Metal Band Review : Sepultura

[daveymck]

Sepultura are a strange band for me, I love some of their albums but hate Roots almost as equally. I havent followed them post Max so if someone wants to add comments on their later work.

Sepultura came to my attention in 1989 with the release of 'Beneath the Remains' a ultra thrash record that is a thrash classic. Prior to that they had released two badly produced and not so good records 'Morbid Visions' in 86 and 'Schitzophrenia' in 87. I didnt really like either of those records at the time I think mainly cos of the progress on the 'Beneath the remains' looking bad they didnt stand up well, also the production was poor on those independant releases.

The band got signed to Roadrunner and the production values on 'Beneath the Remains' are much better. Their sound on this album is very fast heavy melodic riffs wih fast pounding drums and some fantastic guitar solos from Andreas Kisser. There are many highlights on the album but standout for me was 'Inner Self' with its mid paced chugging verses, fantastic melodic bridge amazing guitar solo, before a head pounding ultra fast charge to the end of the song.

The follow up 1991's 'Arise' is for me the bands classic best release. The production is fantastic with all the instruments clear and given room to breathe. Max Cavalera's voice is much improved harsher, sharper and with more punch, I suspect his english is improved as lyrically it is more complex than 'Beneath the Remains'. The album is very strong and its hard for me to pick out a favourite, what is interesting is that the guitar solos were scaled back somthing to me detrimental to the band and would continue to be reduced up until roots.

I saw the band on the tour they did for 'arise', it was an amazing gig, I lasted about 30 seconds in the mosh pit it was so wild, the power and enegy of the band was fantastic.

'Choas AD' was the beginning of the end for the band in my eyes. Released in 1993 it saw the band slowing down and adding some of the tribal rhythm's that would come to the forefront with 'Roots'. For me its a weak poor album with only the title track and interesting New Model Army cover 'The Hunt' of any real interest.

So we get to the hugely influential 'Roots' released in 1996 it is an album at the forefront of Nu metal. The band slowed down further and detuned the guitars almost completely did away with guitar solos. The band incorporated the sound of Brazillian music in particular the tribal indian instruments and rhythm. This meant that the sound of the album is very percussion driven with a totally different groove and natural rhythm to what I was used to. I really hate this album I will leave it to those who like it to elaborate on what is good about it.

Tensions in the band started to run high during this period, Max's stepson was killed leaving the rest of the band to play Donnington as a three piece as Max rightly went home. His wife was also their manager and this seems to be where the real tension lay as the rest of the band didnt seem to like her managing style. During a tour of the UK it all came to a head with the band telling Max that they would not renew his wifes contract in essence isolating him and forcing him to leave the band. Sepultura and Max in particular had always said they were a family band with the people around them their tribe, his brother was the drummer and backed up his bandmates making it even more of a bretryal to Max. The night he left the band in 1996 there was a gig recorded at the Brixton Acadamy which would later be released in 2002 as an excellent live album 'Under a Pale Sky' which captured the energy and I suspect tension in the band.

Max went onto form Soulfly which Spultura got in a new singer Derrick Green and have released a number of albums since none of which I have taken any real interest in so again will leave others to comment on. There are currently rumours going around that the band will be on this years Ozzfest and that they may play two sets one with Max of old material and one with newer songs with Derrick time will tell if this comes off.

[Jeebus]

I doubt the two singer sets will happen. Not too many bands manage to get that to work.

I have heard a few tracks from the new Sepultura and while it is not as good as the older discs, it is better than roots. I think alot of the tribal influences were coming from Max. When he left, those influences became noticeably less prominent.

[MattSuspect]

Davey, these reviews are REALLY REALLY good. When I was 16 my band did a cover of Chaos AD at a metal show, it saved our punk asses from being booed off the stage.

[daveymck]

I've tried to listen to the new album 3 or 4 times and as yet havent got through it.

Soulfly do have a lot of tribal influence as well but the last couple of albums he seems to have managed to blend it in a lot more successfully for me anyway.

[young Nut]

I agree, Sepultura just isn't the same without Max. I like all of their older stuff including Roots and Blood Rooted. But their new stuff just seems too strange and way too much punk influence (I think that might be Igor's fault)

Soulfly's stuff is great, although their new albums have been kind of a let down. They too started going somewhat punk and not sticking to their heavy 'roots'.

[steelcmg]

I really liked older Sepultura even tho the sound quality sucked ballz. The band was alot better with Max because he was always trying to do new things which made them stand out for me. I also have not been able to listen to there newest album in its full its just not the same. I think it may be im still expecting them to be the old sepultura if they changed there name mybe it would be different. Anyway great review.

[fryKing]

That cover of "The Hunt" on Chaos AD is awesome, though.

[Puckhead]

I [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Sepultura. Davey, you pick awesome bands to review.

My quick album by album thoughts...
pre-Arise: I agree that poor production and not so great lyrics take away from these albums. The best is yet to come. Schizophrenia has a couple stand out tracks "Troops of Doom" and "To The Wall" but overall, these are only for the die-hards.

Arise: [censored] awesome, what else can you really say? The riff and drum part in "Dead Embryonic Cells" (you KNOW the part I'm talking about) is among the most heavy metal moments ever laid down on tape. "Subtraction", "Desparate Cry"- I'm going to have to go elbow one of my co-workers in the face just thinking about these songs.

Chaos A.D.: This is where I differ with davey a little bit. To me, this is their must-have, classic release. It's the perfect blend of the old straight thrash stuff, with the newer tribal stuff. To me, the tribal stuff is what separates Sepultura from other bands of the genre and gives them a more unique sound. I love every track on this CD and probably couldn't pick a top 5 let a lone a single favorite song. A metal masterpiece.

Roots: Sepultura kind of goes off the rails on this one. I'm not a huge fan of the Korn influence in their music ("Lookaway")- I don't mind Korn, I just don't like it mixed with my Sep. Similarly, the tribal elements that blended with the metal so well in Chaos kind don't work as well for me on this one. Despite my complaints, it has some standout tracks "Roots Bloody Roots" and "Born Stubborn", and I still listen to this one fairly often. One thing I really hate is when a band's stuff all starts to sound the same, and they're definitely not guilty of that!

Blood Rooted: I have to give a shout out to this one. Awesome live tracks, tight performance, good mix of old and new, with some interesting demo tracks thrown in.

Against and Nation: Neither of these are bad CDs, they're just not the Sepultura that I'm used to. Much more punk than most of their stuff, and I don't dislike Derrick Green's vocals. I can't really say anything bad about these, just a different sound.

Under a Pale Grey Sky: I need to buy this one. Like soon. If anyone wants to give this particular CD a review, I'd like to hear it.

\m/,

[daveymck]

[ QUOTE ]
That cover of "The Hunt" on Chaos AD is awesome, though.

[/ QUOTE ]

New Model Army are my most favourite non metal band, got into them the same time as metal in 88. Have made some fantastic albums and are awesome live. Are from the North of England like me and their lyrics are spot on about small town England.

Download anything from 'Thunder and Consolation' or 'Ghost of Cain' as a starting point.