As time has passed, SARCOFAGO have been increasingly venerated to the point where they are legitimate legends of underground Extreme Metal.  Such is their just reward for toiling long and hard since forming back in 1985.  While the media has remained fixated on the exploits of Scandinavian bands, SARCOFAGO created a sound, no less lethal nor vile, in the restrictive environment of Brazil to rival the intensity of MAYHEM, the raw primal catharsis of HELLHAMMER, and the precise riffing of Thrash giants like SODOM.  "Hate," now reissued via Greyhaze Records, is an oft-overlooked offering deserving the attention of discerning Heavy Metal fans across the board.  While fellow countrymen SEPULTURA had found a way to capitalize on a groove-centric, Hardcore-tinged sound thereby absconding from the role as progenitors of Extreme Metal, SARCOFAGO doubled down in their pledge to extremity.  What follows is ten tracks of controlled chaos, a diabolical riff-fest that truly broke new ground.

"Intro - Song for My Death" kicks things off like an explosive blast of primal energy.  This opener excels in establishing a baseline by which the rest of the album can launch effectively as needed.  Simply, it sets the tone.  The following track, the marketable titled "Pact of Cum," unveils the extremity within their playing.  Though the main riff is repeated to oblivion, it is justified in the sense that it hypnotizes the listener.  Think Black Metal like classic BURZUM and even some of the prime cuts from DARKTHRONE.  SARCOFAGO ups the ante, though, by skillfully palm-muting the tremolo picking and thus, their modus operandi is revealed as a visceral melding of Black Metal, proto-Death Metal, and Thrash.  "The God's Faeces" follows and leans more heavily on a relentless Thrash riff over which the vocals slither maliciously like a serpent stalking his next mortal to introduce to temptation.

The production is what could possibly turn off the most listeners.  It is extremely raw to say the least but when one considers the year in question is 1994, a seminal underground Blackened Thrash band from Brazil could have done much worse.  For a point of reference, the sound is rawer than BATHORY's "Blood Fire Death," yet more polished than "Under the Sign of the Black Mark".  The mix is all double bass, vocals, and an especially treble-heavy guitar sound.  It is more than obvious these guys turn the mids all the way down on their amps.  As the album progresses, though, the imperfections in the recording fade into the background as the Metal is simply pure, filled with hateful energy, a dystopian life force worthy of the album's title.

The title track, at position six, is a hard-driving, resume-enhancer for the "drummer".  The time in the spotlight given to the percussion is not wasted as fierce double bass explodes with violent fury and tenacious velocity.  Unfortunately, this "drummer" is really a machine which explains the mind-blowing speed displayed.  Between this track and the following, "The Phantom," SARCOFAGO show they have the premier drum machine in the southern hemisphere.  Like fellow Brazilians SEPULTURA in their heyday, SARCOFAGO have an inherent tenacity in their DNA, the recipe for original, groundbreaking Extreme Metal.

Though SARCOFAGO never received the credit afforded to SEPULTURA, their indelible mark upon Extreme Metal cannot be understated.  At times, the music has a very militant, almost mechanized feel (see "Rhabdovirus," the eighth track) which serves to increase the intensity.  It is as if they secretly listened to the bellicose bluster of LAIBACH, Industrial masters of machined compositions.  Compared to other releases of that period, the production is on par with much of the Death Metal (or what got lumped into that category) born in the underground.  What makes this band so important is the way in which they seamlessly invited influences from across the spectrum of heavy music paying homage to the masters, saluting fellow compatriots, and willfully blazing a trail of demonic terror through their music.  Commanding a firm grip on the most brutal tropes of Thrash, Black Metal, and Death Metal, SARCOFAGO cemented their legacy as blackened warriors of death with releases such as this...classic!