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The group amassed controversies, famous feuds, and blasphemies, but built a legacy in the history of world metal that even its detractors cannot deny.

by Marcel Ianuck

As has been very well documented by various specialized magazines and the now legendary documentary Ruído das Minas, the state of Minas Gerais in the 80s was a kind of Seattle of mayhem, in a good way. Great bands from the most extreme branches of Metal established Brazil as a leading force in the world of metal. The three main bands were Sepultura, Overdose (even though not as extreme, they played an important role in the scene) and the infamous Sarcófago!

The band, led by the duo Wagner “Antichrist” Lamounier (vocals and guitar – ex-Sepultura) and Gerald GG “Incubus” Minelli (bass), took their influences from Destruction, Hellhammer, and Venom and floored the accelerator, creating a brutal, fast, and heavy sound in a way that was previously unknown, except perhaps to their contemporaries in Morbid Angel. The group also collected controversies, famous feuds, and blasphemies, but built a legacy in the history of world metal that even their detractors cannot deny. From Norwegian black metal bands to artists like Phil Anselmo and Ghost, many still recognize the pioneering spirit of the Minas Gerais natives.

Sarcófago's first albums were truly groundbreaking, but their entire discography deserves the attention of extreme metal fans.

"Warfare Noise I Compilation": The Cogumelo Records label played an important role in the Minas Gerais metal scene, with several legendary releases. First, the Sepultura/Overdose split and, soon after, this compilation that brought together the important bands Chakal, Holocausto, Mutilador and, of course, Sarcófago. At the beginning of side B, Sarcófago starts causing a stir with their introductory vignette Recrucify , literally "nailing" Jesus back to the cross and then The Black Vomit Satamas , considered at the time the fastest song in the world, complete with a Tom Araya-style scream in the intro and blast beats from beginning to end.

“INRI”:

A raw, direct, heavy, and memorable album!

A classic of classics. Sinister visuals, corpse paint, mohawks (DD Crazy), bullet belts, spiked bracelets, inverted crosses, bizarre cemetery photos. From the opening noises of Satanic Lust to the last note of The Last Slaughter , the album leaves no stone unturned. Zeder Butcher's insane riffs and solos, DD Crazy's pounding drums, GG Minelli's straightforward bass, and Antichrist's deranged vocals delivered sonic onslaughts like Deathrash, Christ's Death, Ready to Fuck , the title track, and Nightmare , one of the band's greatest classics. The lyrics are pure provocation of Christian values, whether talking about the devil or with explicit sexual references, all in a very rough English that generated gems like the lines from the song Desecration of Virgin : " He put the virgin of / ur/ Fucking your ass/ The orgy haven't stop ". Here's a new version of Satamas , just as good as the "Warfare Noise" version, with a different vocal at the beginning. A raw, direct, heavy, and memorable album!

“Rotting” : After the release of “INRI”, Sarcófago kind of stopped for a while. During this time, DD Crazy went to play in Sextrash and, when the band reunited, he was replaced by drummer Manu Joker (now the vocalist of the excellent Uganga). Wagner started playing guitar in addition to continuing on vocals, and the band began recording the, as usual, controversial “Rotting”. Before the album was released, Butcher left and the band continued as a trio. The album is actually an EP with an intro (The Lust) and 5 songs, with the controversial cover showing a man after being beaten being licked by a skeleton symbolizing Death. If the man weren't so similar to the image we have of Jesus Christ, perhaps it wouldn't have caused so much of a stir. Wagner countered, saying that the cover is “just some long-haired guy” , just as Christ was an ordinary person, in their view. In any case, the album cover was censored in several countries, which helped fuel the existing controversy with his former band, since the American record label released the album with an all-black cover, featuring the band's logo, the album title, and a sticker that read "new album from the band of the former Sepultura vocalist." Of course, insults were exchanged on both sides!

Musically, Sarcófago showed that they had evolved, delivering songs that were a bit more elaborate, but no less fast and heavy than their debut album. The lyrics also began to shift focus, addressing different themes, as in the emblematic "Sex, Drinks and Metal ." Only Jesus was spared in the title track "Rotting ," which also showcases a different, more depressive and dragging sound, bordering on Doom. "Alcoholic Coma" opens the album like a Hulk Hogan punch to the jaw of the Armadillo from Fantasy Island; devastating! "Tracy" deals with murder and necrophilia, and features a more measured pace in the verses, with a mega-fast chorus. The album concludes with a new version of the classic " Nightmare ," more polished, with some keyboards (by Eugênio Dead Zone, who accompanies the band in the studio from this point on), but still excellent.

"The Laws of Scourge":

The band began playing a more technical Death Metal, with more elaborate riffs, rhythmic passages, and even virtuoso solos.

If we can say that there was one album by the band that was "successful," it was this one, which generated accusations from the more radical fans that the band had sold out. And it seems that to further irritate the more extremist fans, Sarcófago changed their look a bit, with leather clothes, "treated" hair, but still with chains, inverted crosses, and bullet belts, only less exaggerated than in the beginning. The band started to appear more and win over new fans, who weren't necessarily into Death/Black Metal, because they started playing a more technical Death Metal, with more elaborate riffs, cadenced passages, and even virtuoso solos (courtesy of guitarist Fábio Jhasko, who joined the band at that time). There is still extreme speed (at this point commanded by drummer Lúcio Olliver), but the songs are more complex, with more atmospheric and elaborate passages. Wagner's vocals remain as furious as ever, only with fewer effects to reproduce that monster effect that was used in some passages in the past. The controversial lyrics of "Prelude to a Suicide" and the re-recorded "The Black Vomit" (whose lyrics were censored in the liner notes) caused a stir, but the songs that stood out the most were the excellent " Screeches from the Silence ," the brutal title track, and the dragging "Midnight Queen ," which became one of the best-known songs of that era. "Screeches from the Silence" got a music video, something difficult at the time even for bands with more investment behind them, but it was essential in showcasing Sarcófago to the world, as the video appeared on the fondly remembered metal programs on MTV Brazil, America, and even Europe, where Wagner even recorded a historic interview, which also did little to alleviate the controversies with Sepultura.

“Crush, Kill, Destroy” : This EP was recorded around the same time as Laws and contains two songs from that album ( Midnight Queen and Secrets of a Window ) and two unreleased tracks; Little Julie and the title track Crush, Kill, Destroy , which was certainly the closest Sarcófago came
to Thrash Metal. Today this EP is a rarity and the unreleased tracks were released as bonus tracks on the CD version of “The Laws of Scourge”.

"Hate" : Perhaps one of the most criticized albums in the band's discography. After the success of their previous album, everyone expected Sarcófago to capitalize on the exposure and release a similarly polished, more rhythmic album. However, the band was reduced to a duo, Wagner and GG, and an electronic drum machine was used in the recording. But since practically nothing Sarcófago did was in line with the standards of their time, the drum speed was absurdly fast, causing strangeness and rejection, at least initially. The songs were also more direct and raw, less polished than their previous release. In other words, the fans who were drawn to Sarcófago solely because of "The Laws of Scourge" abandoned the band right away. The intro to the first song, " Song for my Death ," already sets the tone for the album: lightning-fast drumming, cutting riffs, and a roared vocal style that recalls some of the rawness of their early days. Aside from "Orgy of Flies ," which is more drawn-out, the album continues in a non-stop onslaught, becoming a bit tiring at times, because the electronic drums at that time weren't as sophisticated and didn't have as many rhythmic variations. The most controversial song was "Satanic Terrorism ," which described the attacks by the Norwegian Inner Circle on churches, generating accusations and even speculation that Sarcófago would do their own version of the Inner Circle in Brazil. The fact that Wagner exchanged correspondence with Euronymous (the now deceased guitarist of Mayhem and leader of the Inner Circle) didn't help matters either. The band denied any involvement or act of terrorism in Brazil, claiming that the song only describes the events of the time. The only promotional photos taken for this release show the duo Wagner and GG hooded with their faces painted white, details in the eyes and mouth in the style of Alice Cooper, except for the simple inverted cross on their foreheads.

"Decade of Decay":

Besides being a treat for the fans, it helped keep the band's name in the media, since at that point Sarcófago was no longer performing live or taking promotional photos.

This compilation, released by Cogumelo in 1995, features songs from all of Sarcófago's albums up to that point, songs from Warfare Noise, and several tracks taken from demo tapes released early in the band's career. The cover is a remake of the cover of the demo tape "Satanic Lust". The booklet contains a collage of various photos from different phases of the band, lots of raunchiness and general nonsense. Besides being a treat for fans, it helped keep the band's name in the media, since at that point Sarcófago was no longer playing shows and wasn't taking promotional photos, not even for interviews done at the time for magazines like Rock Brigade and Dynamite.

"The Worst" : Despite the name, I consider this the best release from Sarcófago's duo phase. The drumming was better handled, partly due to the technological advancements of the time, and the songs were more polished than on "Hate". The band's characteristic fast passages are still present, but they were better balanced between the heavier and more rhythmic parts, interwoven with more elaborate yet still incredibly heavy riffs. Wagner's vocals remain furious, but we also find deeper and more somber passages in the songs, such as the title track, "The Worst". The duo's look also generated buzz, as they appear in the liner notes with short hair and long beards, with a more "normal" look, except perhaps for the chain Wagner wore in his nose and ear, Rachel Bolan style. This change was even the theme of the song " Shave Your Head ," which they claim they wrote because at that point having long hair was no longer synonymous with being a rocker/metalhead, as many playboys were also adopting the look, and therefore they decided to go radical. Also noteworthy are the songs Army of the Damned (the Prozac's Generation), Plunged in Blood , and the re-recording of Satanic Lust . As could be expected, the song Purification Process caused controversy. It was censored in the liner notes because of lyrics that, according to legend, said things like "fuck the Indians, fuck the browns, fuck the faggots ," implying that it was a prejudiced song glorifying racism, fascism, and other far-right ideologies.

The band denied this, saying they were talking about purifying the music scene, where Brazilian bands were mixing metal with indigenous music, samba, and other things for foreigners to see. “Coincidentally,” the previous year, Sepultura had released the album Roots featuring Carlinhos Brown.

"Crust" : Released in 2000, this EP was the band's last release to date. The new sound caused quite a stir, as the production is very dirty, noisy, and chaotic, with vocals that are unintelligible even to fans of the genre; they sound more like an animal growling than a human being. In the few interviews given at the time, they said that the EP was a way of swimming against the tide of Metal bands at the time, who were making an aggressive but very polished sound for their taste. The song FOMBM (Fuck Off Melodic Black Metal) describes this thought well, where they curse bands like Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth. The EP also includes the title track Crust , the chaotic Sonic Images of the New Millennium Decay , and the excellent Day of the Dead . This EP was released as a bonus track on the CD reissue of The Worst.

After that, Sarcófago disappeared from the map. Wagner focused on his successful professional career as an economist and didn't play in any bands anymore, apart from rehearsals with his side project, which never performed live; the band Crust Commando Kaos. GG Minelli joined forces a few years later with Manu Joker, Fabio Jhasko, and vocalist Juarez "Tibanha" from the band Scourge, a longtime friend of the band, and they did a tour as a Sarcófago tribute band.

In 2009, rumors surfaced that Sarcófago would reunite, with Wagner on vocals, for some shows in Europe at festivals like Wacken Open Air. Wagner himself denied this. However, from then on, interest in the band only grew. And the then-reclusive Wagner began agreeing to give interviews, such as to the American magazine Decibel, which did a special feature on the album "INRI," inducting it into its Hall of Fame, and the Brazilian magazine Roadie Crew.

But what drove fans crazy for a possible return was Wagner's surprise appearance in 2013 at a Mystifier show in Belo Horizonte, singing "Nightmare" with them, proving he was still in top vocal form, contradicting his detractors who insisted on downplaying his vocal talents, saying that without the album's effects his voice was worthless (see the video below and draw your own conclusions). Even if the band never returns, Sarcófago's name is etched in blood in the history of Brazilian and world metal, and fans will continue to pay tribute to the extreme music created by these bastards from hell. Hail Sarcófago!

*This text was written by a Wikimate and does not necessarily represent the opinions of the site's authors.

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