The history of the Brazilian black metal scene

(Istoria scenei black metal din brazilia)

Brazilian Black Metal History – Part 1

Sepultura/Bestial Devastation

When the words ‘metal’ and ‘Brazil’ are uttered together, a third word inevitably comes to mind:
‘Sepultura’. With the thrash metal masterpieces “Beneath the Remains” (’88) and “Arise” (’90),
Sepultura was the first Brazilian metal band to become known worldwide, becoming synonymous
of Brazilian heavy metal. And they would get even more famous abroad with their later groove
metal albums “Chaos AD” (’93) and “Roots” (’96), which were influences for the nu metal sound
that was a huge trend in the States in the mid-late 90s.

Sepultura’s first efforts, however, influenced bands that were quite different from Korn or Limp
Bizket. Formed in the early 80s by the brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, the band started out
playing a far more aggressive, raw and blasphemic sort of music than that they are better known
for. This music can be heard in the albums Bestial Devastation (’85, a split with Brazilian band
Overdose) and Morbid Visions (’86).

Sepultura "Morbid Visions" era

Influenced by European bands like Venom, Celtic Frost, Sodom, Kreator and Destruction [1], Sepultura early
releases date from a time when metal sub-genres like death metal and black metal were not yet crystallized.
The term ‘death metal’ was first used by bands like Death and Possessed, while ‘black metal’
appeared as the title for a Venom album in 1982. A clear distinction between the two genres
wouldn’t exist until the mid 90s with the rise and consolidation of the Norwegian black metal, as
even Euronymous used the term death metal sometimes to describe Mayhem’s sound in the late
80s/early 90s [2].

Sepultura, together with the European and American bands that inspired and were inspired by their sound,
helped defining the most extreme trends of heavy metal. It’s curious that hailing from a country with no
tradition in heavy metal at all, they started playing it in its most heavy and aggressive form. According to
Igor Cavalera, they were inspired by the music of the NWOBHM most satanic act, Venom:

I remember the first time I listened to Venom, it was on a friend’s borrowed tape. It was similar
to Motörhead, only a lot heavier. I remember someone saying: it’s the devil’s Motörhead! After
we got acquainted with Venom, we stopped listening to Iron Maiden and all that lighter stuff. [3]

Sepultura circa '85

Maybe this longing for extremes is related to the difficulties Sepultura members experienced while growing
up in a very religious third world country like Brazil, which until 1985 was still living under a military
dictatorship. Not only Sepultura, but the majority of the first generation of Brazilian heavy metal bands had
a very aggressive and blasphemic approach.
Sepultura moved forward to a more classic thrash sound after their second full-length album
“Schizophrenia” (’87), but their first albums were highly influential in the extreme metal
underground, remaining as absolute classics of the first black metal wave in the 80s.

Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum

First stable Sepultura line-up featured Cavalera brothers and vocalist Wagner Lamounier (a.k.a.
Wagner “Antichrist”), who would soon leave the band to join another pioneer black metal act,
Sarcófago.

Sepultura circa '84 (from left to right: Max "Possessed" Cavalera, Wagner "Antichrist" Lamounier and Igor
"Skullcrusher" Cavalera)

Sarcófago’s goal at the time was to create the most aggressive music ever, and to a great extent
they succeeded with their first album, “I.N.R.I.”: it sounds raw, fast and extreme as nothing you
would hear back in 1987.

The music played by the band was different in every album that followed. On “Rotting” (89) they
offered a more thrash oriented sound, while “The Laws of Scourge” (91) appears as a more
technical death metal effort. The band chose to use a drum machine instead of real drums on
“Hate” (94), with really extreme but kind of awkward results. In 1997 they released their last
album, “The Worst”, which was followed by the EP “Crust” (00) and the band’s split-up.
 Sarcófago's visual on the cover of I.N.R.I.

Sarcófago’s first album, I.N.R.I., remained as the band’s most acclaimed release, gaining a
legendary status with time. This album wasn’t only sonically influential, but also visually: as
pointed by Metalion (from Norwegian cult zine Slayer) on his interview in the book Lords of
Chaos, Sarcófago was the primary inspiration for Mayhem’s visual in the late 80s/early 90s (and
consequently the main inspiration for the whole Norwegian black metal scene):

I think it was really from a band called Sarcófago from Brazil. A very extreme Metal band, they
released an album and Euronymous was totally obsessed with them because they wore lots of
spikes and corpsepaint. He said he wanted every band to be like this, because he was so against
the Death Metal trend from the USA and Sweden… (Lords of Chaos, p.36)

Curiously, Wagner “Antichrist” Lamounier, the mastermind behind Sarcófago, has pursued an
academic career after Sarcófago disbanded and is currently a professor of economic science and
applied statistic at the University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, the city where both
Sepultura and Sarcófago were born.

Who are the true?

Vulcano, a band from Santos, a coastal city in the state of São Paulo, is considered the first
Brazilian metal band ever and probably the first metal band in the whole South American
continent as well. Their first EP from 1981(?), however, is said to sound closer to the 80s
progressive rock than to heavy metal music [4].
Despite the sound of their first EP, Vulcano’s black metal vein was fully developed in their debut
album from 1985, entitled Live! Because of the difficulties for a metal band to record an studio
album in Brazil at the time, Vulcano debuted with a live, unmixed album, which remains as a
classic for being one of the first metal albums ever released in the country.

Vulcano in the 80s

The band followed through the 80s releasing a few albums, “Anthropophagy” (87), “Who Are The
True” (88) and “Rat Race” (90), after which they disbanded. Vulcano acquired cult status with
time and kept influential in the extreme metal underground, being quoted by Fenriz of
Darkthrone together with Sepultura and Sarcófago as one of his favorite Brazilian bands [5].

In 2003 the band was brought back to life by founding member bassist Zhema Rodero and
Angel,Vulcano’s vocalist from 1985 onwards. Recruiting a new guitarist and drummer, they
released “Tales From the Black Book”, their first album after a hiatus of 13 years. Vulcano has
been active since then, and has released a split 7″ EP with the Swedish black metallers of
Nifelheim in 2006.
Brazilian Black Metal History – Part 2
Brazilian Second Wave of Black Metal

Brazilian bands from the 80s like Sepultura, Sarcófago and Vulcano helped defining the
aesthetics of extreme metal music in the 80s, which would serve as the starting point for
Norwegian bands to launch a second wave of black metal in the early 90s.

As soon as the word about the Norwegian black metal revolution reached the southern
hemisphere, bands influenced by the new dark aesthetic started to appear in different parts of
Brazil, in all regions of the country. That was the beginning of the Brazilian second wave of black
metal.

Black in Rio

Rio de Janeiro is known for its tropical landscapes with palm trees, sand and the sea. It’s also
known for its famous carnival and perhaps for its huge slums known as the “favelas”. In a way
it’s the perfect antithesis of the cold and idyllic Norway. Still one of the first Brazilian bands to
emerge under the influence of the Norwegian black metal was Nocturnal Worshipper, formed by
Eduardo Mortaza (a.k.a. Hofgodhar) in Rio de Janeiro back in 1993.

Nocturnal Worshipper in the 90s

The first incarnation of the band didn’t last long, ceasing its activities after releasing a demo tape
in ’94 and an EP in ’95. A few years later, however, Nocturnal Worshipper was back, releasing
their debut full-length cd “The Return of Souther Tyrants”, in 2001. In the meanwhile, with the
appearance of more accessible, commercially successful black metal albums like “Enthrone
Darkness Triumphant” by Dimmu Borgir (’97), “Nexus Polaris” by Covenant (’98) and “Dusk and
Her Embrace” by Cradle of Filth (’96), the genre was becoming more popular among metal fans,
hence a few new black metal bands have appeared in Rio de Janeiro by then. Among the
newcomers we have Mysteriis and Unearthly (both formed in ’98).

The relevance of the Rio de Janeiro’s “scene” grew as the oldest and most traditional Brazilian rock and
metal magazine, Rock Brigade, started to hype the above mentioned bands. Suddenly, Rio de Janeiro was
the new Norway (at least in the pages of the magazine) and the bands from the city were presented as “the
best black metal bands from Brazil – some of them even raising above the standards of what is being made
outside the country”. [1] This statement was made based on the restricted number of releases by
bands from Rio de Janeiro available at the time: “About The Christian Despair”, the first Mysteriis
album released in 1999, received with great enthusiasm by the critics of Rock Brigade; the
already mentioned “Return of Southern Tyrants” by Nocturnal Worshipper, out in 2001; the
album “Only Death Is Real…”, released by Apokalyptic Raids (featuring members of Nocturnal
Worshippers) also in 2001; two Unearthly demos (2000 and 2001) and a Berkaial demo (2001).

“About The Christian Despair” was, I believe, the first Brazilian black metal album to follow the
direction pointed by bands like Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth in the late 90s. It has clear
influences from both bands, mostly in the use of keyboards, but its most important feature was
probably its clear production – a tendency that was new among black metal bands, which for a
while were (in)famous for low-fi 4-track cheap productions. Right after “About The Christian
Despair”, Mysteriis released an EP entitled “Fucking In The Name Of God”, where female vocals
were incorporated to their music and the keyboards gained a more preeminent role, resulting in
a sound even closer to that of Cradle of Filth. The most radical Brazilian black metal fans became
suspicious with these changes, and Mysteriis started to be labeled as “trendy” band by many of
them. [2]

Mysteriis
“The Return of Southern Tyrants” by Nocturnal Worshipper didn’t have the pompous production
the Mysteriis’ releases had, but was decent enough to have commercial appeal. Both Mysteriis
and Nocturnal Worshipper had positive qualities and released correct albums. They lacked
originality, but they were pioneers in emulating the style of the Scandinavian bands in their own
country. Even though their music was enjoyable, it wasn’t anything exceptional to justify all the
hype created by Rock Brigade. As consequence the focus soon would relapse on the raising
conflicts between the bands and the music played by them would be quickly reduced to a
marginal issue.

Tropical Black Circle

It all started with an interview published in Rock Brigade where one of the members of Nocturnal
Worshipper said something negative about the black metal “scene” in Rio de Janeiro and its bands. The guys
from Mysteriis took offense and wrote a reply that was published in the following issue of the magazine.
Unearthly, which didn’t even have an album released at the time, became involved in the dispute
allying themselves with Mysteriis, and the conflict went on with bands trading offenses and both
sides accusing each other of copying Norwegian bands and not being true and so on – everything
made public in the pages of Rock Brigade.

Unearthly black metal look

The conflict reached its climax when a few guys from Unearthly beat the leader of Nocturnal
Worshipper during a show of local bands and the guy who got beaten, Hofgodhar, went to the
police and moved a criminal process against his attackers. The whole episode was covered in
detail by Rock Brigade in an article called “Black Metal in Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian Hell”,
published in June of 2002. [3] In the end of this article speculations concerning the existence of
a Brazilian “Black Circle” in Rio de Janeiro inspired by the Norwegian innercircle were raised, but
it was such a pathetic attempt to hype an irrelevant episode that even the bands interviewed
provided evasive answers when asked about the subject.

Despite all the hype, this specific so-called black metal “scene” in Rio de Janeiro was short lived.
Mysteriis released a second full-length album entitled “Stigmati Diaboli – DCLXVI” in 2004 and
disbanded shortly after. Former members of the band are, however, still involved with black
metal, playing in different projects such as Darkest Hate Warfront and Vinterthron.

Unearthly released their debut album in 2002 and have since then established a solid career,
touring South America in 2007 and releasing three full-length albums and an EP between 2004
and 2009. The band remains as a well-known name among the Brazilian extreme metal fans.
Their sound, however, has changed quite a lot since the old days, going from the black metal
strongly influenced by the Norwegian bands to a more death metal-inspired sound. [4] The band
has also abandoned the typical black metal look with corpsepaint and, according to M.Mictian,
the satanic themes were replaced by stories of real violence and things he experienced himself
while growing up in a “favela” in Rio de Janeiro. [5] When asked in a more recent interview
about the disputes and intrigues involving the bands from Rio de Janeiro in the early 00s,
M.Mictian made clear those are things that belong in the past and that the band has moved on,
also stating their main concern is with their music:

I don’t even remember, it happened such a long time ago! (…) divergences exist in every social
environment, it couldn’t be different with music (…) we didn’t have to use these things that happened to
promote the band because we have a much larger power [to promote it], we are competent enough to
compose good music. [6]

As for Nocturnal Worshipper, the band didn’t release anything after their debut album in 2001
and split-up a few years later as its leader, bassist Eduardo “Hofgodhar” Mortaza, abandoned
black metal and became a christian, being involved with unblack metal and christian rock
nowadays. [7]

Even though Nocturnal Worshipper, Mysteriis and Unearthly received a lot of attention for a while, they were
never the sole heralds of black metal in Rio de Janeiro. Many other bands were formed in the city and made
a name in the extreme metal underground without being involved in the polemics promoted by Rock
Brigade. These are bands such as Grave Desecrator, Dark Forest, Malleus, Imperador Belial, Cryptic Lorn,
Viking Throne and others.

http://www.metal-archives.com/lists/black