What would a wild musician do after his membership in bands has run its course? He’d go on to establish a savage label, of course. In this case, Ali “The Metallian” invited Hugo Rebelo of Portugal’s Selvajaria Records to Metallian Towers not only to find out more about the label, but also to get the man’s perspective on the metal scene and the underground. Selvajaria Records has issued albums recently and has plans for more music, so it was a good time to meet and speak with Hugo. – 16.03.2026
METALLIAN: Welcome to Metallian Towers, Hugo. Why don’t you introduce yourself and tell the readers how you got into metal to start with?
HUGO: Thank you so much for the interview. I’m Hugo from Portugal and I started listening to metal in ’84. When I was 10, I started with lighter music such as Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Twisted Sister, Running Wild, Accept and others, but it got heavier and heavier year by year until I formed a hardcore and crust band called Simbiose in 1991. I was totally obsessed with death metal, crust, noisecore, grindcore, ’80s hardcore and crossover, Swedish hardcore, Japanese hardcore and more. I left the band in 2010 after playing over 400 shows. I got out of the scene, completely exhausted of everything and rose from the ashes around 2014 until I created my label, Selvajaria Records, in 2022.
METALLIAN: To clarify, what transpired in 2014?
HUGO: Ah yes, didn’t explain well, sorry. Well, nothing special, it was me. I was extremely exhausted by everything involved in music: the shows, people, the scene, pubs, the bands and I needed to stay away for a while. I lost all my energy after decades of going to hundreds of shows and doing things like zines, bands, et cetera, so when I left Simbiose I needed to stay away from 2010 until around 2014 or 2015. That was when I came back to the scene, slowly rejuvenated and with the energy and motivation to start the label in 2022 (smiles).
METALLIAN: What was the name of the fanzine you edited?
HUGO: I didn’t publish it only by myself. I wrote a page or two, and not about music, and got an artist for the poster in the centre. Every month for a couple of years or a bit longer (can’t remember exactly)… it was a punk rock zine named Outsider, which also organized a few shows in some local venues from time to time. We had a great time with weekly reunions, drank a couple of beers while discussing some zine plans and having fun together.
METALLIAN: And, while we are here, you are a former Jehovah’s Witness.
HUGO: [Laughingly] You have dug well regarding my participation in that project! Testemunhas De Jeová, in English Jehovah’s Witness, was only a project to record one album and that’s it. When Rui, the guitarist, called me, he had already composed everything and recorded all the instruments. Then I wrote all the lyrics and recorded the vocals. Ninety percent of the lyrics are an anti-Catholic Church statement, about the hypocrisy and aberration that they are, the pedophile cases, sexual abuse, inquisition, et cetera. All churches and religions… but especially the Catholic church, have something I can’t stand about them. Not all lyrics are directly about Jehovah’s Witnesses, but they are represented as well as all religions in the Catholic concepts are what I wrote about.
Musically, you can find an old-school homage to ’80s and ’90s hardcore, thrash and crossover with bands like DRI, Ratos De Porão and stuff like that. I will send you the link so you can hear it if you dig that kind of sound and include it in the interview. Really cool that you discovered and mentioned that (smiles).
METALLIAN: I look forward to the links, Hugo. Let’s turn our attention to Selvajaria Records. Could you tell us all about Selvajaria Records? What is it about and which subgenres does it engage with?
HUGO: I can say that it’s a dream come true. Back in the day, I was very curious about running a label, but never got the chance or money to do it. So in 2022 the opportunity appeared in my life to start a label. As a result, when I am old and grey, I have 35 releases, from death to traditional heavy, from crust to doom, from thrash to punk. I am open to all kinds of genres. I am proud. A very underground label should be proud of being the voice for bands and projects that, otherwise, would never see the light of day. I believe that the underground has tons of quality and good diversity. There is real passion in metal and music and underground labels are working for the glory of metal. Underground labels have hidden gems, real good bands and good albums for those who are always thirsty for more new music and the love to search and discover new bands and new music in alternative markets. They know that the mainstream is absolutely deep in shit with that ‘modern metal’ these days.
METALLIAN: To be clear, bands called ‘modern metal’ are not metal. Modern metal is actual metal bands that release new music, not these pop acts being falsely labeled as such. More on that later. Sticking with the label, there seems to be a contradiction at play here. Every label and band complains about a lack of sales, but there are more metal labels, and bands, floating around than ever before. What do you think of this phenomenon?
HUGO: True, maybe we are living in the saturation phase as far as labels, bands and festivals are concerned. For better or worse, there is one in every corner. I can’t say exactly why. I see things in phases. Every seven to ten years many new people come to the scene and many others disappear. Tons of new bands emerge, yet 90% do not last for a decade. It’s the same with festivals. Maybe we are at the peak right now. Let’s see who remains standing beyond 2030.
METALLIAN: In that context, how are sales? What is selling and what is not selling?
HUGO: Sales are trickled together; life is lived one day at a time. Without thinking too much about sales, my biggest concern is the billions of things I have for the label. Resolve the label headaches and sales will come as a result of my work. I’m trying not to worry too much about it. That’s my trick to avoid dying due to sales anxiety! A record label needs to know how to move. It’s about fluidity, lots of imagination and never stopping or stagnating. Always think of new things to do to promote yourself and to try to go further and further and reach beyond the borders to other countries besides your own.
I recommend focusing on the work, on doing everything as best as possible and keeping your mind focused on that instead of thinking about sales. Of course, sales are a big factor; the label depends heavily on them, but we can’t be stuck in that mindset. Focusing on the objectives is my best weapon for resilience and resistance and for keeping the ship afloat so it doesn’t sink.
What is and what is not selling? The increase in shipping costs and new shipping rules that are strangling small labels, among other things, means you directly feel the huge drop in sales. On the other hand, doing dozens of festival stands where sometimes there is massive success and at other times a massive flop in sales after you have driven 1,000kms, to go there and return, away from home and spent a lot on gas, food, highway polls, et cetera and paying to be at that fest and then you sell two CDs and two T-shirts… that’s crazy, but that is another example!
METALLIAN: Sometimes I imagine the pressings are so low that it doesn’t really matter.
HUGO: Since you put money into something, everything matters and everything needs to be well planned. You can’t afford to harm yourself and reducing the quantity could be one strategy. If things go well with a release, you can always do a reprint or find other solutions.
METALLIAN: One phenomenon out there is how everything and anything under the sun is getting labelled as ‘metal.’ Masked DJs belching? Metal. Rapping and growling? Metal. Metallica? Metal. Babymetal? Metal. Rage Against The Machine? Metal. Chick in corset doing an Alanis Morissette impression? Symphonic metal. How do you see this situation?
HUGO: Maybe there are multiple worlds to live in and everything that you mention is really not my kind of a world. I don’t pay attention for a single second to those kinds of worlds. But I understand what you mean. All that shit is annoying and it’s my belief that all that shit doesn’t bring anything positive to real metal. I mean, to give you an example, when I see all the porno-techno-grind-something playing and the crowd in pyjamas, caps with dicks, people wearing chicken pyjamas and the band is throwing a foam party, I ask myself, ‘is this metal a circus?’ What is it that this shit brings to metal in those local town festivals with cheesy music? Don’t get me wrong. I love bands having a sense of humour and funny things, not everything has to be serious, but not be like a super circus. That doesn’t contribute to a music culture; it creates a scene that’s only a circus. As you asked, like all your examples, is porno-techno-grind-something metal? Just think what all of that brings to the real metal scene’s culture.
METALLIAN: I know you made a general statement here, Hugo, but do you feel like telling us which band you were referring to here? Was it Gutalax or Party Cannon perhaps?
HUGO: Yes, it’s true. It’s not about a particular band. Examples are the Portuguese bands Serrabulho or Rompeprop or Vaginal Penetration Of An Amelus With A Musty Carrot. This movement started, or at least is much more visible, at Obscene Extreme. I don’t know where it actually began. What they bring to metal is simply not for me. I love Metalucifer, for example, and how they handle things with humour. And maximum respect to Gutalax and Party Cannon. For goregrind and brutal slam, they have their scene, doing it with their dark humour and doing it on the funny side. Here in Portugal from punk to hardcore to grind or metal there are many bands doing a lot of social criticism using humour and making fun of it all. I respect and enjoy that. I only take a stand in general. That I don’t see with good eyes when live shows seem to be only for the kind of party that people go there for, like going to a disco club or something, and forget that there is a musical culture or that only brings people the vibe that metal needs to be ridiculous, attracting people who know nothing about metal and don’t live their lives with metal as a culture. People who attend an eight-band festival but don’t know a single band… don’t support a single band and they are there because there is a foam party in their hometown, which in a way is different from the fans of Gutalax or Party Cannon, in my opinion, and maybe I’m wrong, these kind of bands bring nothing to the metal culture. But yeah, we may differ in opinions; people need to have fun, it’s true, and metal is here so we can have fun in life, but metal is much more than that as a culture. As you said before: will the metal movement make a stand? I think this kind of scene offers no stand for the culture. Their mindset is toxic to the scene. The manner of their thinking is toxic to the scene. People are starting to see metal as entertainment and not as a culture. There’s a big difference. Remember what you said about metal being the edgy genre of music? How about when Venom, Slayer and Motorhead appeared being edgy and starting a strong movement with a real culture? Metal should be a culture and not only pyjamas, dick caps, foam parties and entertainment. In pure entertainment, people don’t buy music. They don’t listen at home. They don’t know anything, don’t support anything and don’t give a shit about metal culture.
It’s not easy to explain it clearly without being misunderstood. I hope you get the point. Well, it’s just my opinion and we are here just to discuss it. I have my own personal taste in music and my point of view. It is not intended to offend anyone.
METALLIAN: Do not be afraid of offending anyone if it is the truth you are speaking. My Inbox is bursting with daily emails regarding “modern metal”, “contemporary metal” or “symphonic metal” and after listening to a snippet of their music, and promptly deleting the email, my first inclination is to turn on the radio for Playboi Carti or Lil Uzi Vert, just because my ears now crave something harder, faster and heavier than the so-called ‘metal’ that mocked my ears and brain. Of course, that’s me being sarcastic, but fact remains all those assorted bands and their fake metal is wimpy as hell. Personally, I believe ‘festival,’ ‘party’ and things like musicians wearing tuxedos to show up to an award show, like the Grammys, are as metal as a Big Mac is nutrition. Perhaps it’s easier to say what is not metal? Although, as we chat, I am waiting for a ‘metal’ magazine to give the new Bad Bunny album the usual 8.5/10 and visit him at home for an ‘intimate feature’… because Bad Bunny is surely metal too nowadays, right?
HUGO: [Laughingly] I hope not! If a metal magazine ever does that, then maybe we should start questioning what’s going on with real metal. But I guess if they did, it would probably just be to pay the bills.
METALLIAN: OK, back to Selvajaria Records. What is next as far as releases and could you share some label news please?
HUGO: I am working on a late-March release, which is a debut album from a Turkish band playing great New Wave thrash and a new release from Portuguese thrashers Sadistik Warfare. I am planning many things in the punk crust scene, maybe a couple of splits and already working toward late 2026 and early of 2027 with tech-thrash from Italy, old-school death metal from Sweden, thrash from Portugal, death doom from Portugal and sludge crust from Spain. There are so many, many things coming for the glory of metal. The funny thing is, as I am doing this interview with you right now, the label has been active for four years, since March of 2022, cheers, my friend, Ali (smiles)!
METALLIAN: It is good to hear your thoughts and your passionate views. The release slate sounds promising. Let us end the conversation on that note, Hugo. To conclude, as you know, Metallian is the best. What are your reasons for thinking so too?
HUGO: Indeed, Metallian is a beast in the underground, giving massive growls from the depths of metal in general, working hard and showing true dedication to the scene, not just through news, reviews and interviews, but also through the metal encyclopedia. It’s a real blast.
Selvajaria Records’ page is here. Hugo mentioned the music of Testemunhas De Jeova. Find the video here. The full album is here.