Igor Cavalera explains in a German podcast the reasons that led to the use of satanic imagery in the early days of extreme metal in Brazil. The issue was directly linked to "attacking the church" and an "act of rebellion."
During a conversation with White Centipede Noise at WCN Studios, the drummer spoke about the strong presence of demonic themes in the early bands of the 1980s scene, such as Sepultura , Sarcófago , Vulcano , and Holocausto. This theme contrasts with the predominance of the Catholic Church in the country.
According to the musician, the use of these references was not worship of the devil, but rather a way of going against the church.
“For us, explaining the first wave of black metal we had in Brazil wasn’t really about worshipping Satan, but rather about attacking the church, which is a big difference. For us, it was much more political,” (via Blabbermouth ) explained Igor.
He went on to detail the critical view that the bands had of the role of religious institutions in society.
“Because the church is controlling everything in South America, and they’re involved in politics, and as we all know, they’re the most evil thing. They came in and really raped the land with colonization and everything else. So, for us, going against the church was an act of rebellion. And for us, it also made more sense to attack that than just attacking the government in general, because they’re the same thing in our view. So, when you had the Sex Pistols going against the Queen, for us, our form of aggression was like, ‘No, let’s destroy the church.’ Because they’re all connected.”
Watch Igor Cavalera's appearance on the White Centipede Noise podcast:
Igor Cavalera talks about his perception.
Despite his personal preference for dark themes, Cavalera claims that the band was not made up of "Satan worshippers." In his view, both good and evil, as popularly known, were inventions of the church itself.
"So, for us, worshipping that was almost like, 'Oh, how come you don't accept Jesus, but you accept that one, who is kind of—they're the yin and yang.'"
Igor also connected the aggressiveness and themes with the extreme sound that characterized Brazilian metal at the time: “So that's where the movement came from. It was about that aggressiveness. And then, of course, musically, it was an extreme way of showing how we wanted to rebel.”
He contrasted the approach of Brazilian bands with European and American metal, which frequently addressed themes such as dragons and castles, considered distant from Brazilian reality.
“They talked about dragons and the destruction of castles. And we thought, ‘That’s not our reality.’ So, I think that’s where it started.”
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