Their first album was released in 1983 and was titled Crucificados pelo sistema. Released on the Ataque Frontal label, it was one of the best-selling hardcore albums to come out of the country, and was soon considered a punk classic worldwide. The line up was João Gordo (vocals), Mingau (guitar – later in many punk and pop bands in Brazil, currently playing in Ultraje a Rigor), Jabá (bass) and Jão (drums). Soon after, with the fall of the São Paulo punk scene (because of associated gang violence), the band split up and since then João Gordo has been accused of selling out and betraying the DIY ethics of the hardcore punk movement for several alleged reasons; he has said, "I'm a traitor since 1983, because I told the guys I played hardcore, not punk. Then, I got labelled.(...)That's a stigma".[1]
Initial crossover thrash era
In 1985, RxDxPx came back, but with a different line up and sound. They brought thrash metal to their music, influenced by bands such as Slayer, Exodus, Kreator and hardcore bands around the world that were also transitioning to a more thrash metal sound, like Suicidal Tendencies, D.R.I., English Dogs, Cro-Mags, Agnostic Front and others (including Brazilian bands such as Lobotomia and Armagedom). Jão switched over to playing guitar, and an old punk named Spaghetti (who later adopted a thrash metal sound) replaced him on drums. Subsequently, they released the Descanse Em Paz album on Baratos Afins in 1986.
With their new sound, they began to associate more with heavy metal bands, becoming friends with longtime RxDxPx fans Sepultura and other bands of the Brazilian 1980s metal scene, including Korzus and Anthares. Their next studio release with Baratos Afins Records, 1987's Cada Dia Mais Sujo e Agressivo, was also released in an English-language version (Dirty and Aggressive) (the band feared that their English was so grammatically inaccurate that many of their native English speaking fans might ridicule their translated lyrics).[citation needed] This release continued the band's D-beat drum tempos.
In 1989, they signed to Roadrunner Records at the urging of Igor Cavalera of Sepultura, who played one of the band's tapes for the label's executives. RxDxPx then went to Germany to record their next studio LP, Brasil. With Harris Johns of Voivod and Tankard producing, the band's production quality improved substantially in contrast to their previous releases; the instrumentation was noticeably more technical.
In 1990, they returned to Germany to record their last album with the 'classic' line-up of João Gordo, Jão, Jabá and Spaghetti. With Harris Johns acting again as producer, their next album titled Anarkophobia was met with criticism by some fans for being the band's most metallic release to date, having considerably more complex and lengthy song compositions and more technical musicianship. Nevertheless, Anarkophobia increased their profile within the worldwide metal scene of the early 1990s.
But in mid-1991, they had their first line-up change in years, with Spaghetti leaving the band, citing that he had "been tired of the musical life".[citation needed] They auditioned several drummers to replace him, including Beto Silesci from Korzus, but the band decided that Silesci's style was too metal for the new direction they were planning to pursue. Silesci was in turn replaced with Boka of the Santos Beach thrash/death metal band Psychic Possessor. In 1992, RxDxPx released its first official live album, called Ao Vivo, with a corresponding music video for the song "Aids, Pop, Repressão" receiving heavy air play on Furia Metal of MTV (the Brazilian equivalent of Headbangers Ball).
At the decline of the thrash scene, under tension and personal problems (Jabá left the band and they had a heavy drug problem), they entered into the studio in 1994 to record their only 'all lyrics in English' album, called Just Another Crime In Massacreland. The album suffered a thin production and a low promotion by the label, and it was a hard time in the life of RxDxPx.[citation needed]
Return to hardcore punk
After the departure of Jabá, the band had several different bass players and recorded a studio album with only punk and hardcore covers called Feijoada Acidente?, a play on the Guns N' Roses album "The Spaghetti Incident?". (Feijoada is a traditional food from Brazil, a stew based on beans and pork.) There were two versions of this album: one covering only Brazilian bands such as Olho Seco, Lobotomia, Garotos Podres, among others; and one covering only non-Brazilian bands such as G.B.H., Black Flag, Anti-Cimex, Minor Threat, among others. At this time, Walter Bart (who used to play in a punk band called "Não Religião") and "Pica Pau" (Portuguese for woodpecker), who stayed in the band until 1999, played bass.
Released in 1997, Carniceria Tropical marked a return to hardcore and Portuguese lyrics, and the band regained their former success. The same year, João Gordo started to work as a VJ for MTV Brasil.
In 1999, the bassist Cristian "Fralda", who used to play in the punk rock band Blind Pigs joined the band, and they entered into the studio to re-record their first album, and called this album Sistemados Pelo Crucifa (a play on the original album title, "Crucificados Pelo Sistema"). The front cover was designed by the Korzus bassist, Dick Siebert.
Return to crossover
In 2002, they released the Onisciente Coletivo album, and came back to be more friendly with thrash metal, mixing the 1980s with 1990s faces. The bassist Cristian "Fralda" left to join the old hardcore/crossover/thrash band Lobotomia. In his place entered an old underground musician, the bass player Paulo Júnior, who still plays with his hardcore band called "Discarga" and guitarist of "Point of no Return".
In 2006, they released Homem Inimigo Do Homem.
On 13 August 2013, Ratos de Porão announced on their Facebook page that they were working on a new album. Entitled Século Sinistro, the album was released on 27 May 2014.
Another eight years passed until the release of their upcoming eighth studio album, Necropolítica, on May 20, 2022.
Atitude Zero
Ratos De Porão Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Filhinho de papai sonha um dia ser o vencedor
Só fuma do mais caro sua moto é uma ninja mil
Bater na namorada é fazer ela gozar melhor puta pleibói, puta pleibói desde pequeninho puta pleibói
Puta pleibói atitude zero!
Quer estrabgular bater no perdedor
Força bruta vai mostrar que ele é superior... gah! gah! gah!
Cabuloso o horroroso pensa que é o mais bonitão cuzão
Frescura importa veja só onde se viu maltrata os empregados com sotaque lá do Rio.
In Ratos de Porão's song "Atitude Zero," the lyrics are a scathing critique of arrogant and ignorant behavior. The first verse describes the typical behavior of someone who is arrogant and thinks they are the best, even though they may have achieved nothing on their own. They are someone who has everything handed to them by wealthy parents and dreams of becoming even more successful, but they lack humility and treat others poorly. The second verse delves deeper into their behavior, portraying them as someone who only smokes the most expensive cigarettes and rides a fancy motorcycle. They are also someone who thinks it's okay to physically abuse their partner, believing it's a way to make them orgasm, and they take pleasure in being a "pleiboi" - a derogatory term in Portuguese for a spoiled rich kid with no sense of responsibility or compassion.
The chorus "Atitude Zero" is a play on words, since "atitude" in Portuguese means "attitude," but it also sounds like "altitude," which accentuates the idea of being above others. The chorus critiques the individual's desire to bully and intimidate those who are weaker than him, as he believes that brutality is the way to show superiority. The bridge delves into the individual's narcissism, describing them as someone who thinks they are the most handsome man in the world, even though they are far from it. They have no ethics and even steal from their own mother, showing no remorse for their reprehensible behavior. Lastly, the verse talks about how the individual looks down on people who speak with a "Carioca" accent, which is a dialect spoken in Rio de Janeiro. This shows the individual's disdain for those who are not like him and views them as inferior, highlighting his elitist and prejudiced mindset.
Line by Line Meaning
Arrogante e ignorante aprontando é o mais fodão
The person who is arrogant and ignorant, and acts up, thinks they are the coolest.
Filhinho de papai sonha um dia ser o vencedor
The person who comes from wealth dreams of being a winner someday.
Só fuma do mais caro sua moto é uma ninja mil
The person only smokes expensive things and rides a Ninja 1000 motorcycle.
Bater na namorada é fazer ela gozar melhor puta pleibói, puta pleibói desde pequeninho puta pleibói
The person thinks hitting their girlfriend makes her have better orgasms and has been a playboy since childhood.
Puta pleibói atitude zero!
Being a playboy means having zero attitude!
Quer estrabgular bater no perdedor
The person wants to strangle and beat the loser.
Força bruta vai mostrar que ele é superior... gah! gah! gah!
Using brute force will prove that he is superior... hahaha!
Cabuloso o horroroso pensa que é o mais bonitão cuzão
The person, who is disgusting and scary, thinks they are good-looking but they are just an asshole.
Cara de pau ainda rouba dinheiro da mãe
The person shamelessly steals money from their own mother.
Frescura importa veja só onde se viu maltrata os empregados com sotaque lá do Rio.
It shows how important being stuck up is when they mistreat employees just because of their accent from Rio.
Contributed by Kaitlyn W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.