### Sepultura: The mediator between head and hands must be the heart

#### 08/11/13 || Habakuk

Oh! A new Sepultura album. Not that I’ve been waiting, but I’ve sure stopped counting at some point. Last time I checked, they released Kairos and I actually enjoyed that one. Still, they have to win me over once more. Too deeply embedded are my doubts about them still trying – but you know what, they actually manage to do that.

Chunky riffs and an overall ballsy approach to groove thrash just speak to me in a language that’s stronger than whatever resentment my inner grandpa can come up with. And dat drumming! Nothing screams ‘groove’ more than the use of high toms, and a bit of that Samba-like marching drumming once in a while. It really adds to this style, which might be one reason why groove thrash from Brazil à la Overdose has its special place in my musical heart.

Sure, not everything is as shiny as the previous lines might make you think, but the band manage to come back time and time again also after less-than-stellar tracks like the kind of redundant “Grief” and the generally more apparent weaknesses in the second half of the album. After a while, the initial enthusiasm in the inclined listener makes way for a gentle nodding and foot-tapping, which still isn’t bad but pales in comparison to the reaction to slammers like “Impending doom”, “Manipulation of tragedy” or “Tsunami” more towards the beginning.

So while I do urge you to give this a shot, I can only recommend my approach of going in without any (high) expectations. This has proven worthwhile for the second time with these guys now and can definitely help in reconciliating Sepultura with everyone that has been wanting to raise their voice about a certain issue since the second they saw the bandname – this next part is for you. Copy/paste to a word document and print it out in large letters:

Max Cavalera Beneath the remains Arise Schizophrenia Good old days When I was your age.

With that out of the way, you might just agree with my…

- Information
- Released: 2013
- Label: Nuclear Blast Records
- Website: www.sepultura.com.br
- Band
- Derrick Green: guitars, vocals
- Paulo Jr: bass
- Andreas Kisser: guitars
- Eloy Casagrande :drums

- Tracklist
- 1. Trauma of war
- 2. The Vatican
- 3. Impending doom
- 4. Manipulation of tragedy
- 5. Tsunami
- 6. The bliss of ignorants
- 7. Grief
- 8. The age of the atheist
- 9. Obsessed
- 10. Da Lama ao Caos