The Laws of Scourge

Sometimes you feel like taking a piece of work that is easy to hate and use it as a punching bag for pure entertainment, to let off some of the anger we all have in our day to day lives in order to let off steam on an easy target. And sometimes you feel like the opposite, and you pick up an album that you simply love to celebrate its existence and somehow be grateful for the fact that you have crossed paths with something that has given you so much joy. And this is the case with "The Laws of Scourge", an album that has recently very slowly slipped into my favourite albums. And it's funny because it's an album I've known for a long time and I've always liked it but it wasn't until recently that it really clicked with me. Maybe it's the fact of knowing better the context of the band and appreciating their evolution and musical maturity, that so strongly impregnates the compositions, have caused that the almost 42 minutes of this album feel like a pure musical orgasm every time I have the opportunity to listen to this work.

The Laws of Scourge swings between fast thrash songs with furious outbursts of pure unfiltered aggression and mid-tempo songs with much more emphasis on prominent and adventurous songwriting. From the first group we have examples like the eponymous The Laws of Scourge, The Black Vomit or the incredible Crush, Kill, Destroy, these are reminiscent of the band's earlier period, being more of a natural evolution but being perfectly adapted to the dynamics of the current album, with a more refined and death metal oriented production and are mainly oriented around one or two incredibly outstanding and memorable riffs being simple yet effective. The other style of songs is exemplified in songs like Piercings, Midnight Queen or Secrets of a Widow, these stand out for rotating between fast and slower rhythms and having characteristic sections, like the use of keyboard and acoustic guitars in the intro of the already mentioned Midnight Queen, or in the atmospheric middle section that includes a moment of bass brilliantness in Secrets of a Widow, being this one of the highlights of the album for how a moment like this is able to stand out in an album full of aggressiveness.

Because in this work, every element introduced works majestically well, the compositions, even the most simplistic ones, are risky and willing to tread uncharted territory, sometimes to the point of taking a path that one would think could not work. Take "Screeches from the Silence" for example, it's a short song but it fulfils almost all the elements that make this album stand out, the riffage is slow but engaging, there are at least three great riffs in the song, they take the liberty of anticipating the creation of the chorus riff, and although the vocals are growls there is room for gang shouts and a clean high pitched scream that are reminiscent of Wagner Lamounier's style in the early days of the band. And there's even time for one of the main riffs to be played on keyboards, all in less than 4 minutes, adding a lot more dynamism, depth and drama to a simple song.

In fact, drama seems to be one of the main elements of the album. It is a well known fact that this album was a transformation of the band from a mature point of view, therefore the compositions are more complex, Wagner Lamounier and company are no longer kids trying to make the most violent and obscene music possible, now they are really taking themselves seriously and feel they have something to say, both in their lyrics and in their music. To this day I still read people remembering the ridiculous grammatically incorrect phrases of Sarcofago's debut, and it's funny how things have changed so drastically here, far away are the satanic and sexual lyrics that only evoke a rebellious blasphemy of youth to anger and upset an ultra-religious society like the Brazilian one of that time. Now the lyrics tell stories, rather focused on the dark side of life, on the misfortunes and the victims of horrible acts. In this same way, the music also captures those emotions, the keyboards and acoustic guitars throughout the album are used to accentuate those dramatic moments, but at the same time the music is also hard and heavy with a heart piercing vocal performance from Wagner Lamounier to highlight each of the possible emotions expressed. I think that the song that best exemplifies this is the breathtaking Little Julie, in which you can see how each passage musically fits perfectly into what the story is reflecting, being also one of the peaks of the album in terms of musical display on a compositional, technical and creative level.

The Laws of Scourge may not be the album that makes Sarcofago be remembered with vehemence, it may not be the game changing album that I.N.R.I. was and it may not be consistent in its entirety because of the incorporation of the old track The Black Vomit. But it is undoubtedly the album that has best shown the quality of Sarcofago and more specifically of Wagner Lamounier as an artist, a careful, mature work with artistic pretensions that only adds up and never detracts. The Laws of Scourge was, is and will be in my eyes a masterpiece of old school death metal, and this is my tribute to this tremendous work.

Remember: Crush...Kill...Destroy!!!

It’s hard to imagine that this is the same band that caused havoc with I.N.R.I. some years prior. Now functioning as a much more dynamic band, Sarcofago unleashes everything that they’re capable of in ways that you couldn’t imagine and The Laws of Scourge represents one of the rare occasions of a Brazilian extreme metal band maturing into something worthy. It’s no longer a blasting inferno of unhinged riffs and vomiting vocals, but rather a bizarre mish-mash of styles; let’s just call it extreme metal.

Whereas I.N.R.I. showed a young band trying to out-do every other band in terms of extremity, The Laws of Scourge shows a band that no longer has the need to prove themselves too much. You could say that Sarcófago had become much more confident of their capabilities and that their interests changed over time and thus, you end up with a lot of variation of themes and moods. Of course, violent, blood-shedding tunes like the title track and ‘The Vomit’ prove that this band still had a nasty attitude, yet the actual strengths of Laws of Scourge lie elsewhere. It’s no surprise that a video was made for ‘Screeches from the Silence’, which is undeniably the catchiest tune on the album. Thanks to some familiar thrashing rhythms that recall Sepultura’s final thrashed-out years, it’s an undeniable riff-fueled tune, yet fused with airy synths and Wagner’s hilarious, if spiteful roars, it’s a dynamic tune that's miles ahead of anything that I.N.R.I. had in store.

Interestingly enough, Sarcófago aren’t afraid to take things up a notch with a few dynamics epics and anyone only familiar with the band's 80's works would probably wonder if these tracks belong to the same band to begin with. ‘Midnight Queen’ is an epic slab of Bathory-esque black metal and as unthinkable as it sounds, the band pulls it off as if they had written this stuff for ages. From the beautiful opening of surreal acoustic sections, to the slow-marching verses to the loud-shouted chorus and the emotional bridge (of death), it’s a fantastic continuation of what Quorthon was doing in the late 80’s. The other epic is slightly comparable, yet reveals some other inspiration sources that Sarcófago had become interested in. ‘Secrets of a Window’ falls somewhere between the clinical progressive death metal realm of Death's Human and raw-edged gothic gloom of Tiamat's The Astral Sleep. Ingredients include clinical drums and mechanical riffs of the former and organic keys and big doom riffs of the latter; resulting into a voyage of a song and if that wasn't enough yet, you end up with another brief acoustic passage in the vein of Bathory’s Blood Fire Death in between (resembling the title track, to be specific).

As great as The Laws of Scourge is, flawless it’s definitely not. As I’ve made clear, Sarcófago definitely grew up at this point and while they proudly embrace dynamics in terms of writing, their hunger doesn't necessarily result into great songs. With some havoc-creating blasts and blackened riffs that at least sound slightly vulgar, the title track makes me think that the band tried to be something they weren’t too interested in anymore. Comparably, ‘The Black Vomit’ is a brief attack on all that is holy and while it definitely nods towards the band’s nasty attitude of some years prior, it’s nothing too convincing as far as I'm concerned.

History has taught us that most Brazilian extreme metal bands of this nature would eventually start to lose it and unfortunately, the same could be said about Sarcófago. Still, The Laws of Scourge exemplifies that maturity pays off and besides, how many Brazilian extreme metal albums from 1991 are this enjoyable to begin with? Easily the band's best record, I highly suggest you to go after it.

This review was originally written for antichristmagazine.com

For reasons i can't recall, it took me quite a while before i properly sank my teeth into Sarcófago's discography. I mean, they're legends of extreme metal and, furthermore, they're from my country of origin. But, in my self-defense, i’d state that Sepultura casts a huge shadow over many, many Brazilian bands and, also, Sarcófago didn't have a consistent or enduring career, comprised only by four full-length albums, two of which are not quite as memorable or good. In fact, by the time Sarcófago was coming up with the work i'm now reviewing, their fellow countrymen from Sepultura were releasing one of their most iconic and influential albums ever, “Arise”. A pretty harsh and unfair competition, if anything. But, apart from justified ignorance or late acknowledgment, it's a huge mistake, in the other hand, to underestimate most of this band's discography, thinking that maybe they had a one-time stitch of greatness on 1987's “I.N.R.I”. While i'm sure many would disagree, i honestly think Sarcófago's true magnum opus is 1991's “The Laws of Scourge”. I give my thanks to Spotify's recommendations for presenting me to this spectacular gem through the song “Screeches From The Silence”.

When we talk strictly about how much this album was influential or revolutionary, it doesn't stand a chance against the preceding record. "I.N.R.I" was a major blueprint to many black metal bands, including those assembled under the sub-genre of war metal. It was a quintessential piece of profanity and i truly believe the band could have ascended to higher planes if they haven't disbanded, briefly, right after recording it. But what makes for good music in the end? One that you utterly enjoy and have fun with, despite of anything else. This is how i think of “The Laws of the Scourge”. It is, above all else, a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Musically, it diverges tremendously from the earlier, blackened material, delivering a brand of what we should call brutal thrash metal, much more “accessible” than before. But i'll take brutally satisfying and "safer" music over pioneering yet boring shit any day(not the case of “I.N.R.I”, mind you).

The consistency is what really crowned this album. It remains a solid effort from first to last track and it's also all about diversity, conveying awesome stuff from different perspectives and influences of the band. The first and self-titled song is a massive wall of thick riffing and relentless drumming, along with Lamounier spitting off his soul, enraged. At first, this track reminds me of a slightly less technical "Coroner", specially because of the guitar tones. Then, both of the two following tracks have some doom passages, i.e. the haunting intro on "Midnight Queen", one of the most famous tunes from this record. And, even within these songs, that are mostly played on a mid-tempo fashion, we're also presented to yet another excursion through speed and savagery. There are not many bands who so successfully drift through these mixed tempos without failing at one of these or both, but, as i said before, this record is all about consistency. It also remains true to the band's nature, as it likewise conveys some more blackened tunes, such as the frantic and profane "The Black Vomit" or the warmongering "Crush, Kill and Destroy", another instant classic from their sophomore and a very satisfying curtain call after exceedingly hostile 41 minutes of music. Their polemic approach to sex is also very much alive on this record, particularly in "Little Julie", which would attract lots of unwanted attention to the band nowadays. This album might sound more easy-listening to some die-hard fans of the "I.N.R.I" era, but it's still miles away from being something you would present to your parents.

As much as every single song here is a savory demonstration of high-quality brutal music, my favorite track must be “Screeches from the Silence”. Before that, i only admired Sarcófago from a distance, but after listening to it, i became a fan. Some of the riffs on this song are my favorite of all time. They are simple yet they strike all the right notes, aligning all the genes on my body that purveyed my taste on heavy music. The intense breakdown, the awesomely agonizing vocals, the pummeling drums and the brief albeit baffling synths, there are so many elements of brilliance contained in less than four minutes. It's all around a very straightforward thrash metal song, not unlike many i'm acquainted to. But there's just too much honest anger and madness echoing over the entirety of its duration. I always put it on repeat before resuming the record playing, which is less a tradition than a dire need.

Maybe this album is not as innovative as its predecessor, like i mentioned before. But, at the time it got released, this kind of music was going through an identity crisis and a downfall against the Seattle-based rock. Not only it’s a refreshing praise to thrash metal done well but also a compelling record even to this day.

Many listeners take Sarcófago as a band of a single album. That is a bad tendency. All albums of the band including "The Laws of Scourge" are in the shadow of the legendary "I.N.R.I.". However, it's not about "I.N.R.I." being better as a piece of music, than "The Laws of Scourge", although it's obviously an excellent work. "I.N.R.I." appeared in the right place and in the right time. It vastly influenced all extreme metal world in the sense of both a sound and an ideology. It vastly influenced black metal in particular, as the Norwegian scene was highly inspired by it. Furthermore, with "I.N.R.I." Sarcófago said almost everything in advance for the so-called war metal, as the likes of Beherit, Archgoat and Blasphemy reinvented that sound and aided to direct numerous amounts of followers.

"The Laws of Scourge" has no wildness, that was so attractive back in 1987. But the second full-length album of the legendary Brazilian band has its advantages. "I.N.R.I." contained thrash, death and (proto-)black metal elements. It was primitive and raw (which probably was the most black metal-ish thing about it), with the same primitive lyrics about death, satanism, violence and other delightful stuff. Sarcófago did their job and disbanded. But luckily not for long. They were back in a couple of years and already the "Rotting" EP introduced some changes. "The Laws of Scourge" marks, that the band preferred to move forward. Sure, ideologically Sarcófago pretty much remained the same, but that was the secondary thing. The sound became different. Although Sarcófago looked great with their former sound, as it made the band legendary, the music of "The Laws of Scourge" is still very interesting.

Stylistically "The Laws of Scourge" is a mix of thrash and death metal. But these tags don't tell much here. The production and the sound are ones of the first things, which drag an attention. The production of "The Laws of Scourge" is quite good, there is no rawness. The music is more technical than before. It has no primitivity, which made Sarcófago sound wild. Furthermore, there are some melodical elements on "The Laws of Scourge". There are keyboards and acoustic guitars. Of course, those elements are presented in moderate amounts, that's why the music remains harsh. For example, the likes of "Midnight Queen" and "Secrets of a Window" attract mostly because of the keyboards and the least sound dark, create a mysterious atmosphere. And the guitars themselves sound more melodic on some episodes. Only listen to guitar solos on "Little Julie", they are just beautiful. The vocals changed as well. They are specific, as they sound like a pretty high-pitched kind of growling. Their tone is variable though. They can be grimmer, they can be more expressive.

"The Laws of Scourge" starts fast, in the Sarcófago's trademark explosive fashion. Energetic self-titled album opening track and "Piercings" wake a listener up, so to speak. After that, on "Midnight Queen", a high tempo stops its utter prevailing. Since then the pace becomes variable. Structures of the compositions become more interesting, as there are changes of the themes. By the way, the already mentioned "Midnight Queen" is a one of the highlights because of its choir-like refrain. Closer to the end of the album there are more slow and mid-paced parts. They prevail on "Secrets of a Window" and "Little Julie". It can be even said, that those compositions contain a sort of a doomy vibe. Their atmosphere is deeper and darker. It places these tracks among the highlights of the album.

So, "The Laws of Scourge" has meaner and less frenzied moods in comparison to "I.N.R.I.". And this doesn't take away all the drive. While melodic and atmospheric elements don’t take away an aggression. On the contrary, this album is no less aggressive, than the previous one, and it's even more brutal. The music has just become far more diverse. If Sarcófago attracted with their wildness before, now they attract with the brutality and with the specific dark atmosphere. Every composition of the album carries power, which peaks on the likes of "The Black Vomit", "Crush, Kill, Destroy" and the self-titled composition. That's why "The Laws of Scourge" is so interesting and mustn't be overlooked by extreme metal enthusiasts. That's why "The Laws of Scourge" should be taken out of the shadow of "I.N.R.I.". It's a different work and a mark of progress.

For all of the highly individual elements that Sarcofago has exhibited since Antichrist left Sepultura and started this twisted marriage of black, death and thrash metal, this band has actually proven itself to be very cognizant of the changing musical horizons of the day. Their sound was unto itself unprecedented when compared to most, but it was still possessed of a foundation that was built off the precedents set by Wagner's first band, along with the earliest purveyors of extreme metal in Bathory, Celtic Frost, Possessed, Sodom and company. But with the onset of the 90s a lot of these bands had either folded their tents or branched into other sounds, and Sarcofago found themselves changing with the flock, albeit to a lesser extent, and thus "The Laws Of Scourge" stands as one of their finest, but also one of their more commonplace offerings.

The overall vibe of this album is pretty well in conjunction with the slightly more Bay Area informed mode of death/thrash that Kreator and Sepultura had dabbled with on "Coma Of Souls" and "Arise" respectively, informed a little bit by some similar sounding acts out of the Florida death scene as well. With this has come a lot less of a black metal aesthetic to the overall atmosphere, largely culminating in a handful of isolated keyboard sections that actually sound a bit closer to the dabbling of a few early 90s death metal acts than the overt mysticism of the later melodic black metal scene which used them to a far greater extent. This is largely an album that relies on force of impact, crushing the listener's will with pummeling riff sections and wild lead guitar gymnastics, essentially translating the insanity of late 80s Vio-Lence and Forbidden into a death/thrash context.

In a similar manner to a number of extremely advanced and technical thrash albums coming out of Northern California, things have a tendency to go long and are deeply involved. Even a slower, plodding growl fest like "Midnight Queen" is more indicative of a rapid changing Bay Area song with a slower tempo and a slight death/doom tendency to the overall feel of things. But for the most part, this thing drives along with the speed and intensity of a pure thrash slaughter, including such riveting festivals of horror and mayhem as "Piercings" and "Screeches From The Silence" which set most of the agenda for this album. There are also some shorter and more straight up high tempo cruisers like "The Black Vomit" (a hold over from the band's mid 80s demo days) and the title song definitely make an impressive run of things and offer a reminder of the simpler origins of this outfit, but even they are presented in a more overtly early 90s character and the latter occasionally wanders into Morbid Angel territory at a few key points.

It's a bit curious that while most bands tend to evolve by incorporating newer influences, this band ended up doing so by cutting away some of their formative ones while augmenting others, almost as if pruning a tree. Apart from the busier lead guitar sections, which are definitely indicative of an early 90s thrash influence and the slightly greater frequency of blast beat sections, this doesn't really venture too far out of the context that this band has always existed in. The overall production quality is a bit sleeker, resulting in a more powerful guitar crunch that definitely ups the ante in terms of aggression and heaviness, but it's not difficult to isolate the mid 80s death/thrash influences that continue to linger on here, much as they did for Sepultura on their two more purely thrash oriented albums "Beneath The Remains" and "Arise". It's tough to go wrong with this band, but this definitely stands as one of their most impressive albums, and definitely a good pickup for anyone who likes death/thrash that leaned a bit more towards the latter half of the hybrid.

I know that I can be pretty critical- Entombed just doesn't tickle my fancy, Obituary is average at best to me, and I still can't stand Beherit. That being said, you can kind of see that when I say an album is my favorite, I mean it. This is that album.

I first heard the song Crush, Kill, Destroy on an unofficial Myspace, and I found it an enjoyable listen. One day, curiosity took hold and I just HAD to purchase this album. I'm glad I did. From the start of the title track, right up to the very end, I was captivated.

From the very beginning, I was exposed to a guitar tone that I can only describe as orgasmic- it combines the trademark "buzzsaw" tone of the Swedeath of that time, and the Suffocation-style crunchy bass-rich sound. It fits the production quality perfectly, and it really sets the mood for the album. The drum lines are simple, but effective: blasts are performed with remarkable accuracy, and fills seem marvelously loose, like they were improvised on the spot. Normally this would be a bad thing, but the skill of the drummer, combined with the rawness of the music, just adds to the good.

I'm also a sucker for bass guitar, especially when I can hear it. Here, it shines-I can hear it perfectly, and it meshes beautifully with the guitar. It is definately one of the better examples of bass guitar in all of extreme metal. The vocals are also effective- they are very appropriate to the mix and add to the overall feeling of the album.

If I had to choose one song off the album to analyze closely, it would be Piercings. This is easily my favorite song on the album. There are so many things that are right about this song- the riff is memorable, the solo-ish lick at the beginning is fantastic, especially when it melts into the double-kick rhythm. The tremolo-blast part in the middle is as intense as it needs to be, and the song never lets up. A masterpiece if I do say so myself.

If you haven't already heard this album, it is a must-listen for anyone who claims to be a death or thrash metal fan. It was ahead of its time then, and it's still miles ahead of most of the "BR00T4LITY" we see today. It's classic technicality, with taste and some soul crushing added in to the mix. Go forth and listen.

Most of the bands that played a raw form of death/black metal in the 80s somehow changed their style in the 90s. It happened for Sepultura, Kreator, Sodom and to Sarcofago too. Their I.N.R.I. is still nowadays regarded as a milestone in black/thrash metal and as one of the most extreme examples of brutal music back in the 80s. Their following Rotting already showed some more thrash metal oriented riffs and less will to destroy everything, displaying their growth in technique and songwriting. Anyway, to me I.N.R.I. is still the best album in their discography.

This third album, The Laws of Scourge, marks a further separation from the primordial black/thrash of the debut to embrace more thrash influences. Everything remains quite raw anyway, but the band had chosen a less impulsive approach to the music and the structures now are a bit more complex (they are not a technical thrash metal band anyway!) and full of more various riffs. The main problem is that when I.N.R.I. sounded refreshing in its sheer brutality, this The Laws of Scourge doesn’t manage to keep always my attention even if they grew as musicians…

It’s not a bad album, not at all and it contains good songs but some parts are a bit too weak and sound tired. Maybe it’s because of the production, that is a bit sloppy for the guitars but some parts still don’t convince me even if I’ve listened to this CD many times. Let’s start from the title track that is one of the most representative ones here. Already from here you can listen to the first thrash metal riffs while the most brutal parts come with the blast beats sections. These are just quite short and the band prefers the up tempo to accompany the music.

The same thing can be said for the following “Piercings” but this time the blast beats parts are longer. The guitars are not excellent here and too many riffs-fillers manage to transform the sound in a boring one, like the following “Midnight Queen”. The doom parts are way too long even if the refrain is very good and simple. The vocals by Wagner are less brutal and raspier in tonality but less growlish and in “Screeches from the Silence” they reach high tonalities too. To notice the use of some keyboards parts to maintain a darker sound. In I.N.R.I. they didn’t need those keyboards and with this I said everything.

“Prelude to a Suicide”, “Secrets of a Window” and “Little Julie” are basically mid-paced songs and they are quite boring. The arpeggios parts are far better but forget the old school brutality. It’s a pity because “The Black Vomit” and “Crush, Kill, Destroy” are better even if the mid-paced parts and the more technical and melodic solos are always behind the corner. Anyway, these songs are able to give me a good dose of early black/thrash violence in some parts while soon they fall into the almost pure thrash metal. Overall, I cannot see all this goodness in this release. It’s a goodish effort but nothing special to me, honestly.

The following album would have been a bit too chaotic while this one marks some heavy thrash influences. What really bothered me are the tasteless, boring mid-paced parts. They are mostly fillers while the fastest tracks are better.

This album is a must have for fans of thrash metal, death metal, or black metal. It seems nobody listens to any other albums by Sarcófago other than their INRI album, and all the others, especially this one, goes unoticed.

This album has a few ups on their previous releases with a much better production quality. The music is also a bit more technical. Every song on this album is different and every song is catchy. Think Obituary - Slowly We Rot style vocals with a little more grunt to them. Very good death/thrash style guitar work and some amazing drums. There is really no reason to hate this album. It isn't repetative, so it doesn't get boring and the music is good (whether it is your style or not).

The only thing bad about this album really is when Wagner Lamounier attempts to do the high pitched screams. Don't worry though, there are only two of them.

I have yet to hear Sarcofago's legendary earlier work, but I doubt this comes close to that. There is not much death or black metal influence on this album. It's basically a straight up thrash album. The vocals are yelly in nature and occasionally there's a death growl thrown in there. Some pretty good riffs over all on this album. There is some keyboard on this album, which is rare in thrash metal, but it fits well and adds some melody to the music. The production quality is very clean. There is nothing outstanding on this album, but it is enjoyable for the occasional listen. Fans of thrash will like this album. If you liked Sarcofago for their blackened deathness, forget this album.