Mutilator

Within Brazil’s late-1980s thrash metal landscape, Mutilator—also called Mutilator 666 and first known as Armagedom—developed a technically demanding blend of blackened thrash. Their records sold modestly at the time yet later became prized by collectors and cited as influential. Kleber on vocals and bass, guitarist and lyricist Alexander “Magoo,” bassist Ricardo Neves, and his brother Rodrigo Neves on drums formed the band in 1985 in Belo Horizonte, the same city that soon gave rise to Sepultura, Sarcófago, and several other acts. Two early demos, Grave Desecration and Bloodstorm, sharpened their sound before they appeared on the Warfare Noise compilation. Chakal vocalist Silvio SDN joined briefly but had left by the time Cogumelo Records issued the group’s 1987 debut, Immortal Force. Though recorded on a modest budget, the album showed promise; it nonetheless remained almost unknown outside Brazil and supported only limited domestic touring. Magoo, convinced of the band’s prospects, declined Sepultura’s offer to replace Jairo T.—a role that ultimately went to São Paulo’s Andreas Kisser—and instead assumed lead vocals himself while writing most of the songs for 1989’s Into the Strange. That album also marked the arrival of guitarist C.M. and drummer Armando, previously of Holocausto. Its comparatively polished production ranked among the more professional efforts then granted a Brazilian heavy-metal release, yet Cogumelo failed to promote the band or the record effectively. Mutilator disbanded quietly soon afterward. A planned 2001 reunion ended abruptly with Magoo’s death, reported to have been caused by a drug overdose.