The record label was created five years later, in the midst of an oil price crisis that increased the cost of producing vinyl. Despite the unfavorable scenario, the recently founded Cogumelo Records was willing to launch new artists, and Sepultura was one of the first bands chosen to join the catalog.
In an interview with SplashJoão Eduardo says that the meeting with Sepultura was not random, as the members were customers of the record store and were friends of Vladimir Korg, who is currently well known for being the lead singer of the metal band Chakal, but at the time he worked as manager of Cogumelo.
“This meeting was not random, and the band was already playing at the time. They had a more primitive sound, reminiscent of death metal, which we came into contact with at that time and realized it had potential”, he states.
After the release of the EP “Bestial Devastation”, there were already a lot of people interested in getting to know the sound of Sepultura’s young people. One of the factors attributed to this initial “curiosity” is the success of Rock in Rio in 1985. The festival contributed to the popularization of rock and metal among the Brazilian public, by bringing together major international bands of the genre, such as Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne and Queen, for the national territory.
João Eduardo reports the surprise and difficulties that came after this sudden success, during the first shows to promote the EP “Bestial Devastation”.
