A high-energy trio from Lisbon gets punks dancing and club kids pogoing
MAQUINA. already played in our Club in early 2025, in a double bill with the Berlin collective ERROR. The Portuguese post-punk band is now returning solo to present their second album, BODY TRANSMISSION.
The vibrant trio from Lisbon embodies all the sweaty togetherness and euphoria that a collective music experience has to offer. They get punks dancing and club kids pogoing—“connecting the bubbles a bit”—and do so with such passion that they effortlessly sell out venues and induce multiple waves of crowdsurfing at every live performance. BODY TRANSMISSION is a headbanging trip through energetic noise-rock, motoric metal, and industrial punk that never stands still. The album captures the raw power of their live performances and follows MAQUINA.'s 2024 debut album PRATA, which was largely driven by improvisation. For their new album, Halison Peres (drums/vocals), José "Mendy" Rego (bass), and João Cavalheiro (guitar/effects) opted for less jamming and more "editing." They took the time to think about the direction of each song and tried to compress long ten-minute pieces into short, powerful tracks of three or four minutes.
The result is an intense, energetic dancefloor experience without pauses; a club-ready rock record driven by the trio's combination of guitar, drums, and bass. "It was the most challenging and fun studio session we've ever had, because we pushed ourselves to write songs instead of just recording jam sessions," says the band. "We wanted it to sound heavy, focused, and relentless. We kept the tempo high and the energy at a peak – it is an 'always-on' album." An already legendary KEPX recording during Les Transmusicales de Rennes in 2025 perfectly transmits the new vibe.
Or listen to the single *dança* – featuring the brutal punk vocals of Silvia Konstance and the synthesizers of Viktor L. Crux, from the duo Dame Area. This sets the tone for the heart of the album, with a relentlessly driving 4/4 rhythm, ferocious screams, and a blazing guitar line that cuts through the three-tone bass riff with razor-sharp focus. This energy manages to weave unexpected threads between those respective sound worlds of techno/EBM, thrash metal, and early electronic post-punk, but not without engagement. In this harsh geopolitical period of global conflict "art cannot arise in a vacuum," says Peres. "It is difficult to remain silent in such moments. So if I have a channel that I can use to do something good, then I will do so," A band close to our hearts!
This is a Liveurope concert, the first European initiative that supports concert venues in promoting emerging musical talent from Europe.