Review by Daniel for Ratos de Porão - Cada dia mais sujo e agressivo (1987)

Every now & then we’ll see a metal band exploding onto the global market in a major way &, in the process of doing so,  managing to highlight the strength of their local scene to the extent that several of the associated bands & labels see themselves being taken along for the rid. We saw it with Darkthrone & the Norwegian black metal scene. We saw it with Entombed & the Swedish death metal scene. And we saw it with Sepultura & South American thrash metal. I haven’t really read anyone else making similar claims but I’m pretty sure that virtually no one had ever heard of Brazil’s Ratos de Porão before Sepultura’s “Beneath The Remains” blew up big time, but I distinctly remember their name popping up all over the place very quickly after the Sep’s were on their way to global domination & it was more than just a quick cash-grab.  

The story of Ratos de Porão (Portuguese for “basement rats”) actually began in Sao Paulo all the way back to 1981 when they began life as a purely hardcore/crust punk act in the tradition of G.B.H. & Discharge. They were quite controversial in the early days of their existence as they were not only the most extreme punk band in Brazil but also one of the first local artists to openly criticize Brazilian society which was a very bold move in what was (& still is) a very dangerous political environment. Ratos de Porão’s 1984 debut album “Crucificados pelo sistema” would represent the very first Brazilian hardcore punk album & would also make a significant impact on the global hardcore scene. At around this time the increasingly intimidating threat of ongoing gang violence would see much of the Sao Paulo hardcore scene disintegrating & Ratos de Porão were not immune to the decay. They would disband for a short time before band leader & drummer Jão decided to put together a new version of the band which would see him dropping the drum sticks & picking up a guitar. Jão had become enamored with the thriving thrash metal sound that was taking the world by storm & he wanted to see his new lineup taking on a fresh new sound. 1986’s album would be the first Ratos de Porão release to offer hints at a hybrid punk/metal sound but it was still predominantly a hardcore release. Unfortunately, many of the local punks would not be terribly open to the dilution of the band’s original hardcore sound with many abandoning them & as a result “Descanse em paz” would not be as successful as “Crucificados pelo sistema”.  

After the release of their sophomore album, Ratos de Porão’s increasing interest in metal would see them spending a lot more time socializing with local thrash metal bands like Sepultura & Korzus & this would eventually lead to them becoming associated with legendary Sao Paulo extreme metal label Cogumelo Records. It was still early days for Cogumelo but they were quickly building a rabid underground fanbase following the release of the Sepultura/Overdose split, Sepultura’s “Morbid Visions” album & the “Warfare Noise” compilation with several other promising acts like Mutilator, Chakal, Sarcófago & Holocausto already on their books as well. With a renewed focus, Jão & the boys would head back into the studio to record their third album, only this time with a significantly renovated sound. It seemed that Ratos de Porão were not the only punks that had developed a strong metal fetish as they’d been hearing other hardcore acts like DRI, Cro-Mags, Agnostic Front, English Dogs & Suicidal Tendencies starting to move in somewhat of a hybrid direction & they wanted in on the act. The result would be 1987’s “Cada dia mais sujo e agressivo” album (translated as “every day more dirty & aggressive”) which would be released through Cogumelo Records. It would become the earliest Brazilian crossover thrash release of any note & would also see the band taking the throne as the undisputed kings of Brazilian crossover thrash; a title they've maintained pretty comfortably to the current day. 

“Cada dia mais sujo e agressivo” would be recorded at J.G. Studios in Belo Horizonte in 1987 with Marcos Gaugin behind the desk. Marcos seems to have had a close affiliation with Cogumelo & Brazilian metal in general as he would record a number of important metal releases during this period including Chakal’s “Abominable anno domini”, Sarcofago’s “I.N.R.I.” & Sepultura’s “Schizophrenia” albums. The result that Marcos was able to draw from the sessions with Ratos de Porão though could be described as serviceable without being outstanding. It’s a raw & dirty sounding record which is certainly appropriate for a hardcore-driven band but the rhythm guitars do sound a little muffled & lacking in brightness & tend to blend in with the bass guitar which gives the record a muddy feel that’s not necessarily a major problem once you get used to it. The guitars are presented right up front in the mix which is great for this style of metal with the drums sitting mainly towards the back with only the snare drum cutting through. The rest of the kit sounds fairly thin & clicky behind the wall of guitars but Jão’s vocals receive good separation which allows him to tower over the instrumentalists in an imposing show of strength. The guitar solos tend to be a wall of high-end which masks their lack of technical proficiency a little bit. Overall, I don’t think I can complain too much given the band’s style & the tools at their disposal. 

The cover art for “Cada dia mais sujo e agressivo” would seem to be a visual representation of the band’s moniker as it shows a poorly drawn image of a huge rat standing on its hind legs & carrying a large wrench in its left hand. He has a very determined look on his face too & I can imagine that the band would have seen themselves in this image given their renewed focus on becoming the originators of the Brazilian crossover thrash subgenre. It’s unfortunate that the artwork looks so immature & childish though because it definitely cheapens the product & the initial impressions that prospective fans might have had when first encountering it. This was nothing new for Brazilian thrash though it has to be said & certainly not for Cogumelo who would release a procession of records with similarly poor cover art. A lot of those releases offered a much poorer level of musicianship than we would get with Ratos de Porão though & I think that this actually gave the cheap artwork more of an endearing attraction than we get with “Cada dia mais sujo e agressivo” where it seems inappropriate for the task at hand. 

Musically,  “Cada dia mais sujo e agressivo” is pretty much the definitive hardcore/metal hybrid. There’s only really one or two tracks that favour the hardcore element a little more prominently than the metal one but in general we get roughly a 50/50 prospect that fits the genre tag beautifully. Jão’s vocal approach comes very much from the hardcore side of the equation & he represents one of the best components of the Ratos de Porão sound here. There’s a bus-load of aggression in his delivery & the limitations of the Portuguese lyrical approach become pretty much irrelevant given the power & attitude he manages to harness. The guitars are where most of the thrash component stems from though & Ratos de Porão are definitely at their best when they’re placing their feet firmly down on the pedal as the faster material is certainly their strongest. In saying that though, there really isn’t a lot of slow or mid-paced material here & there is a case for claiming a lack of variety although the short duration of the album probably negates it a little. The more mid-paced thrash riffs that we do get tend to be fairly generic & I get the feeling that Jão was still more comfortable in the realm of your more up-tempo hardcore riff assault. There are a few solos included although they’re generally pretty incompetently performed & don’t add a lot to the music. But the real weak point of the album is found in Spaghetti’s d-beat influenced drumming (yes that’s his name apparently, possibly due to his sloppiness? – God I’m funny sometimes). I’m never able to overcome the feeling that he’s struggling to maintain the intensity & his timing is always just that tiny bit out which frustrates me a little given the obvious potential of this band. I can easily imagine just how much more appealing “Cada dia mais sujo e agressivo” might be with Charlie Benante behind the kit for example. Oh well.. it wasn’t to be I guess. Jão’s timing isn’t wonderful either to be honest but this is not as significant a factor in holding the band together. 

The quality of the song-writing is generally pretty good with only a couple of weaker tracks popping up in quick succession on the B-side (see “Peste sexual” & “Sentir ódio e nada mais”) before the band pick things up at the end with closing track “V.C.D.M.S.A.” being the album’s most extreme. The A-side is quite strong though & kicks off with the album highlight in the very thrashy “Tatoo Maniax”. As you can see, I definitely enjoy the more intense material & (as is generally the case for me) the punkier tracks offer a little less appeal. There’s a lot of potential in some of the better songs but they don’t ever quite manage to produce the hooks required to see me elevating them up into classic status so the appeal of the album tends to be more to do with the raw hardcore aggression & general commitment to speed. That’s the difference between your tier ones & your runners up though, isn’t it really? The ability to not only produce vicious & nasty thrash metal but to still maintain an elite level of accessibility through high quality song-writing & I feel that this was one of the reasons that (with the obvious exception of Sepultura who were masters of this technique) the South Americans never quite managed to step up to similar levels of acclaim as the Germans. 

“Cada dia mais sujo e agressivo” is a pretty strong example of crossover thrash that will offer appeal to any fan of the subgenre but is unlikely to convert too many newcomers. It’s importance to the Brazilian scene is substantial though as it opened both the punk & metal audiences up to a new direction & represents one of the elite local examples of the style still to this day. It’s a record that I generally enjoy but rarely love & it’s a shame that we didn’t get the opportunity to hear it with a high-quality production & with a more skilled time-keeper. In saying that though, I’ve recently read that there’s a re-release that features a better sound quality & English lyrics so it’s possible that at least one of those issues I've mentioned may already have been rectified over the years. I may have to investigate that some time soon.   

For fans of: DRI, SOD, Suicidal Tendencies