History & Biography The ‘Basement Rats’ have been active in hardcore and crossover circles since 1981 with only a short pause in 1984. There have been periods of inactivity since, however, and the band spent most of the 2010s away from active duty.
A first demo showed a band, occasionally stylized as RxDxPx, with a hardcore ethos, social criticism and punk and hardcore sound before another demo in 1982 full of songs lasting a minute each. Jão sang, played guitar too for the first two years and drums for the two years thereafter before reverting to the guitar only. An EP, called Crucificados Pelo Sistema, arrived in 1984. A live split record with Cólera arrived in 1985. Descanse Em Paz delivered the band’s first full-length album. The 1987 album was on Cogumelo Records, which was known for its Sepultura records. The band recorded and released an English version of the same called Dirty And Aggressive. With the success of Sepultura and advocacy by Igor Cavalera of Sepultura, Roadrunner Records picked up the band for its next outing, Brasil, which was recorded with Harris Johns in Germany. Drummer Betão was with the band for one year. The band recorded live footage for the Anarkophobia video of 1991. A live album was recorded in 1992. Walter Bart and Boka had arrived for the more hardcore-oriented Just Another Crime... In Massacreland. This one contained English lyrics. A covers and self-cover album was called "Feijoada Acidente?" – Brasil and Internacional came in those two versions and had Pica-Pau on bass. One compilation covered domestic acts while the other covered foreign ones.
A 2000 EP, called Guerra Civil Canibal, featured a Sepultura cover version. The song Biotech Is Godzilla was featured on Sepultura’s Chaos A.D. album seven years earlier. The Crucificados Pelo Sistema EP was re-recorded for some reason and called Sistemados Pelo Crucifa in 2001. Ao Vivo No CBGB was indeed recorded at New York City’s famed venue in 2000. It was issued through drummer Boka’s Peculio Discos. Homem Inimigo Do Homem featured a new bass player again. His name was Juninho. He would marry Nervosa/Crypta’s Fernanda Lira. Singer João Gordo made a guest appearance on Nervosa’s Downfall Of Mankind" album in 2018.
The band resorted to several videos, singles and compilation from hereon and issued Live At The Futurum Prague 2004 and Ao Vivo No Dama Xoc 1989 independently in 2014. The band was booked for Sepultura’s Sepulfest 2004 on September 25 in São Paulo, Brazil. Metal Mind Productions would re-release four albums of the band with bonus tracks in 2007. The band was booked for the 2011 edition of the SWR Barroselas Metalfest in Portugal. Século Sinistro was a new record in 2014. Amazingly, the band’s last line-up had held and the group was thrashier than ever. The band’s singer, a former VJ, published an autobiography called Viva La Vida Tosca in 2016. Ratos De Porão and Chile-based thrashers Nuclear announced a tour of Europe in 2019.
It was not until 2022 when a new record emerged. Necropolítica was issued through Shinigami Records of Brazil. Original bassist Jarbas "Jabá" Alves died in 2023. He was sixty-years old. The band, Vio-lence, Exhorder and others appeared at Kool Metal Fest in Brazil in 2024. The group announced a tour of Europe for July 2024.
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