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Fresh from winning the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival ‘Tropa de Elite’ (or ‘Elite Squad’ as it is being called in English) has been disturbing audiences around the world with its warts and all portrayal of life in Rio de Janeiro; police corruption, guns, drugs and ritual violence are common.

The award is well deserved but it’s not for the fainted. The level of violence is that you’d expect from a zombie movie but you don’t have the luxury of pretending it’s make believe.

The album has its share of dark moments too but manages to mix in some more upbeat Brazilian sounds — the funk and samba see to this.

It opens with the Funk Carioca classic ‘Rap Das Armas’ from MCs Junior and Leonardo before moving on to the atmospheric and slightly chilling ‘Invasao do Bope’ by Pedro Bomfman. More traditional Brazilian sounds follow with the swinging percussion and squeaking sound of the cuica, on ‘O Plano’, then the samba guitar of ‘Nossa Bandeira’.

The score was put together by Bomfman and his compositions pop up throughout. They’re the ones that appeal to fans of film music rather than Brazilian music more generally. His aim was to recreate the ‘urban jungle’ and he easily succeeds with a mix of ambient noise, Andean guitars, low rumbling bass lines and rickety percussion.

Also present are the rock/hip hop cross over act ‘O Rappa with ‘Lado A Lado B’ and the wonderful sound of the body percussion group (they have no instruments beside the human body) Barbatuques with ‘Andando Pela Africa’.

Titas provide the punk with their 1986 ‘Policia’, later made famous by Sepultura, and Fausto Fawcett the old school rap — so there really is something for everyone as long as you can keep away the images of suspected gang members being bagged and beaten by the ‘elite’ police.