands. What's more, the previous album and part of Caio Lemos's career already explored sonic territories not too far removed from this one. “Mar da deriva” is therefore not a total novelty, but it elegantly balances its ingredients, bending the black-metal discourse toward a message that speaks of the bond between man and nature, and the cosmos alike. Swept up by these tracks, we can let our thoughts drift gently away. 

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

12/09/2025