The Brazilian scene has always been renowned for its sheer savageness. This is Brazil where the most extreme metal music has always been spawned, and where all these cult bands were formed: VULCANO, CHAKAL, MUTILATOR, HOLOCAUSTO, SEPULTURA, GENOCIDIO, PANIC and SARCOFAGO.
The debut album of SARCOFAGO has been called by many to be the most extreme and perverted piece of art in the history of metal. Well, it’s a bold statement, as at the time there were other great albums released as well, such as KREATOR`s “Pleasure To Kill” or SLAYER`s “Reign in blood.” Indeed, in terms of intensity, these albums were ahead of any other at the time.
SARCOFAGO caught up with other bands as their music was extreme and brutal; in result, they appeared to be a destructive and chaotic band. We must remember that there were no other bands which had such blasphemous lyrics back then. “I.N.R.I.” – a cult album as it is, has been re-released many times, including a beautiful limited edition from 2015 (through Osmose Productions).
Interestingly, there are so many bands all over the world that cite “I.N.R.I.” as their most significant inspiration. The album, at the time, paralyzed with its destructiveness; its simple, but very aggressively performed songs are suffused with hatred to all that is sacred, and still shock due to their immense power. Many of you have surely wondered why such a band, which came from an ultra-Roman-Catholic country could come up with so much hatred. Well, it is very simple.
Ok, all that has been imposed upon us involuntarily, results in counteractions. We always do our best to get rid of this yoke. SARCOFAGO is the rebellion against all religions, which, according to Wagner, are the root of all evil. Wagner thinks the world without religion would be a much better place. Well, if we were to study world`s history, we`d have to agree with him, as the religious wars always result in the largest number of victims.
“I.N.R.I.” means a simple and crude message. It is a rebellion against all restrictions imposed by the religion has many a time suppressed the natural needs of human beings. Wagner, a young rebel at the time, didn’t care about his manners at all, he just vented out his emotions, that’s all. This is the reason for the vulgar, dirty lyrics, full of frustration and hatred which, combined with brutal music to result in such an explosive stuff.
The album evoked many, contradictory emotions. You can love this album, or hate it. Wagner Antichrist didn’t mind his language and didn’t try to polish the lyrics…in result, he did “hit” listeners with a handful of curses which must`ve surely been quite shocking with their straightforwardness. In consequence, such an approach carried a very intensive message, whose powerful penetration is still pretty impressive these days.  
Well, as I looked closer at this phenomenon, Irealized there is some regularity. In the countries where the standard of living and the economic development is relatively low, there emerge more and more extreme music. Just take a look at the Chilean, Peruvian, Colombian or Brazilian scenes to understand what I am talking about. This is how artists want to vent their frustration out.
Asame situation took place here in Poland in the 80s, which was sealed off from the Western culture by the Iron Curtain. Teenage rebellion, frustration, hatred – it all was reflected in art. Paradoxically, due to this bad situation, a large number of great bands appeared at the time.
Since the very beginning,SARCOFAGO was trying to be the most extreme band there was – not only becauseof their lyrics, but also because of their music – a blend of Thrash with a large amount ofBlack Metal and Punk. The dirty guitar riffs, massacring vocal of Wagner and totally possessed tempos of D.D. Crazy who drummed like a savage trying to get his percussion explode became highly recognizable.
D.D.Crazy is considered to be one of the originators of a Blast Beatwhich, when combined with itsraw, ascetic sound and totally untamed savageness made this release so impressive. This is why it is so easy for “I.N.R.I.” to impress a listener. The song structures are very simple; there are no complicated rhythms,but there is condensed aggression which, when combined with a high dose of emotions, impresses a listener to a great extent.
Nevertheless, SARCOFAGO, though stylistically very original at the time, wasinfluenced by a number of different bands. We can hear some echoes of early SODOM, KREATOR, and BATHORY which, when combined with this peculiar Brazilian sound worked out to be very devastating, and hasn’t gotten old at all, despite the fact this stuff was recorded 28 years ago.
Even today, “Satanic Lust”, “Christ's Death”, “Ready to Fuck”, and any other song from INRI evoke unusual emotions. This stuff is so dark, so morbidly energetic to the bone! SARCOFAGO has stopped the passing of time – the time does not influence this music at all. The magic of these unique songs have become an endless stream of inspiration for contemporary bands, for which “I.N.R.I.” has become the synonym for ultimate extremity and darkness.
Leszek Wojnicz-Sianożęcki