RECORD OF THE DAY: SARCOFAGO - I.N.R.I.

This is an unexpected one, and one born from a typically unpredictable musical tangent in which a middle-aged white guy suddenly discovers - 30 years after the fact - that of all countries on earth, Brazil actually had an amazing Black Metal scene in the mid '80s. In fact, let's not mince words here: a pioneering BM scene, one which prefigured the Norwegian scene by a year or two (perhaps... I mean, I don't want to start a war here), and one which saw teenage Brazilians, influenced by bands like Celtic Frost, Bathory, Venom, Discharge and European hardcore of various stripes to create something new and exciting.

Of course, it's not a secret that death/black/thrash metal (and grindcore and its permutations) found a big audience in Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America early on, and indeed some made it big, the obvious contender being Sepultura, a band whose records up to and including Roots I happen to really like, and one whose roots lie more in a super-raw BM sound. Their 1986 debut, Morbid Visions, is a grim slice of lo-fi nastiness which is a thousand miles removed from the rather dire groove-metal band they became many years later, and definitely sounds Black Metal to these jaded earholes. As a sidenote, Sarcofago's singer, Wagner Lamounier(!), also happened to be Sepultura's first singer.

But back to Sarcofago, because they took it further in sound and approach than their contemporaries (and as another sidenote, contemporaries from their homeland, Holocausto, should also be heard). I guess there are a two main things which fascinate me with this band, and particularly this release. Firstly, it's because it happens to be musically excellent: totally 'punk' in its execution, its raw, chaotic approach, mixed with blastbeats and guttural vocals is the kind of thing I can crank at high volume when the urge takes me, and it ain't a thousand miles removed from the more nutsoid branch of early HC a la Void/Die Kreuzen. And I guess I'm just fascinated by the fact that it comes from, of all countries on the planet - Brazil. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised, as Brazil has a long and rich history of lots of excellent and eclectic music (you could pinpoint Tropicalia as one of the high watermarks of global psychedelia, and I wouldn't flinch at such a remark), but ultra-grim and Satanic Black Metal from a land known for its beaches and, more importantly, its Catholicism - that's a different thing. But perhaps that also perfectly explains why Sarcofago existed and why they were the way they were. Still, with song titles like 'Satanic Lust', 'Desecration Of A Virgin', 'Ready To Fuck' and 'The Black Vomit', they're unlikely to win the national pride of an Os Mutantes or Gilberto Gil. That is, of course, no reason not to like 'em. I.N.R.I. was their debut from 1987. It must be heard.