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.
Descanse em Paz
Ratos De Porão Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
É como um descanso
Isso eu quero só ver
Sua sentença já foi declarada
Não há como se arrepender
Todo o seu medo de ir pro inferno
É uma coisa normal
Você sempre achou
Mas acerdita no mal
Descanse em paz (4x)
Você já esta nos braços da morte
Não adianta chorar
Estou adorando essa sua sorte
Não como você escapar
Agora seu corpo vai apodrecer
Como o ódio em meu coração
Sua sentença está consumada
E não lhe dou meu perdão
Descanse em paz (4x).
The lyrics to Ratos De Porão's song Descanse em Paz convey a sense of inevitability and satisfaction in the face of death. The opening lines challenge the commonly held belief that death is a form of rest, saying that the singer wants to see this for themselves. The next phrase indicates that the person being addressed has already been sentenced, and there is no way to change it. The thought of going to hell has always been a fear, but for the person being spoken to, it's a normal thing. They have always believed that good does not exist and only the evil has power.
Later, the singer takes some pleasure in the person's impending death, saying that they are already in the arms of death and there is no point in crying. The singer enjoys the fact that the person being addressed cannot escape that fate. They go on to say that the body will rot away just like the singer's hatred remains in their heart. Finally, the song ends with a repetition of the title phrase, "Descanse em Paz" which translates to "Rest in peace", four times to signify the ultimate fate of the person.
Overall, the song is about the finality of death and the futility of trying to evade it. The point of view expressed in the song is one of acceptance of the inevitability of death, and finding solace in the thought of retribution.
Line by Line Meaning
Dizem que a morte
It is said that death
É como um descanso
is like a rest
Isso eu quero só ver
I only want to see that
Sua sentença já foi declarada
Your sentence has already been declared
Não há como se arrepender
There is no way to repent
Todo o seu medo de ir pro inferno
All your fear of going to hell
É uma coisa normal
Is a normal thing
Você sempre achou
You always thought
Que o bem não existe
That good does not exist
Mas acerdita no mal
But you believe in evil
Descanse em paz (4x)
Rest in peace (4x)
Você já esta nos braços da morte
You are already in the arms of death
Não adianta chorar
Crying won't help
Estou adorando essa sua sorte
I'm loving your luck
Não como você escapar
There's no way you can escape
Agora seu corpo vai apodrecer
Now your body will decay
Como o ódio em meu coração
Like the hatred in my heart
Sua sentença está consumada
Your sentence is complete
E não lhe dou meu perdão
And I don't give you my forgiveness
Descanse em paz (4x)
Rest in peace (4x)
Contributed by Anna V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.