When I first came across Sepultura some twenty or so years ago I wasn’t incredibly impressed: what they were doing was fairly interesting, but I didn’t hear anything that made me sit up and pay attention. That all changed in 1996, with the release of ‘Roots’, which was an incredible album which I still play to this day. But, after that there were changes, and to my ears the best Sepultura album since then hasn’t been anything by either that band or Soulfly, but the first Cavalera Conspiracy album. So, I put this on, interested to see how it would fare (even though they have never produced another ‘Roots’, I do have virtually all their albums). The title cut opens the album, and although I wasn’t initially impressed, I realised that half-way through the song I was being drawn into something that was more majestic, more polished, just “more” everything than I had ever come across before. This album grows not only each time it is played, but also as it is played, as there is a real feeling of the band growing and building throughout. Derrick Green replaced Max back in the Nineties, and here he has come through, with a performance of breadth, depth and fierceness quite unlike anything he has produced before. Guitarist Andreas Kisser and bassist Paulo Jr. have thrown away the years, while I can give no higher praise to drummer Eloy Casagrande than saying it is almost as if Gene Hoglan is behind the kit, such is the variety of percussive attacks being deployed, and the way that he is relentlessly driving the band forward.
Producer and engineer Jens Bogren (Opeth/Kreator/Ihsahn/Paradise Lost) has given the band enough room to be themselves, while also adding some polish (and additional instrumentation here and there), and the result is nothing short of a masterpiece. It has been hard to get anything listened to, as I keep putting this on just to play it one more time. There isn’t a dull moment, everyone has room to shine, and the only way to play this is loud, really loud. Is this the best thing to come out of the Sepultura/Soulfly/Cavalera Conspiracy camp since ‘Roots’? That’s an easy one to answer, as there is no doubt at all in my mind that this is the finest album since then. The harder one, is whether this is the best album that Sepultura have released during their career. That may sound almost sacrilegious given the way that fans rave over that classic album, and only time will tell, but whichever way you look at it, this is a stunning release.
