Dorsal Atlântica is a Brazilian thrash metal band, founded in Rio de Janeiro, in 1981.
They were pioneers of the Brazilian thrash metal scene, being acknowledged as an influence to many other bands including Sepultura and Korzus.
The band's first work appears on the split album Ultimatum with another Rio de Janeiro-based band, Metalmorphose, in 1984. Afterwards, Dorsal Atlântica released a string of studio albums from 1984 to 1998, before breaking up in 2001.
Most their lyrics were written in Portuguese. Some of their work contains two versions (English/Portuguese), and four albums are fully in English.
Dorsal Atlântica was always led by guitarist/vocalist Carlos 'Vândalo' Lopes. From 2001 until 2008 he recorded several albums with the psychedelic/high energy rock band called Mustang and with the Brazilian groove/rock band Usina Le Blond.