Review by Daniel for Ratos de Porão - Brasil (1989)
As with most obsessive thrash metal fanatics at the time, I was completely oblivious to the existence of Brazilian legends Ratos de Porão until their countrymen Sepultura blew up with their classic 1989 third album “Beneath The Remains”. Max, Igor & co. were very proud of their homeland & subsequently highlighted to interviewers all of the fantastic metal talent they were surrounded by back home which resulted in me seeking out a few of the more underground bands they mentioned with Ratos de Porão being one of them. The São Paulo crossover kings had been a part of the local crust/hardcore punk scene for almost a decade by that stage so they’d already built somewhat of a legacy in their country by the time Sepultura began pushing their cause internationally but their 1989 “Brasil” fourth album would be my introduction to them in the very early 1990’s.
Their newly found fame saw Ratos de Porão following in Sepultura’s footsteps by graduating from the safety of local Brazilian label Cogumelo Records & joining them at Roadracer where “Beneath The Remains” had just reached stratospheric levels of popularity. Roadracer would engage a serious producer too in German Harris Johns whose resume already included a long string of classic metal records such as Helloween’s self-titled E.P. & “Walls of Jericho” debut album, Kreator’s “Pleasure to Kill”, Voivod’s “Killing Technology” & “Dimension Hatross” & Sodom’s “Agent Orange” so one would think that the Brazilians would have been freaking the fuck out & wondering what they’d done to deserve such luck. Roadracer even sent them over to Germany for the recording sessions which must have seemed so out of line with their experiences to the time. Johns did a great job at harnessing the raw energy of Ratos de Porão’s hardcore roots while also instilling their sound with an all-new clarity & professionalism.
Ratos de Porão’s 1987 “Cada dia mais sujo e agressivo” third album had seen them taking their first steps into thrash territory after 1984’s “Crucificados pelo sistema” & 1986’s “Descanse em paz” had apparently been predominantly hardcore based. I’ve not explored those early releases before but I do quite like “Cada dia mais sujo e agressivo” which presented the band’s intensity quite nicely. “Brasil” saw Ratos de Porão returning with the same four-piece lineup & laying down seventeen tracks of short, sharp metallic hardcore which doesn’t pretend to reinvent the wheel in any way, instead opting to engage the listeners limbs for the purpose of violent thrashing & open aggression. At just 29 minutes in duration, “Brasil” doesn’t overstay its welcome & serves its purpose very well indeed for those with a penchant for this sort of thing. It can get a little samey if you're not entirely onboard with the band's default sound though so you'll likely know very early on whether this record will appeal to you or not.
The tracklisting opens beautifully with two of its finest inclusions in “Amazonia Never More” (my personal favourite) & “Backwards” before settling into a consistently engaging yet slightly less impressive sound that often sees them toying with silly hardcore calling cards without allowing them to outstay their welcome. The back end of the record sees Ratos de Porão finishing in style with songs like “Military Machine” & closer “Will I Receive My Heritage” being of a similar quality to those first couple of tracks so you definitely come out of the record on somewhat of a high. Novelty track “Drink Til You Die” is the only genuine failure in my opinion as it simply sounds a bit dumb compared to the rest of the tracklisting. The musicianship is excellent throughout the album (particularly the solid drumming) & we even get a few well executed & exciting guitar solos which isn’t something I can say for all that many hardcore bands. The more up-tempo parts are clearly my comfort zone with the groovier hardcore moments offering me significantly less appeal but the occasional use of half-time Dave Lombardo-style ride cymbal work is always welcome. The fact that Ratos de Porão never stay in one place for all that long is a definite positive because even when they start to drift away from my taste profile they’ll inevitably start to head back within seconds.
Crossover thrash has never been a subgenre that sees me reaching the highest peaks of the extreme metal world so my scoring is generally capped around the four star region & “Brasil” does nothing to change that but is certainly one of the stronger examples of the style you’ll find. I particularly enjoy the gruff, masculine vocals of front man João Gordo which are undeniably Brazilian in nature & will no doubt remind many of a young Max Cavalera. Ratos de Porão would be consistent producer of this sort of record for the many decades since but “Brasil” may well be their finest work & fans of bands like The Exploited, D.R.I. & Soziedad Alkoholika should definitely give it a few spins.