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.
igreja universal
Ratos De Porão Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
E nos seus milagres?
Em troca de dinheiro, ele te fará feliz!
Você chorou de emoção,
Em nome da verdade
Nas mãos de um charlatão, você é um imbecil!
Fanáticos, doentes de lavagem cerebral
Promessas do inferno da igreja universal.
Você está curado!
O pastor de seu Deus está enganando você!
O pastor de seu Deus está enganando você!
Aleluia irmão! Aleluia!
Aleluia irmão! Aleluia!
O câncer que corrói a sua vida está no fim;
Depois de 20 anos ele voltou a andar;
O demônio foi expulso com a força do amor;
O cego agradecido não podia enxergar.
O pastor de seu Deus está enganando você!
Você!
Histeria coletiva,
Farsa pentecostal,
Hipnose destrutiva,
Atitude anormal!
Você acredita em deus,
E nos seus milagres?
Em troca de dinheiro, ele te fará feliz!
Você chorou de emoção,
Em nome da verdade
Nas mãos de um charlatão, você é um imbecil!
Imbecil!
The song "Igreja Universal" by Brazilian punk band Ratos De Porão (translated as "Universal Church") is a scathing critique of the manipulation and exploitation that occurs within certain religious institutions. The lyrics address the idea that people will believe in a higher power and will pay for the promise of miracles and happiness, only to fall victim to the deception and greed of those who lead these institutions.
The opening lines ask if the listener believes in God and his miracles, only to suggest that the exchange of money for faith is what truly brings happiness. The chorus repeats the accusation that the pastor is deceiving the listener, with the word "aleluia" (hallelujah) serving as a dark irony. The second verse tells the stories of people who have supposedly been "cured" by the church, such as a man who regained the ability to walk after 20 years, and a blind man who thanked the church for his restored sight. These lines reinforce the idea that the church preys on vulnerable people who are desperate for help.
The following lines sing of the collective hysteria, Pentecostal fraud, destructive hypnosis, and abnormal attitudes that arise within the church. The song ends by repeating the opening lines, highlighting the cycle of manipulation and exploitation that the church perpetuates.
Overall, "Igreja Universal" is a powerful indictment of the ways in which religious institutions can be abused for personal gain, and how people can fall victim to their own earnest desire to find meaning and hope.
Line by Line Meaning
Você acredita em deus,
Do you trust in God?
E nos seus milagres?
Do you trust in his miracles?
Em troca de dinheiro, ele te fará feliz!
Can he make you happy in exchange for money?
Você chorou de emoção,
Did you cry with emotion?
Em nome da verdade
In the name of truth
Nas mãos de um charlatão, você é um imbecil!
In the hands of a fraud, you are a fool!
Fanáticos, doentes de lavagem cerebral
Fanatics, brainwashed and ill
Por trás dessa bondade existe sexo e poder,
Behind this kindness, there is sex and power,
Promessas do inferno da igreja universal.
Promises of hell from the universal church.
Você está curado!
You are healed!
O pastor de seu Deus está enganando você!
The pastor of your God is deceiving you!
Aleluia irmão! Aleluia!
Hallelujah brother! Hallelujah!
O câncer que corrói a sua vida está no fim;
The cancer that corrodes your life is coming to an end;
Depois de 20 anos ele voltou a andar;
After 20 years, he started walking again;
O demônio foi expulso com a força do amor;
The demon was expelled with the power of love;
O cego agradecido não podia enxergar.
The grateful blind man could not see.
Você!
You!
Histeria coletiva,
Collective hysteria,
Farsa pentecostal,
Pentecostal farce,
Hipnose destrutiva,
Destructive hypnosis,
Atitude anormal!
Abnormal behavior!
Imbecil!
Fool!
Contributed by Christian A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.