10 Best Thrash Metal Bands Outside Of The Big 4
4. Sepultura
Brazil is probably not the first country one would think of when it comes to heavy metal.
Samba, football, and giant statues of Jesus? Absolutely. But metal? Not really.
Of course, that's not to say that Brazilian bands don't exist. One that really broke through onto the international stage in the late '80s and early '90s was Sepultura, a name that means "grave" in Portuguese.
Started by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, Sepultura was born out of the grief felt by the brothers following the death of their father. Their second album, Schizophrenia, became a must-have in 1987, as its status as an import made it much harder for American and European fans to track down.
Roadrunner Records were so impressed by the demand for Schizophrenia that they signed Sepultura to an international deal without even hearing them play.
Although both Cavalera brothers have since left, the group continues to be recognised as one of the best thrash bands from outside of North America, thanks to their constant experimentation and blending of other genres into their own.
As they say in Brazil, "Bom trabalho".