Part 1: History and Memory
I first heard Sepultura in 1990. It was Beneath the Remains, and from that opening acoustic guitar, I was hooked. It was brutal, beautiful, and violent. Its predecessors Morbid Visions/ Beastial Devastation and Schizophrenia, were still unheard mysteries to me, and I later was able to get a hold of them. It was 1991’s Arise that cemented me as a perma-fan. Its unrelenting force has made it a gateway album for millions of fans. The original lineup that consisted of Paolo Jr., Max and Igor Cavelera and Andreas Kisser were unstoppable… until they weren’t. Enter the Roots album, following the massive Chaos AD; it divided fans, and ultimately, people started leaving the band. Max started Soulfly and Igor, and Andreas formed a new Sepultura with vocalist Derrick Greene.
That’s when I lost interest. Max isn’t the vocalist anymore. Who the fuck is this new guy?!
Part 2: Irony and the present day
Against came out in 1998, and I checked it out… nope. I hated it, maybe I was predisposed to hate it because I was angry about the breakup of the band and so that might have had something to do with it. Whatever the case, I’ve refused to listen to any Sepultura album since 1998. Rewind a couple days and El Jefe is asking if anyone wants to cover The Cloud of Unknowing , it’s their last release and all… the other guys did not; so I’m taking one for the team (so to speak).
I decided to be fair and went to my streamer of choice and checked them out. The ones with Igor are tolerable at best… I don’t know what went so sideways, but it did, and ten full-length albums later they’re taking their swansong. Another full-length? No, this is like a half-day in school… It’s an EP???.
BUT! Here’s where the irony comes storming in like an army of angry Karens. I actually like… most of it. There are parts where I experienced enjoyment, and it sort of felt like the Sepultura I love (who are now known as Cavelera. Maybe you’ve heard of them). But then there are parts where I’m like, no! What the fuck are you doing? Why are you putting a fucking Twinkle Toes piano part smack in the middle of a heavy song? “Sacred Books” is otherwise a fairly heavy song, but then right in the middle… fucking Liberace shows up and poof, you’re sidelined by that shit. Like the ballad on the latest Testament album, it just pops the wind out of the sails.
“All Souls Rising” has more of a Slayer vibe, especially the solo near the end. It’s one of the fastest on the album, so of course I like it, and yeah, it’s kind of even got a bit of an Arise feeling; not a lot mind you, but it’s there. “Beyond the Dream” has the double duty as being boring as watching paint dry and then the Metallica-ish intro compounded by the song basically sounding like Godsmack, and not even a good Godsmack song (they exist).
It all comes to a close with “The Place”. It’s not a bad song. Some cool riffs shine through, but ultimately, I was happy it was over. Of course, I had to give it a fair shake, which involved multiple listens just to see if I could tease myself into liking it. In the end I like one song, I guess that’s something considering that it’s an EP; one out of four ain’t bad, right?
Anyway, if you have liked their music without the Cavelera brothers, then you’ll eat this shit up. Goodbye Sepultura, long live Cavelera!
