MORBID VISIONS/BESTIAL DEVASTATION (1985, 1986, 1991) ROADRACER

This is a reissue of Sepultura's first 2 releases. They show a new and hungry band, with a brutal and raw sound. Their style was way more death metal back then. And here you can already spot that these guys were talented. How many other Brazilian bands can you name that got their albums released outside of Brazil in 1985/1986? So they have to have done something right. For me this is more a collectors item rather then something I listen a whole lot to. I like many of the songs from 'Morbid Visions', but the quality of this recording is far below par. The mixing on both the album and the EP (originally released as a split LP together with the band Overdose) is horrible. So I pick out other albums from this band first, if I feel like listening to some Brazilian death/thrash metal.

Killer tracks: Troops Of Doom

SCHIZOPHRENIA (1987, 1990, 1997) ROADRUNNER

Sepultura's rise to fame began here. At least this was the first album to get picked up by a major label (if you can call an all metal label as such). The production is still not all that good, but it's not bad either, considering it was recorded, by the band themselves, in Brazil in 1987. New guitarist, Andreas Kisser, completing what was to become the classic line-up for Sepultura, also brings in something fresh to the band. There is still much death metal in their sound, but this time they also mix in a lot of thrash metal, showing the bands influences from Slayer and Metallica. Also the songwriting seems more focused, resulting in a much better album. Max' voice was also quite unique at the time, maybe only comparable to that of Venom, Destruction and Sodom. Sepultura just sound so much more mature on 'Schizophrenia' then on their first 2 releases. But there ware still better things to come.

My version of this CD is the 1997 remastered edition. It comes with 3 bonus tracks; a demo version of "From The Past Comes The Storms" under its original fractured-English title, "The Past Reborns The Storm", and rough mixes, without vocals, bass and solos, of "Septic Schizo" and "To The Wall". 'Schizophrenia' was released worldwide for the first time in 1990, when Roadrunner Records picked up the band. Then they included the re-recorded version of "Troops Of Doom", a song originally recorded for 'Morbid Vision'. The title of this album is spelled wrong on the spine of the cover art.

Killer tracks; From The Past Comes The Storms, To The Wall, Septic Schizo, R.I.P. (Rest In Pain)

BENEATH THE REMAINS(1989, 1996, 1997) ROADRUNNER

From the acoustic opening of "Beneath The Remains" to the last note of "Primitive Future", Sepultura's 3rd full-length album, the first to be released by an international label first, is truly a masterpiece. Everything is bigger, better and more here. Scott Burns traveled down to Rio to produce this album. Of course today he is well known for his work with other death metal acts. But back in 1989 he was still an unknown. Here he gave the band it's signature sound, and brought out the best of the "jungle-boys". 'Beneath The Remains' is a full-on thrash metal attack, and the death metal from the past is somewhat limited to Max' voice only. "Inner Self" gave the band a minor "hit", as they also shot a video for it. As strong as I find this album to be, it is not my favorite by the band. The song "Stronger Than Hate", the only non-Sepultura penned track on the original album, also sees some guest background vocals from John Tardy (Obituary), Francis Howard and Scott LaTour (both from Incubus). My 1997 remastered version of the album comes with 3 bonus tracks. The most noticeable of them is "A Hora E A Vez Do Cabelo Bascer", an obscure cover by a Brazilian band from the 70's, named Mutantes. The title translates to This Is The Time To Let The Hair Grow!!

Killer tracks: Beneath The Remains, Inner Self, Stronger Than Hate, Slaves Of Pain, Lobotomy, Primitive Future

ARISE (1991) ROADRACER

'Arise' was the album that really broke Sepultura as a world-wide best selling band. They had by now moved to the US. Even MTV embraced them, although banning one of the music-videos from this album. I find this to be my all time favorite by the Brazilian quartet, and I think it sets the standard for the Sepultura sound. The perfect combination of thrash metal and death metal. The production is also very good, and miles away from most bands in this genre. In my opinion this is a must in every headbangers collection.

Killer tracks: Arise, Dead Embryonic Cells, Desperate Cry, Infected Voice

CHAOS A.D. (1993) ROADRUNNER

Another killer album from Sepultura. This time the lyrics are very political, and their sound is even angrier then before. Max has a lot he wants to say about various situations in South America, and on 'Chaos A.D.' he screams out to those who wants to listen. And judging by the sales of this album, many did. I don't like this album as much as 'Arise', mostly because of messy and meaningless songs like "Biotech Is Godzilla" and "We Who Are Not As Others". But we also get classics like "Territory" and "Refuse/Resist". In "Kaiowas" we also get introduced to the native Brazilian influences that was going to be the foundation for their next album, 'Roots'.

Killer tracks: Refuse/Resist, Territory, Slave New World, Kaiowas, Nomad

NATURAL BORN BLASTERS (1996) FM/ROADRUNNER (EP)

I'm not sure what to make out of this Greek 5-track EP. It looks like it's a collaboration between FM Records and Metal Hammer (Greece), all under license from Roadrunner. It is not released commercially, so maybe it was a promo given to the subscribers of the magazine? What I do know is that it contains some pretty cool material. 3 cover tracks, and 2 Sepultura songs. "Procreation (Of The Wicked)" was originally recorded by Celtic Frost. "Policia", a track that became a Sepultura live favorite for many years, was originally recorded by a Brazilian band named TITÂS (meaning Titans). "Inhumane Nature" is a cover of the band Engines Of Aggression.

THE ROOTS OF SEPULTURA (1996) ROADRUNNER (2CD)

'Roots' is by far the most controversial album from Sepultura. It is easily the album they got the most recognition for. But at the same time, many of their old fans hated it. The apparent change in musical style was too hard to swallow for a die hard thrash/death metal lover. And what a change it was. Collaborating with "everyone" from the native Brazilian Xavante tribe, to members of Faith No More, Korn and Limp Bizkit, this percussion ridden effort was a huge success for the band. I also think it is in large a contributor to bringing metal, and sadly mostly the nu-metal movement, back into the mainstream. The album itself is not actually nu-metal per se, but it is without a doubt riding the fences between lots of different genres. Some called it innovative, even genre defying, and yet again others said they were trying to jump on the famous bandwagon. As for me, I really liked the album when it first came out. Me and some buddies played the crap out of it, as we loved the aggressiveness and rhythmic madness of the songs. Especially the first 4 tracks were constantly played whenever we were having a party. I'm not too fond of the album today. I find most of the tracks to be too noisy, and without any real direction. It's mostly angry shouting, and generic, down-tuned riffing. I still think the album is a one-of-a-kind in the metal realms. I just haven't much need or desire to listen to it any longer. I own the 2 disc version of the album, entitled 'The Roots Of Sepultura'. The extra disc is filled with rare tracks such as demos, original mixes, covers and live recordings. I especially like the original Scott Burns mixes of the 5 tracks from 'Arise'. A cool gem for collectors indeed.

Killer tracks: Roots Bloody Roots, Attitude, Cut-Throat, Ratamahatta

AGAINST (1998) ROADRUNNER

After Max Cavalera quit Sepultura on the height of their career, many fans, myself included, were very reluctant to have any faith in the continuance of the band. But they did managed to find a new singer, that actually fits the bands music, and also their image. Still, 'Against' doesn't sit too well with me. I think Max was too much of the contributing factor for this band, being the front man, and one of the main songwriters. It is not possible to replace him. It's like Judas Priest without Halford, or Iron Maiden without Dickinson. It's just not the same band. I like some of the songs present on this CD. But as a whole, it is not that satisfying. The aggression for aggressions sake sounds more like the nu-metal I despise, more than the genuine thrash/death rage I grew to love this band for. I mean, to me these guys were leaders in a scene of extreme metal, but now they come across as followers of a trend. And I also think they did the tribal/native music thing a bit too far here. I was one of those who actually liked 'Roots', and I find some of it cool here too, like in the tracks "Choke" and "Old Earth". But the instrumental parts on this album starts to annoy me after a while. I still say I prefer Sepultura over Soulfly though. Also notice the guest appearance of one Jason Newstedt. He even appeared on MTV South America with these guys, and rumors were floating that he would be the new singer for Sepultura, before they announced the addition of Derrick Green. I saw the band live in Oslo on their tour for this album.

Killer tracks: Against, Choke, Old Earth, Common Bonds

Related artists:

Cavalera Conspiracy