Richard HolmesSarcófago – Die…Hard (Greyhaze Records)
Genre: Thrash/Black Metal
Brazilians Sarcófago went toe to toe with Sepultura in the 80s – we all know how that one turned out. However, while the Belo Horizonte boys may not have conquered the world a la Max, Igor and co., their influence on the nascent black metal scene, both aesthetically and musically, can’t be underestimated. As a history lesson, this collection of demos therefore has some merit; it charts the band’s first forays into blasphemous extremity and includes previously unavailable material culled from later sessions.
As you’d expect, Sarcófago’s early work is so raw you can practically smell the blood and sweat that went into recording the likes of Satanas, Nightmare and Satanic Lust, and as such, Die…Hard has a certain charm. Plus, the rabid, primitive fury of The Black Vomit and Third Slaughter take some beating – it’s heartening to hear these versions and to imagine the band blasting them out in a grimy rehearsal space all those years ago.
However, this album is unlikely to appeal to anyone bar Sarcófago completists, and even then, three different versions of Third Slaughter is probably pushing it…
RUSHONROCK RATED: 5.5/10 Resurrected