The announcement of Brazilian Eloy Casagrande Lopes as Slipknot’s new drummer brought the debate about the famous “Vara-Lata Complex” back to the table, a term coined by playwright Nelson Rodrigues on the eve of the 1958 World Cup as a way to poke the ears of the discredited people who They were still scared to death of Brazil popping up like it did in the 1950 and 1954 World Cups.
Slipknot – More News
CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISING – CLI
In Nelson’s view, the team that included Gylmar, Djalma Santos, Bellini, Orlando, Nilton Santos, Zito, Didi, Garrincha, Vavá, Pelé and Zagallo did have a chance. The most important? He believed in the canarinhos. He said that Brazilians voluntarily placed themselves as inferior to the rest of the world. It is the problem of faith in oneself, according to the writer.
CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISING – GOO
Now in 2024, decades after Nelson’s cruel observation, it seems that Brazil has improved. We have already created a certain shell on the sports field with Olympic medals and we have won the World Cup five times. It is still necessary to chase the Nobel and Oscar for the green and yellow CV, but, in the area of heavy music, Sepultura, Angra, Crypta, Krisiun and Nervosa have already paved the way to success abroad.
Everyone’s surprise with Eloy’s confirmation in Slipknot cannot just be translated as “Vara-Latas Complex” anymore. Today the feeling is pride. Not long ago, Kiko Loureiro did a similar feat when he emerged as Megadeth’s guitarist. Eloy, much younger, never stopped making history. If Nelson Rodrigues labeled us as discredited in the 1950s, now in the 21st century it seems that the tables have turned.
CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISING – CLI
Nelson wrote: “any Brazilian player, when he frees himself from his inhibitions and puts himself in a state of grace, is something unique in terms of fantasy, improvisation, invention.” In the same way, Brazilian musicians can be inspired by these words. The writer conceived these words in a scenario in which Brazil had not yet won the World Cup. Exercise in optimism!
In the case of the Brazilian metallic scene, space has already been conquered – there is no longer room for defeatism or lack of self-love. The Slipknot that won with the arrival of Eloy. The drummer deserved it. Full stop. In the same way that Pelé and Garrincha overcame disbelief, Eloy – as a true hero – wore his mask in accordance with the tradition of the American band and wrote a new chapter of national metal.
CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISING – GOO
And let the Fofão mask come!
