DEAFKIDS’ Scars of the Future: a Sounds and Colours album première

A new DEAFKIDS album is something to get excited about. Formed in 2010 in Volta Redonda, a small city in the state of Rio de Janeiro, the duo of multi-instrumentalists Douglas Leal (vocals, guitar, electronics, samplers, percussion, artwork) and Mariano Sarine (drums, percussion, electronics, bass) blend the raw spirit of dub-noise, metal and punk with complex global rhythms and electronic experimentation in their metal machine music. I recently saw them performing live with fellow Brazilian avant-metallers Test in an improvised venue and, frankly, I was mightily impressed. The trance-inducing percussion team coupled with the double guitar-noise attack with constant manipulation of effects was stunning to witness. In an e-mail exchange the duo told me about their new album CICATRIZES DO FUTURO (SCARS OF THE FUTURE), a thrilling mixture of hard electronics, global percussive workouts and guitar noise.

Sounds & Colours: Are you both from Volta Redonda and what was it like living there? 

Douglas: Only I was born and raised in Volta Redonda! Mariano is from the interior of São Paulo, from the city of São José do Rio Preto, but Mariano’s been based in São Paulo for many years now. It’s a curious question to answer, because it’s been about 3 years since I returned from São Paulo to live in Volta Redonda again. Although the city never stopped growing, things haven’t changed much here. It’s a slightly more relaxed and peaceful rhythm of life. It’s an industrial city [that grew around the largest steelmaker in Brazil] of hardworking people. It’s relatively close to Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo, and as far as I can remember, there’s always been a certain independent cultural movement happening here from time to time, which is also quite interesting – however, small and relatively scarce compared to a place like São Paulo. I grew up in a simple life, playing soccer in the streets during my childhood, then I started playing music and going to shows and being part of this small music scene etc, where I had the chance to meet people from all over and being introduced to this DIY punk/hardcore music connection.

S&C: Can you talk about the beginnings of the band?

Douglas: I started playing in bands with friends from a very young age. I started going to punk shows in my area around 14 years old, and since then I’ve started joining friends’ bands and forming my own as well. I played drums, and it wasn’t very common to find drummers around here, haha. Back then, the background was punk, hardcore, and some “alternative” stuff in between, even some industrial shit (this genre grabbed me from a young age – from NIN to Throbbing Gristle – because of its connection to my city’s landscape), and DEAFKIDS was formed somewhat in that spirit! I started the band as a solo project when I was 17, recording all the instruments, doing the artwork, etc. I released the first demo on Myspace in 2010, and very quickly, through that, I met and made contact with Mariano and Marcelo [former band member], and many other connections that remain alive to this day.

S&C: Tell us about where and when the new album was recorded?

Douglas:  The album was actually recorded in 2025, with many electronic elements captured and composed at home, and then everything else related to instruments, vocals etc. was recorded at Jukebox Studio in Volta Redonda – our long-time partners.

S&C: What was the recording process of the album? Was it a different process than the last album, Metaprogramação, or your joint album with Test, Sem Esperanças?

Douglas: We started composing the first skeletons of this album in early 2023. Then, due to a series of events, touring etc., this process froze, until in 2024 we had time again to get together and delve into the process – now as a duo. We even played some “archaic” versions of some songs from the album on our last European tour with Test in 2024 – which was good for the development of the ideas as well. 

The entire creative process for this album was very different from our others, firstly because it was heavily based on electronics – which allowed us to arrive at the studio with the foundations of the songs and various elements (beats, synths) already in place. Secondly, because it was our first recording as a duo. We always go into the studio with a purpose in mind: with Metaprogramação, the concept of the album was already to use studio and post-production tools as part of the creation. The same thing with Sem Esperanças. This time, the idea was to compose 10 tracks that sounded like independent ideas, without relying heavily on post-editing or interludes created to intertwine the universe of the work, etc.

S&C: What does the title CICATRIZES DO FUTURO (SCARS OF THE FUTURE) mean?

Douglas: It means that the future is already cursed by the very forces that pretend to build it.

S&C: It’s virtually impossible to make out any lyrics in the songs, yet you sing specifically about war, genocide, and control. Are things as bad as they seem and is the sound of your music a reaction to such loud, brash times?

Douglas: Regarding the themes I address in a concise and somewhat poetic way, I believe it’s much worse. This doesn’t mean I only see the world through these negative lenses; in reality, our sound is an active, personal, and spiritual reaction against all of that. All these issues are within us, rooted in our relationship with everything. For me, it’s difficult to ignore them as an artistic expression through this medium that is DEAFKIDS. In dealing with these themes, I include myself in them.

I think it might sound pessimistic, but it’s my way of trying to deal with the harsh reality of things and, in some way, shed light on these dark topics. I always try to write in a way that speaks both to external issues—historical, social, geopolitical—and to internal issues of the psyche, which is the psychological reaction to the many realities we are forced to live in.

S&C: There’s lots of fascinating percussive rhythms on the album, for example “PARASITA” uses the Bumba-meu-boi rhythm. Can you talk about them and which particular tracks use which rhythms? 

Mariano: Yeah! The record is very much based on the usage/perversion of claves, as well as having songs which are siblings to each other on their ethos, in terms of the way they re-appropriate resources and patterns from one another.

“PARASITA” blends boi-infused drums with gnaoua-influenced riffs on bass and guitar, while “CICATRIZES” has free flowing congas playing on top of d-beat 808 kicks, as well as having a guaguancó pattern on specific parts, with a 3/2 rhumba clave on the whole beat – the minimalistic riffage is also informed by salsa guajeos. “PROFECIA” is based on a 5/4 clave on the bass drum, while the rest of the kit and congas play a modified Mozambique arrangement. “SIMULACRO” has a steady punk beat, with congas that blend merengue and a pattern inspired by balafon from Guinea. “ADVERTÊNCIA” has an electronic cascara conducting the song, with the congas on the left hand playing a 2-3 rhumba clave, while the right hand goes around the rest of the kit, with the hi-hat on the upbeat and bass drum playing a salsa bass guajeo. “REFLEXO” has the same 2/3 pattern, but used as snare, with a minimalistic bass drum, completing a beat very much influenced by Brazilian contemporary funk – it also features some SPD/congas/timbales interlocking patterns, dancing around it. “FEITIÇO” goes the jongo rhythm route with its electronic rhythmic elements, together with a processed berimbau played by Douglas, while the drums follow almost the same concept as its sister, “ADVERTÊNCIA”: the left hand plays a 3/2 rhumba clave, the right hand does a pattern built around it, bass drum on guajeo and hi-hat on the upbeat – like a superfast salsa.

S&C: I saw you on the No Hope tour with the fantastic Test. It was a real DIY tour; how did you put it together? 

Douglas: This was the seventh edition of these Brazilian tours in this DIY format, traveling with Test and playing every day and already totaling more than 100 shows. João Kombi from Test is the person who does most of the booking part with his Blast Fast “booking alias”, but we’re in this together. The difficulties are numerous as you can expect, it’s a lot of work to put a tour together, taking care of every part of the process ourselves, but I believe the rewards are also very good, and in the end, it encourages us to keep doing it more than it discourages us (so far, hahaha). We’re two bands that live it as a life’s work, so we are very faithful to our artistic and creative integrity. We want to circulate through all kinds of circuits possible and reach as many people as possible in our own way, but still, we continue to break through and reach places where it didn’t seem possible to reach with the sound we make. 

S&C: You both have solo projects, Douglas with Yantra and Mariano with Sarine, both referencing world music, how does this feed into the DEAFKIDS sound?

Douglas: I believe it’s retroactive in some way… we have a lot in common regarding the creative process, and although the projects sound quite different from each other, I believe we end up influencing each other over the years. Each in our own way, and with our own personal journeys, needs something to unleash other creations that come from the same musical universe that draws from various sources but that don’t necessarily reside aesthetically with the weight and grit of DEAFKIDS.

S&C: The video for “CICATRIZES” features footage of the Folia de Reis, a tradition I associate more with the interior of the country. What appeals to you about this celebration?

Douglas: The longevity of the tradition; the ancestral presence in terms of its syncretic roots, and how this celebration unfolds here in Brazil; the aesthetics and the mystery! Popular cultural traditions = resistance. It’s a strong tradition in my region, and the figure of the Clown (the masked ones) specifically is fascinating because of their behaviour and their diverse symbolic representations. The album cover is also a photo I took of two Clowns from Folia de Reis.

S&C: What does the immediate future hold for DEAFKIDS?

Douglas: We will definitely be promoting the new album now. We will soon announce an album release show at a special venue in São Paulo! We will be doing some shows around Brazil this year, a 26-date European tour in October/November. And we plan to play in Japan for the first time in November, and return for a second time for a South American tour. We are also working on a remix version of the album, with several artists we admire very much. And well, lots of things are coming soon. Listen to the album, and come to the shows!!!

Yes! Listen to the album below and go to the shows, DEAFKIDS live are an electrifying experience…

(Photo of DEAFKIDS courtesy of Leticia Soto.)

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