I.N.R.I.

Sarcófago's 1987 debut album "I.N.R.I." is a fine example of pure South American metal and a fine example of an album I'm glad I revisited. Upon my first listening of this album circa June 2020, I wasn't really sold. Maybe it was because I hadn't developed a taste for a more extreme form of thrash metal as I have now. Maybe it was because I was listening to this album as background music while I was playing video games. I don't know or remember why. All I know is I'm happy that I gave this album a second chance and have started digging into South American metal more. Sarcófago, the band ex-Sepultura vocalist Wager Antichrist joined after his departure from Sepultura, has proven to be an important figure in the worlds of thrash, death, and black metal.

I.N.R.I. exemplifies many characteristics that many extreme metal acts would go to incorporate into their own sound. For starters, this album is packed with riffs so sinister sounding that you would've thought Satan himself wrote them. Many of the riffs on this album were tremolo picked. Tremolo picking has always been a staple in extreme metal. Your favorite death metal and black metal bands have utilized it at least once. And of course, there are numerous examples of down picking. Another staple in extreme metal riffing. I think some would be surprised to know the songs on this album were recorded in E standard tuning considering how heavy and evil they sound. Just like Possessed with their debut album, "Seven Churches," Sarcófago was able to put out a landmark of an album in the extreme metal world without having to down tune. Now don't take that as me ragging on bands who tune lower than E standard. I have nothing against that. Butcher is definitely a guitarist who doesn't get the love that he deserves as shown through his riffs and performance on this album.

Wagner Antichrist's vocals on this album constantly maintained a growl in between the lines of a midrange growl and a low growl. His vocals were also practically swimming in reverb. I wouldn't be surprised if Max Cavalera took heavy inspiration from Wagner for his vocal style considering how similar the two sound when their vocal styles are compared. I do know that Sepultura's early works had vocals that were swamped with reverb. I don't know if Sarcófago was inspired by Sepultura to do that on I.N.R.I. or if it was merely a coincidence that both bands had that going on with the vocals.

D.D. Crazy, Butcher's brother, laid down thumping drums for this album that could rattle the speakers in any stereo system. The blast beats perfectly complemented the riffs. I also must give D.D. Crazy a lot of praise for his abilities to keep an ongoing blast beat. That had to have been very physically demanding to say the least. Blast beats, another staple characteristic in extreme metal, tied the music together on this album very nicely.

I.N.R.I. maintains a sinister and fast-paced atmosphere throughout the overwhelming majority of this album. There were very little exceptions to this. The exceptions most notable to me were the slowed-down/doomy intro of "Nightmare," the clean guitar intro of "Christ's Death," and the end of "The Last Slaughter," which sampled carnival music and sound effects of what sounds like a toilet flushing. The band's use of the samples adds a subtle sense of humor to the album. As for "Nightmare" and "Christ's Death," their exceptions lasted for only a brief period of time before returning to the sinister and fast-paced atmosphere that I had mentioned.

Historically, the production on extreme metal albums has always varied. With some albums, a great job was done with the production, mixing, and mastering while others had such a poorly done job that it makes the album close to, if not completely, unlistenable. I.N.R.I. has very few production flaws. My biggest criticism of the production on this album is how buried the bass guitar is. Gerald Incubus got the short end of the stick with this album's production, making critiquing his performance just about pointless if you're aiming to fairly critique him. Other than that, everything else was balanced fairly. This album has a nice amount of rawness to the production while still making it an enjoyable listen.

Of course, I can't possibly review Sarcófago without bringing up the importance of their overall look to the world of black metal. The face paint, bullet belts, and spiked gauntlets donned by each band member on the album cover of I.N.R.I. would act as a source of inspiration to many black metal bands yet to come. Sarcófago was one of several bands that acted as a precursor to what is now known as corpse paint. Any metalhead with a basic level of black metal knowledge knows that corpse paint and spikes are the key aspects of many black metal bands' look. Gorgoroth and Immortal are two examples that stick out the most in my mind. I could only imagine being a kid in 1987 seeing the front cover of Sarcófago's "I.N.R.I." and being completely mesmerized at how evil the band members look. That must've been a one-of-a-kind experience.

The 2014 Bandcamp version of this album released by Greyhaze Records contains some bonus tracks. There's the 3 tracks from the band's 1986 "The Black Vomit" demo, and then there's 3 live tracks. I won't review the songs from the demo right now as I plan to review "The Black Vomit" in the future. As for the live tracks, there's nothing too special about them. They're lo-fi recordings that were most likely bootleg recordings that the record label decided to officialize for a reissue. Labels have done that in the past. Once again, nothing too special.

Sarcófago's 1987 debut album "I.N.R.I." is and will always be a Brazilian metal masterpiece. It's a shame this band goes under the radar of so many metalheads. I'm sure that this album will see an elevated level of appreciation in the future as more metalheads start to dig deeper into the metal scenes of different countries. Even if this album doesn't click with you upon your first listen, it'll grow on you as time passes. Favorite song: Satanas.

There are numerous different names that Sarcófago's debut album can go by: the Brazilian Reign in Blood, the title of this review, but one thing remains true: this is the most extreme piece of music to be released outside of the States or Europe. This is sheer terror in art form, and a truly unique and brutal experience.

"Satanic Lust" opens the album with elements of punk and a primitive form of what would become brutal death metal. The drumming is insane, the vocals are scary and cold, but feel embedded in the track. The music on this album sounds less like a collection of instruments and more like the voice of a demon. Even when the riffs break away from the drumming on the opening track, it still sounds scary, and as the vocals are reduced to nothing but screams over the instrumentation, it sounds like your soul is being forcibly removed from your body. And this is all just on the first song.

This album combines so many different influences. The opening riff to "Nightmare" sounds like something Sleep or Seasons in the Abyss-era Slayer would write, and this comes before Darkthrone-style vocals. Then the band transitions into what sounds like a Mayhem riff + drum arrangement, as the distant vocals scream out in pure horror. This was all the first third of a single song, and there are so many other moments like this where the band is putting on a new aesthetic every thirty seconds before shedding it in favor of something completely different. And think about when this album was released, before the complete makeover of extreme metal that was the late-'eighties and the 'nineties. In 1987, a lot of metal bands were still trying to write the most complex or experimental thrash album; death metal and black metal were hardly part of the picture yet. Sure, there was early Sodom and Sepultura, but Sarcófago was of a different class entirely. They combined the rawness of extreme metal with semi-complex song structures and created something truly original.

Much of the material on this record feels like the band is going through trial and error in real time. The opening to "Christ's Death" comes in stark contrast to everything else on this album, but the band doesn't care. And not to mention, the lyrics here are absolutely insane. Given that the lead singer, Antichrist, spent some time in Sepultura before Sarcófago, it's no surprise that the lyrical talents rubbed off on him. In the moments that his lyrics are discernible through the devil's possession of his vocal performance, the finality of death is conveyed with pure clarity. The subject matter of every song here is insightful and dark, perfect for the theatrical presentation of the music. Take the end of "Christ's Death," for example, with its descent into madness sounding like the band is being dragged down to Hell against their will.

Every single track on this album is intense, but together as a twenty-eight minute listening experience, this album encapsulates everything about death metal that makes the genre so great. The riffs work as a vehicle for the song to move at a faster and faster pace, the drums are usually blast beats and a relentless kick drum that does not let up. The band even explores the explicit pleasure of sex on "Ready to Fuck," something Cannibal Corpse probably took note of. The drum patterns are clever and intricate, but never becoming too overwhelming. They drive the songs and add a little bit of flair, especially when the vocals take a step back. For the most part, the bass is hard to hear, but it's definitely there keeping these songs afloat.

If you want good production, look away. This album has the darkness, the raw energy, and the untamed rage that every early death metal captures perfectly. Think Seven Churches by Possessed, but on steroids. This album picks up on every drum fill, every guitar lick, every growl and grunt and scream, but there's an underlying inaudibility to the music that gives it a scary quality. It sounds like the music is being blocked by a Satanic wall of evil, and we're only listening to what manages to escape. The band creates such an authentic, but also surreal feel with the music here. It sounds like Sarcófago is truly living the experience they write their music about, but simultaneously it feels like they were sent by Lucifer himself to convey the clearest message of what Hell is like. This album is a very unique and extreme experience, and listeners should always take caution. But man, is it worth it.

Look at that album cover. Don’t those guys look absolutely sick? Nowadays face paint might be an unnecessary cliché, but once upon a time it clearly wasn’t. Formed once Wagner left Sepultura, Sarcófago would release their shocking debut in 1987 on Cogumelo records and from thereon, black metal would never be the same again.

You could definitely argue that the roots of war metal lie can be traced all the way back to this album. Just consider what we’re dealing with: a series of blastbeats played by a drummer who probably had too many cups of coffee before recording, primal guitar work that hardly sounds connected thrash metal anymore and a vomiting vocal performance that spews out the most blasphemous words that you could think of (although not always in correct English, but that’s part of the charm). All this results into a 28 minute long ride of blasphemy, relentless aggression and…carnival music (that’s the outro of ‘’The Last Slaughter’’, in case you wonder). Indeed, despite the band’s attitude, it seems that Sarcófago want to let the music speak for itself and couldn’t care less about appearing like a bunch of elitists who take metal too seriously.

War metal isn’t my pick of choice (not that I prefer my metal to be about peace and hugging trees), but unlike many bands that were influenced by these guys, Sarcrofago manage to sound enjoyable to a certain degree. There’s an urgent feeling to these fast-paced compositions, yet a fair amount of mid-paced moments prevent I.N.R.I. from becoming a monotone experience and interestingly enough, these also result into my favorite songs. The five minute long ‘’Nightmare’’ makes a moody change with some creepier guitars crawling over a filthy floor, making an enjoyable contrast when compared to the frenzied passages that quickly follow. ‘’The Last Slaughter’’ owes a lot to its effective gunfire-riffing, but I also enjoy the mid-paced riffs that sound far catchier and more restrained - not to mention that happy-ending is an amusing way to finish the album with. Certain tracks also sound slightly more referential; with its brief thrashing riff leading into an unholy assault that you won’t forget anytime soon, ‘’Satanic Lust’’ almost serves like a middle ground between early Sodom and Blasphemy and at the time, this was obviously something unheard of. Meanwhile, ‘’Christ’s Death’’ provides some marching rhythmic work that could be traced all the way back to Hellhammer and who could forget that slow-motion assault of power chords to finish things off with? I bet that Samael certainly couldn’t.

While the longer tracks manage to make progression, the shortest ones can only rely on their berserk nature and honestly, I’m having some issues with them. Sure, I.N.R.I. features more flaws; the drums resemble a drum machine at times and at its most violent, it’s as if they and guitars try to destroy each other (then again, the drummer goes by the name of D.D. Crazy, so what do I know?), but I can at least put up with these things. The shorter songs get launched with fury and basically sound like the equivalent of Vulcano’s ‘’Ready to Explode’’…except that in Vulcano’s case, it was 1 undeveloped track that was surrounded by 6 superb tracks. In Sarcófago case, we’re talking about 4 out of 9 songs and it’s obviously a disadvantage. Only the title track manages to make somewhat of a difference, as it’s fueled by some maniacal riffing that’s memorable to a certain degree - with the exception of Wagner Antichrist's guttural howls, the rest basically goes one ear in and one ear out, I’m afraid.

Whereas comparable albums such as Bestial Devastation, Morbid Visions and Bloody Vengeance sound intense and extremely memorable, I.N.R.I. isn’t quite on the same level. It remains an important piece of black metal history, but on a personally I’m not too crazy about it, even if it has its moments. By all means give it a shot, but if you're looking for the best work of this band, try The Laws of Scourge first.

This review was originally written for antichristmagazine.com

"If you are a false don't entry...because you'll be burned and died!"

What an album of pure and unadulterated chaos! Picture the scene, it's mid to late 80's Brazil, the dictatorship is over and extreme music is the new leader. Sepultura already has two records, Holocausto's debut is released, Sextrash is releasing demos, Vulcano also has two out. To say the least, the first wave of brutal thrash, or what we like to call death/thrash is burgeoning in Brazil! Most people just know Sepultura, but there is definitely much quality and truly necro and evil releases. Sarcofago is a direct result of Wagner, or as he's more commonly known as, "Antichrist" being kicked out of Sepultura and forming a new band, wanting to be even more evil. The result is one of the finest and definitely the most evil thrash metal release, I.N.R.I. 1987 was a huge year for the bridging between thrash to death, with Death debuting and many other thrash bands turning up the intensity to 100. I think Sarcofago's debut outdid Sepultura's sophomore effort. Let's delve into one of the most evil releases in thrash and metal history, Sarcofago's I.N.R.I.

This album is a 28 minute audio assault. The longest song is "Nightmare" at 5:38 and everything else is in the 1-4 minute range. This serves the aggressive, torturous style that this band displays. Every song is memorable, and creates and undoubtedly diabolical and blasphemous atmosphere. If Satan was a member of the band, it wouldn't be a big surprise. Everyone on the album is playing with the energy of a pissed off demon. So pissed off that most of the lyrics, while understandable have terrible grammar. This doesn't hurt the release one bit, it actually adds a lot of re-listen value to the music. If you haven't listened while reading along to the lyrics of this album at least once, you are a false. All of the songs except the holy "Deathrash" are about demonic rape, killing and unholiest of actions. Pure black metal. The creepiest moment on the album definitely being the intro to "Christ's Death" good lord above, it's evil. A commendable and great atmosphere building moment. The vocals are awesome as well, sometimes leaning toward black metal, sometimes taking a journey to death metal gutturals and even Tom Araya style banshee shrieks. Drumming here is quite the treat, it's fast and abrasive. If I was asked about tracks to recommend, I'd definitely say the entire album is what to listen to, as 28 minutes won't take too much time up, and you'll be left wanting more, but also you'll be satisfied. So pretty much the audio equivalent to intercourse. The production manages to be one of my favorite parts of this album! Let's discuss, because I do actually have one complaint about it

With most records in the black thrash and black metal in general, you expect absolutely raw and bad production. Here you definitely get a raw production, but it's digestible. The drums sound awesome in my opinion, definitely raw, and pretty high in the mix, and not all that well produced, but all things considered, it's what you expect from this. One problem that bugs me is that I have trouble hearing the guitars on a few tracks, like the levels differ from track to track. Like for example, on Nightmare the guitars are a bit quiet, but on I.N.R.I. they're louder. This is especially evident on solos. It's not that big of a deal but it definitely a problem that can hurt the listening experience. The bass is there, but barely. It's stripped down to it's bare role of structural support for sure. The guitar tone, besides that one minor complaint is wonderful, and is thrashy, suitable for death metal and black metal also. Truly strong production, with one minor flaw supports this record's greatness.

To conclude my thoughts on this cacophony of pure, blasphemous, evil, this album is essential listening. Definitely a pioneering release, mixing three great genres to make someting unlike anything heard before. Late 80's Brazilian metal conjured up some of the most hellish music recorded at that time. Sarcofago succeed in being the most evil band, with Sepultura not even coming close to the level of evils here. Don't get me wrong, I love Sepultura's 80's and early 90's stuff, but Sarcofago won the game of blasphemy. As for which band I like better? That remains to be seen, as this is my first listen to Sarcofago and it was thoroughly enjoyed. I think if anything I'll hold them both in a revered spot of both being Brazilian metal masters. Well one was, up until 1996 anyway. Actually that allegedly goes for Sarcofago as well, as they released an album that many have called "The Worst" not only because it being called that, but because it actually is. If you like evil metal that combines black, thrash, and death, than I.N.R.I. is for you, my friend. Give it a listen ASAP.

-Nolan

Released in 1987 by Cogumelo Records, I.N.R.I. is the debut album by Brazilian black/death metal godz Sarcófago. While sure albums like In the Sign of Evil and Sentence of Death contributed not only to this album itself but also for the whole First Wave of Black Metal, I.N.R.I., in my humble opinion, is where shit gets really serious.

Everything you hear in a black metal band today, if you look back, you will see in this album. The lyrics, even though with some bad grammar, are way more twisted and perverted than ever before, like, if you take Sodom's, Destruction's, Slayer's, sure, they're sick and blasphemous but Sarcófago's take it up a notch, just check songs like Desecration of Virgin and Ready to Fuck, I don't think Tom Araya has ever come close to shouting things about Satan and his demons visiting Mary seven days before Jesus birthday and fucking the shit out of her, and of course I mean literally.

Euronymous, the prince of death himself, knew his shit and worshiped this album, along with other peers from the Norwegian scene, and even though it's the general consensus that he's the creator of the "black metal riff", I'd say, just look at songs like Satanas, the thunderous, quite literally, title track I.N.R.I., and Deathrash, it's all already here, that power chord tremoloing hell that black metal is known for.

Oh, the drums... the stellar drums of D.D. Crazy, that, even though sounding kinda (a lot, actually?) flat, I don't think it takes the shine away from them. I must say, this is one of the earliest use of extensive blast beats in extreme metal. I think prior to this, only a few other bands were nailing the drums this hard. Of the top of my head I can remember of S.O.D., Napalm Death, Morbid Angel's real first album was already recorded by then even though not released until a few years later I think it had some blast beats. Anyway, but by 1987 it still wasn't a common and plebeian as I would eventually come to be in the next decade, with every death metal band blast beating the shit out of each other, with things getting faster and faster, shout to Mick Harris, Flo Mounier, Mike Smith...

The vocals! Goddamnit! Best black metal vocals up until this release, easily. In the first wave, no one ever came close to spew such hellish vomit. Of course, Wagner had a little help of studio trickery in some parts, with some pitch shifting going on here and there to make him sound like Satan himself, but the boy, and I really mean the boy, because I don't think he was even 18 yet in this album, and, I can't confirm the veracity of this story, oh, no, I actually can, I think I read this in a Roadie Crew (Brazilian heavy metal magazine) edition, back in, 2012 or something, in a interview they did with him, he said the band broke up after I.N.R.I. because their parents kind of broke them up because they couldn't hang out with each other for their own safety because the gang was already doing some crazy shit, like, getting drunk and stuff, but, as I was saying, even thought without the studio trickery the boy could nail them growls.

So, that's it I.N.R.I. is such a marvelous album I fell in love again and felt like writing this review. I don't think if it's an underrated album, I mean, it gets a lot of praise from those who really know their shit, like, people who really like this black fucking metal rep Sarcófago, but I feel like, it should be one of those albums of that even these most "basic" metalhead would know, like, "You know black metal?" "Oh yeah, those face painting monkeys like Mayhem, Darkthrone, Sarcófago? I don't listen to them, but yeah, I know who they are". If you're a dude who likes to read reviews on the Encyclopaedia Metallum to make up your mind about an album, just go for it.

I definitely had to review this band at some point and since I just did Vulcano, I am going on a short Brazilian streak of reviews. First, Sarcofago has always been my favorite South American metal band. Their extreme approach to the music brought a lot of inspiration to most black metal bands in the 90s. Instead of following the other Brazilian bands, Sarcofago went into a different path, thus pushing the level of brutality even further. They followed the steps of Sodom, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Destruction and so on, like their country mates, but tried to rise the intensity of speed to the highest point. When I discovered this band, I couldn't believe how aggressive and brutal they sounded and looked like. After leaving Sepultura in 1985, "Wagner Antichrist" formed the band and they quickly started writing songs and ended up on the 1986 compilation "Warfare Noise I" of Cogumelo Records. Apparently, they got a record deal soon after and they unleashed the currently reviewed beast of a record to the unprepared audience for such violent 80s black metal.

The famous first full-length of Sarcofago "I.N.R.I." was released in 1987 and was probably the heaviest metal record published that year. Unsurprisingly short with its play time of 28 minutes, most of the tracks average the two or three minutes of length. Well, these guys played so fast that you don't even realize that the album is already over in less than half an hour. Anyway, despite those details, the album still has a bunch of interesting riffs other than just playing at 1000 mp/h. For instance, the iconic song of the band "Nightmare" features a good number of cool riffs, showing that they were still able to produce a dark atmosphere. Speaking of that, the amazing "Christ's Death" has one hell of an outro, with that slow riff followed by the bestial vocals of "Wagner Antichrist". However, the absolute highlight of this album on an overview is the machine gun drums of "D.D. Crazy". That kind of blast beat drumming was never heard before on a record and that guy just killed this shit. Other than that, the riffing that we can see in the self-titled track "I.N.R.I." has surely help building the traditional black metal riffing style in the early 90s. Although the songs are kind of similar to each other, with a few exceptions, the guitars are just too good to say something bad about them. The main goal of this record was basically to be evil, furious and fast.

Well, one could not expect much complexity in the music though, the speed at which they play doesn't mean that the music is complex at all. But this is far from being a priority for Sarcofago at this point of its existence, and not required either to be a killer release. Let's just say that the bands of that scene In Brazil at the time didn't have big budgets nor great studios to record. That being said, "I.N.R.I." doesn't even sound bad, at least to me. They did a pretty damn good job at mixing that album as the instruments are all audible at near perfection. I may even add that some people might prefer the sound on this album over other Brazilian releases such as Vulcano's "Bloody Vengeance" or "Morbid Visions" by Sepultura. I heard many people claiming that the latter albums sounded like crap, but personally, it's basically what is making the charm of all these records. Beside that, the lyrical department is what you should expect from such release at the time, but Sarcofago pushed the Satan's concept at a point that it's laughable. Tracks like "Ready to Fuck", Satanic Lust" or "Satanas" shows a bit what I am speaking about here. However, on the musical side that latter song has a main riff that is identical to Sodom's "The Conqueror". It's just played a little differently. I can't tell if it's a coincidence or not, but it came to no surprise and it displays their influences.

To close on a good manner, this album has the song "The Last Slaughter" and it contains an awesome mid-tempo passage within that blasting drums and wall of sound. For the fun of it, the outro is simply a sample of some kinds of circus music that end up with a toilet being flushed. Having said that, what a great way to tell how much I recommend such a classic 80s black metal album. This is arguably the best album from Brazil in that genre. Sarcofago even got better technically on the subsequent releases between 1989-1992. When it comes to old school extreme metal "I.N.R.I." is definitely of my best recommendation.

Favorite tracks:

Christ's Death
I.N.R.I.
Ready to Fuck
Satanic Lust

I got this CD after a lot of hesitation about the reviews saying it featured bad sound. The problem is, probably the vast majority of the reviewers do not own a proper stereo, and listen through portable speakers, boom boxes, mini-chains and the like. There is a reason why I never replaced my 2002 edition for the remaster; it just did not need to be remastered !!

The music is primitive, raw death/thrash with a lot of black metal elements, that would start to show up on records of bands that were directly influenced by them, like Mayhem and Darkthrone. This has got to be some of the first recordings to incorporate tremolo-picked guitars in the way they did it. The blasphemy level of the lyrics is unsurpassable, despite grammar and syntax, leaving a lot to be desired, but who cares about that really?! If only, it just adds to the plethora of raw imperfections that plague the whole record.

Drumming is bone-shattering in both execution and level in the mix; no need to engage my subwoofer with this CD. Yes, it is sloppy and does not keep perfect tempo all the time, but that actually works better than polished and perfect in this case. Provided you have good floorstander speakers it will not overpower anything else in the mix if you set it loud enough for guitars to sound at realistic levels. . It will just be loud and powerful.

The guitar work has kind of an opaque, crunchy tone, except during the delightfully mind bending, extra-loud, mega-trebley, numerous solos. The problem is most of the time the guitar is on the left channel, and there is a second guitar in the mix (on the right channel) that either sounds very low or kicks in properly but far and apart. Both were played by the same guitarist. Odd choice of mix or mistake ? The bass guitar is almost an afterthought, and merely follows the guitar lines. The vocals are unearthly gruffly and vicious.

The actual album is originally a mere 27' long, but it is padded out by 2 fantastic added bonus tracks with great sound from an ep or comp, not sure about that. Don't bother with the extra live tracks; they sound as if they were recorded with a handheld cassette walkman at a football-field distance.

ABSOLUTELY essential proto black metal for the initiated.

I.N.R.I., released in August 1987 by the Brazilian devils behind the band Sarcófago, is presented to the listener with a straightforward, shocking, hard image that shows the members of the band at the time at their most menacing, looking the worst they possibly, humanly can, surrounded by anti-christian, satanic elements and portrayals in a death-evoking setting. The imagery that accompanies the album is in fact pretty much a perfectly accurate depiction of what the infernal music on this release sounds, feels, and is like in its pure, raw essence.

It’s not an easy task to properly describe this music without reiterating its most flagrant attributes time and time again. That’s mostly because one of the main characteristics is the very fact that this a very punishing and aggressive form of black/death/thrash metal, and it gives the listener no time to rest, constantly reiterating its roughness, toughness, and hardness. It’s a very short album, as it’s barely 28 minutes long, but it’s honestly damn near impossible to believe that is the actual running time since it feels like it’s much longer than that. The listener is truly exposed to aural torture when facing the contents within this record, and that’s not a hyperbole.

As vicious and as rich as the soundscape of riffs and the playing of every instrument is throughout the nine tracks that make up the original tracklist (my copy is the 2012 Greyhaze Records edition so it features fifteen instead, three of those additional six ones being live versions), the mad, poisoned compositions trap the listener into an inscrutable maze of maniacal screams, blackened death metal, thrashy riffs that sound razor sharp and very buzzsaw-y, and they don’t let go until they’re done beating you over the head until you’re leaking.

It’s been a long time since I first listened to Sarcófago’s I.N.R.I., but I could still never forget the feeling it gave me. I still get those exact same emotions beat the fuck out of me whenever I listen to it, as this is a very visceral, very organic, sincere, uncompromising record that makes you feel vulnerable, yet strengthens your core by roughing you up and building you up in evil and darkness once again. It’s tough, but the aggression in the music doesn’t subtract from the rest of its attributes, as it’s still slick in its animalistic nature. Nothing is left up to chance, and the entirety of the tracks feel extremely well mixed, arranged, and composed. It’s a very well thought-out album that encompasses three different subgenres of metal and mixes and blends them all into an infernal masterpiece that honestly couldn’t be improved in any way.

The guitars, handled by Zéder "Butcher", here going under just the Butcher alias, are very tight. They are super fast and very raspy sounding. The riffs give a very evil sound to the music, they’re intentionally sick and twisted. They make the vocals and the rest of the instruments sound more macabre and mad, giving off a disturbingly dark, purposely mean, ceremoniously devilish vibe. The fact that this band is anti-melodic is simply grand on its own. Not only do they outclass and outperform every other band that indulges in pointless, shitty wankery that’s good for nothing, but they actually get across a much more true to life satanic quality to the album than any of those other run-of-the-mill bands could ever dream to.

The drums, another key element to the legendary and fantastic crazy sound of this record, are handled by Eduardo "D.D. Crazy", here featured also under his very apt and accurate alias, D.D. Crazy (he’s Butcher’s brother). The constant, brutal blast beats are like nothing else I’ve heard on an extreme metal release aside from the rest of the band’s other albums. They really fuck with your head after a while. If you crank up the volume on this shit you’ll definitely feel like they’re playing the live instruments right in front of you, and I say this now because the drums are particularly mighty, yet, as is the case with other Sarcófago releases, the mixing and production are so excellently taken care of that no part of the music is obscured by certain instruments, and everything can be heard perfectly while still sounding dirtier than all other poser, fake bands that intentionally lower their production value to cater to a certain worthless standard (which is of course laughable). It’s well-known I.N.R.I. is one of the first albums in the extreme metal genre to feature blast beats to such lengthy extents, and that’s nothing but a good thing here. The intensity of the release is elevated to new heights thanks to the drums precisely. They’ll stay stuck in your head for days on end, together with the rotten compositions plaguing the release. They’re one of the main reasons why this album sounds so omnipotent, big, strong and mighty in its darkness. They’ll overpower pretty much any other drumming I’ve heard on extreme metal bands.

I’d normally ignore or not have much to say about the bass when reviewing or just talking about extreme or black metal in general, but I do have to point out how well it can be heard on this record, and what an important role it plays on the sonic map. This, of course, can be attributed to the proficient mixing that I refer to in this review, but the playing of the bass itself, handled by Gerald Incubus, here going under just Incubus, is great in itself. The bass bounces right back when a guitar riff hits a low or a high, and it reverberates the cursed notes and creates a very dirty atmosphere, furthering the overall malicious feeling of the full-length. So much attention to detail went into creating this masterpiece, as evidenced by how well composed it is, and how every instrument has a key part in it.

The vocals by Wagner Antichrist, here going as just Antichrist, sound demented in the strictest sense of the word. They sound desperate, desolate, grim, violent, and filled with rage. They’re referred to as “vomits”, and that pretty much sums up how they are like. They’re some great vocals with some very disturbing parts, as they alternate between more human-like, frail screams of desperation and monstrous gurgles of disgust.

I can’t forget to point out how much I love the repetition element they constantly play with on the record, repeating infectious riffs such as those tense, nervous, perilous sounding notes on the Nightmare track and the lightspeed riffs of Deathrash (which really reminded me of Deathcrush the first time I listened to it).

I.N.R.I. is probably one of my favorite albums, if not my favorite, and there are multiple good reasons why. This is not only satanic music done well, but the imagery that accompanies it, the lyrics, and the genius compositions make it all click into an essential package for anyone who wants to know what the best the genre can offer is. I wish Sarcófago had kept cursing the world with their hellish music for longer, but they did more than enough just on their first album, and it has stood the test of time, and always will.

Imagine being a 15 year old kid in 1987, and being used to bands like Metallica, Testament and Anthrax. The closest you've been exposed to extreme metal is Slayer, and you come across a record like INRI. For the year it came out, blast beats at that speed were completely unheard of for the most part.

However it's not the blasts that get me, this record is a collection of catchy and memorable guitar riffs. The mood of the music is energetic in the vein of your classic 80s speed metal band, but brutal like old school death metal. Also you'll notice that it's not just blasts and tremolo picking throughout the entire album. They've mixed in some doomy/ slower riffs like on the intro to Nightmare as well as some much needed thrash beats that can be heard on several songs on the album

One interesting thing about the blast beats, I really admire it and never hear it from any other band. It's when DD crazy randomly slows down in the middle of a blast riff. I originally thought this happened because DD lacked the energy needed to keep a steady blast. The more I observed this, the more I realized that it worked as a suitable fill during blast beats, and a very unique way of going about it might I add! This is one of the most peculiar things about DD Crazy's drumming style. The best example of this can be heard on the main riff for Satanas.

One thing to top off the great song writing, is the vocals. Antichrist's vocal delivery has to be one of the deadliest in metal, you can really tell he puts a lot of effort into them. Also the lows for the time are unheard of and sound rather demonic. Also, you really gotta love the falsetto scream in the middle of The Last Slaughter!

One flaw on this album is the mild sloppiness in the drums, especially during the blast beats. However as they progress as a band, album by album, they really improve on being tighter as a band. However the sloppiness is something I overlook. The musicianship may not be perfect, but the togetherness they have as a band is very prominent.

This album is a timeless classic, and influential to many generations of black & death metal bands to come. Top notch riff writing, chaotic drumming, and shrieking black metal vocals throughout! It's hard to go wrong with this record, especially one that ends in circus music and the sound of someone taking a gnarly dump.

Top tracks: Nightmare, Satanic Lust, Satanas, The Last Slaughter.

When this was released it was practically open season for extreme metal to build upon itself. Outside of Brazil other countries had better distribution, equipment, means to record, established fan bases. With Sarcofago, you have to imagine they had limited and skimpy resources, yet they compensated in their own particular ways. Venom, Hellhammer, Sodom, Possessed, Bathory and other black-soul card carrying crew were at the right avenues to inspire these Brazilians, who used what little was available to them, and essentially took what was established in extreme metal at that point and brought it to another heinous level of intensity.

This raises a ruckus by mostly plowing forward, adding speed wherever they're capable. I can imagine them playing vicious enough in the rehearsal room prior to recording this that they're running on each other's used air. Essentially using a different form of collaboration where the instruments are enemies. Usually bands try to work in unison: basically a bass line might compliment a guitar line, the drums a particular fill to evolve the song, vocals that hand back and forth the reins. When they're pushing it to the limits with speed, Sarcofago's on the other hand fight to the death, ready to slit one another's throats, finding out who's the weakest link, and when you realize there isn't one or everybody's pushing just as hard, you're presented with a pack of tainted alpha males or just a lawless group of heathens, take your pick.

This will hit you broadside. Some albums feel long and unending, this feels sudden and unexpected like an off-road ride that just got hairy, repeatedly berating yourself that it's far too late to turn back to a safer stretch of terrain. Somewhere underneath all of that encroaching musical crudeness, 'INRI' on a basic level has the usual facets of story: unrelenting reasoning, flow that can be as feral as it is spelled backwards, prose that any nun would break her ruler over your head from. But here's where it completely breaks off: it's heroless. The starring roles are chock-full of antagonists. This is unlike even watching a horror movie that lets up by throwing out a joke for relief, or you let out a sigh when the killer gets it in the end—you won't find any of that here. In their personalities, Sarcofago spends less time on trying to be glamorous or productive rock stars in the sometimes superficial music world and more time on becoming enigmatic characters or destructive villains. With names like Butcher and D.D. Crazy they come across as old Batman comics with faces painted and a certain goon-like persona, but you can imagine them being flat-out rejected at the cutting room floor due to being too this or that, or just plain too over the top.

With their debut Sarcofago are ungracious hosts: they grunt and spit when they talk, your well-being at constant risk being in the same room as them, their typical '80's Brazilian sound sandblasts your ear drums, their English is atrocious, blunt and to the evil point. Through all of these little "setbacks," the kind where it could easily ruin any other band, it has an eternally likable clunky-clang to it. A way to explain their framework would be like rapidly putting together a puzzle where the image and construction was etched by a learned caveman. One piece can be roughly squeezed with the next and because of that some sections aren't perfect and might look off, but the strength of these recordings is the band throwing away most standard and conforming musical ideas out the window and still being capable of guiding the listener with their radiating energy and workable deviations from the norm. The process can resemble being in the heat of the moment, and if your heart or nerves don't give out before you're finished, you can hawk a loogie right back at them, or in your hand and secure a firm lasting handshake. They present the ageless establishment of relationship where a set of individuals exchange back and forth, except it looks more like take, take, take, give, take, take, take, give. You start to wonder if they are friend or foe, or just doing it solely for themselves. The kind of attitude that says something like, "Take it or leave it, like it or hate it, either way it will piss you off or you can just piss off."

The production on 'INRI' has frayed ends: ripped, torn, ragged. It sounds like it was recorded in a tin room or directly from the bowels of Hades, however you want to take it in. Though this is better sounding than some other Brazilian bands at the time, loud enough to be workable as each instrument comes through, and importantly I find it complimentary to the type of ideology they set out to portray. This album has a few simple, known-to-work positions and particular movements: crouching, hiding/stalking, at a trot, sprinting. Like a capable, though, primitive hunter who has deep murder in his eyes. The song writing was worked through prior, but when showing up to record it's as if a buzzer is about to go off before they have to stop, or they were going for a longer length but the studio gave the boot or their wallets ran dry. And I'm sure they went in with the mentality of something like: If bands like Genocide/Repulsion would take it thus far with acceleration, we'd take it further till we tipped over or our arms fell off. At most times they graze through notes and at others they slow it down and can be just as menacing. More than likely they were just grabbing hold of the slower sections of Hellhammer and adding more fuel to the fire. 'Satanic Lust' brings about tricks by starting out calm with simplistic repetitious chug then gives the treat with a break into speeding madness. 'Nightmare' is a song where the main guitar line is slow, basic and catchy, with some simplistic palm mutes thrown in for good measure. 'Christ's Death' heads down the speedway only to decelerate midway and still intimidate anyone who gets in its path; a riff initiates an ultra sluggish strum on a few notes before the music comes in and then multiple tortured screams rain from your speakers in peaked emotional hate and disgust. Mostly they're strict carnivores for the juiciest, bloodiest, piece of...riffs. Being practically inharmonious and still recallable, yet looking like something the cat dragged in: twisted, soiled, unmerciless; the kind where the curiously morbid part of your brain can't help but take a snap shot of it for later evaluation and exploration.

They have blastbeasts with enough force that they sound like two fast-forwarded, stiff-arms rapidly hammering nails—a metal against metal emulation. If you've ever gotten the speed settings on a record player wrong, basically making a fast band converted to hyper accelerated levels with the flick of a switch (or a tape deck with fast-forward and play pressed simultaneously), this would be like taking Sodom's 'Obsessed by Cruelty' or a similar album in extreme metal just before '87 and injecting it with a medicine cabinet full of uppers, flicking the conversion switch, and then seeing that same band's speed suddenly get veins-out-the-neck jacked with energy. Although Mr. D.D. Crazy couldn't evolve his chops in the drumming world anywhere near someone in the likes of Mike Portnoy, or more related with Dave Lombardo with his distinctly hard, varied, and well-rounded style, double D pushed the level further with the extremity side instead of true technique, and literally turned out to be one of the fastest and most ferocious snare bashers for the year. The vocalist makes himself sound as inhuman as possible with shouts, grunts and growls, having them peaked in intensity with effects drenched inside and out. This is before these type of vocals would become common place, before your Cannibal Corpses or Cannibal Clones, at a point when they came so out of left field that they could scare off the normal music listener who rightfully thought, "What in the hell was that?", and I feel after this many years later are still capable of treading, or more like trampling, on those same nerves of a new unsuspecting generation.

If the normal safe and secure, do-it-by-the-book person is wondering about leniency, mercy, pity, or conformity, graciousness, mass appeal—what of it? An objective of their's was to make you flinch. And they demand your attention, but are ultimately deserving of it; the kind of obnoxious person that gets a slap to get in line and returns an even harder slap right back. Sarcofago did it either unconsciously and not completely on purpose or consciously resisted the mainstream at every step, though whatever happened behind the scenes it likely wouldn't matter because most initially listening to this would be under the impression that the band never heard of a glide, leveling or a smooth landing, probably being one of the most chaotic pilots you've flown with, traveling through thunderstorms, rain, hail, low visibility, but in the end the worst they've done is upset some nerves and values, aid in deucing your pants, and although they still owe you $11.95 for making your lunch come up and out the wrong end, I applaud them each time I put this on for the hellish ride and near-death experience.

WARNING: The following album will induce, but may not include drowsiness, constipation, upset stomach, mood swings, anxiety, panic attacks, religious mania, obsession with the occult, alcoholism, dementia, the urge to kill a lot of people, bestiality, and frantic head banging.

Sarcofago's "I.N.R.I." is considered a Black metal classic for obvious reasons. It made everything else seem like pale imitations and it called bands out due to their wimpiness. Sarcofago in their very early days were already a cult act who were pushing boundaries with their demos and appearance on Cogumelo's Warfare Noise I compilation. Alongside fellow up and-coming band Sepultura, Mutilator, and Vulcano who had already released the godly first ever South American black metal album "Bloody Vengeance," Sarcofago pulled out all the stops and injected an unholy dosage of breakneck speed to the already fast-evolving Black metal scene, and not just in South America but worldwide. The only other band that was playing anything as extreme as this were England's grindcore bastard song Napalm Death. That should give you an idea on how groundbreaking this album is.

Not only was the music extreme but so was their image. Sarcofago took the standard spikes and leather and made it even more demonic. Sarcofago were also the first band to properly use what is now modern-day corpsepaint. King Diamond, Celtic Frost, Bathory and early Slayer had sewn the seeds of the macabre facial paint; Sarcofago made it fucking evil. Sarcofago even started the trend of black metal fans standing around in the graveyard looking goofy, but Sarcofago made it look like they were for fucking real. Take Destruction's look on the first Destruction E.P "Sentence of Death," put it on steroids and that's what you get. The drummer DD Crazy with hi two foot high mohawk, corpsepaint and bullet belts is possibly the coolest fucking thing I have seen on an album cover. Also as a trivial note, this is the band Mayhem's guitarist said he wanted every band to sound and look like.

For the most part, Sarcofago's music could be described as crude and ugly. Wagner Antichrist's vocals are low and demonic-sounding without it sounding corny and a few high falsettos. Guitars sound like a chainsaw with the throttle on full blast. Drummer D.D. Crazy...how the fuck is he playing THAT fast? The drums are so fast it will induce a few dizzy spells. There's little to no bass on this album which actually fits perfectly. The sound production is probably the ugliest there is next to Beherit's "The Oath of Black Blood."

I really can't say there is a bad song on here, just some will be stuck in your head for years to come; "Nightmare," "Satanic Lust," "Desecration Of Virgin," "Deathrash," "Ready To Fuck," and "Christ's Death" will have any fan of black metal or extreme metal in general salivating and going absolutely fucking nuts.

P.S. I don't think anyone has mentioned this, but if you get your hands on "I.N.R.I." try to get the original orange cover or if you are a die-hard vinyl collector, try getting the Nuclear War Now Productions picture disc. Stay away from the shitty Pavement Music release where they completely omit the classic graveyard photo for some shitty stock photo and even misplaced track listing.

In 1987 three bands put out three albums that still nowadays (I don’t care about the personal tastes) are regarded as cult and innovation for the growing extreme metal scene: Mayhem (Deathcrush EP), Napalm Death (Scum) and this I.N.R.I. I hope I didn’t forget anything. There was a quite big difference between these brutal assaults but both Mayhem and Sarcofago helped the newborn black/death metal scene. Aesthetically, Sarcofago were one of the very first groups to use the black metal face painting too.

Musically, the intensity and the rawness of this album could easily level your house. If in “Satanic Lust” we can find punkish/speed influences, “Desecration Of Virgin” shows no mercy with its high dosage of blast beats and up tempos. The guitars' sound is fuzzy in the guitars and so already very BLACK METAL ( I believe they picked this up from Sodom’s “In The Sign Of Evil” EP). For this check out also the mid paced first part of “Nightmare” with sudden speed restarts.

The vocals are very distorted: they are always very Venom worshipping but with a more extreme touch and, sometimes, they are followed by pure growls or screams. The sound is almost revolutionary. The snare drum sounds very 80s style; it’s so pounding and martial that almost erases the bass drum work. The title track is quite hilarious with the screams “Fuck You Jesus Christ!” but it’s unbelievably powerful with the never ending blast beats.

“Satanas” is well know to most of the blacksters around for the unmistakable black/speed riff at the beginning that appears so often during the whole song. There's obviously no melody concession or will to slow down. “Ready To Fuck” is great for the doom mid paced part where you can hear Wagner say “Suck Me…”; while the mythical “Deathrash” is so “famous” for the great, pure blast beats malevolence.

All in all, I can recommend this album to any black/death metal fan who wants to add a new piece to his personal collection in the long way to discovery of the extreme metal roots.

Every time Sarcofago is mentioned, INRI comes to everybody’s mind and there’s an obvious reason to that. Well, the reason is that this beast is one of the most aggressive and infamous album that came out of the Brazilian famous Extreme Metal Scene. My review could easily end here.

Sarcofago was started by Wagner “Antichrist” after his departure from Sepultura due to ideological conflicts. IMO, I think he wanted a much more extreme band and he was truly successful because, both this band and this album are considered legendary among extreme metal fans. Let’s see, as already stated by other reviewers, Sarcofago was one of the first bands to wear corpse paint and devoted to a “fanatic” satanic image. But not only had the image made these guys famous but the music itself too.


INRI reminds me of early Sodom, early Slayer, Possessed, and of course Venom and Bathory. This is old-school black metal played in its rawest form and the way it should be performed! The lyrics and Wagner’s accent are hilarious but at the same time EVIL has fuck and riffs are absolutely delightful, this makes “Morbid Visions” look a very poor album. D.D Crazy kills in his drum kit delivering insane blast beats over the place; I think he is a very good drummer and a much forgotten one. Too bad.

Like it or not, this album must be hailed for its influential value. Bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone and Emperor state Sarcofago as a major influence and this is still mentioned by actual bands. IMO, this is mandatory.

Highlights: “Satanic Lust”, “Nightmare”, “Christ’s Death”, “Ready to Fuck” and “Deathrash”

Evolution occurs in a broken line and not in some kind of continuity. That's what inspired and inventive bands like D.R.I., Possessed, Darkthrone etc have showed us in these past decades of Metal.

Sarcofago does the same, as this is (in my humble opinion) the first album that could be classified as Second Generation Black Metal. Yes, I know that if you listen to this and then to Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger (or even more longshot: Satyricon's Nemesis Divina) you may not find the number of similarities you want to classify INRI in this genre. However what I have to say is that this is the same thing. It was just spawned by INRI and then it (naturally) evolved. The sound changed a bit. And that's why it looks different.

The lyrics are a mixture of Hate, Disgust and Satanism (whether it's real or not) but one thing is for sure: There's pure energy in these lyrics and a HUGE amount of rejection for a lot of shitty things of this world, which sounds positive to my ears. It is also really funny to hear the words "Demons suck your pussy, and fuck till delight, she is no more virgin, because she was fucked by Satan" and behind that chaotic Black Metal riffing (and blastbeat). Or "Oh lady start to suck me, cause I'm ready, I'm ready to fuck"... And, it is not funny haha like watching idiots on TV. I really enjoy Wagner's furious attack.

Oh and did I say Blastbeats? DD Crazy is a fucking maniac. These blastbeats are unbelievable for 1987. Surely what inspired classics like Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky and Mayhem's De Mysteriis dom Sathanas.

You want to know what I like most about this album? This is the point where the extremity of the 80's meets the 90's. Where that tendency for raw and simplistic (punk influenced) music of the 80's meets that insane chaotic, dark and mysterious (should I say melodic?) riffing of 90's black metal (Just listen to the title track INRI). Add to that the stripped-down fuck-you-all aesthetic and you have Sarcofago - INRI... Hail to Wagner Antichrist Lamounier and Sarcofago. Excellent album for Thrash/Black/Death Fans

P.S. If you believe Mayhem's Deathcrush was ahead of its time and ignited the Second Wave of Black Metal, Wagner Lamounier might be able (with INRI) to explain to you HOW FUCKIN WRONG YOU ARE!

Sarcofago was formed after Wagner Antichrist left Sepultura. One look at these guys and you know what their music is all about. Covered from head to toe in nails, leather, ammo, spikes, long hair, inverted crucifix's and corpse paint (on a trivial note, because of Sarcofago, Dead from the infamous Mayhem decided to start wearing corspe paint live). This album came out in 1987 and had to be the most extreme of it's time, years before death classics like Left Hand Path, Altars of Madness, Deicide and Eaten Back to Life were released.

What we have here is a mix of great bands, but done better. The Satanic lyrics of Venom, but more Satanic. The harsh growls of Bathory, but more harsh. The speed of Slayer, but faster. And some of the first blast beats done properly. DD Crazy's blast beats are INSANE on this album, especially for 1987!!!

This album offers everything from fast songs (Satanic Lust, Satanas) to slow, haunting songs like Nightmare. The lyrics are pretty much broken English but you get the point (how can you not understand lyrics like "I hate you, I hate you Jesus Christ!!"?).

Anyway, if you like death, thrash, or black metal, you MUST get this. It was way ahead of it's time, and was probably the most extreme album of the 80's as far as black and death metal go.

Check out the band that Beherit, Blasphemy, Black Witchery, Mayhem, and Impiety were inspired by!

It is pretty easy to guess this record came from Brazil. Just listen to Antichrist's "singing" (okay, spewing out of blood and guts). It has the characteristic brazilian accent (see also Max from Sepultura).

Malignant as all fuck, packed with good riffs and cheap production that it is quite a charming experience to listen to. Label partners (at the time) Sepultura unleashed their own brand of pure vomitory blasphemy with their Bestial Devastation EP and the Morbid Visions LP, mixing Slayer, Possessed and (early) Sodom into one mean piece of underproduced sonic warfare, but Sarcofago, dare I say, went beyond that. INRI, speaking as a whole, is far more simple in it's structuring, far more brutal, and just as charismatic.

The cover art gives you a good idea of what you might find in the music. Damn, I wouldn't like to meet guys dressed like THAT in a dark alley. Or anywhere, for that matter. The amount on ammo over them would make Rambo pee on his pants. Completed with inverted crosses, corpsepaint, spikes and kvvl as fvck black outfit.

Inside: just pure fucking old-school black metal the way it was meant then and the way it is supposed to be now! "Nightmare", "INRI", "Christ's Death", "Satanas" and "The Black Vomit" (from the Warfare Noise I compilation and available only on CD versions) are all brilliant displays of pure annihilation.

If you heard "Seven Churches", "Morbid Visions", "Apocaliptic Raids", "In the Sign of Evil/Obsessed by Cruelty" and the like and you feel like you need more, then this is for you. HAIL SATAN!!!!