After Max Cavalera left Sepultura I, and it must said, a great many other metalheads, felt the band lost their way somewhat and that Green just wasn’t the same type of frontman. After some years they also parted ways with Igor, bringing in Eloy Casagrande, and somewhat surprisingly for me they started to have some sort of resurrection. This started with 2013’s ‘The Mediator’ which took me somewhat by surprise, as it was easily the best album since ‘Roots’ and then in 2017 they produced ‘Machine Messiah’ which just blew me away. What on earth had happened to the band? They were back punching way above their weight producing metal with real power, heart and soul, and when I saw them on tour (supported by Death Angel!) I finally appreciated the force and presence of the guys.
It may have taken three years for them to come back with ‘Quadra’, but this time around it was an event people were waiting for as opposed to just another Sepultura album with Derrick Green on vocals, and if anything the guys have ramped it up again. They have even brought in some traditional percussion on “Capital Enslavement” – it will be nice for guest drummers to have more than just “Roots, Bloody Roots” to play along with at festivals. This is brutal groove thrash metal which looks back to their past but is also looking forward. This quartet have been together for 9 years now, with this being their third album together, and it shows. Paolo and Eloy are joined at the hip, while Eloy is being so incredibly free in his attack and adding real dynamics and aggression to the overall sound. Andreas Kisser has a monstrous deep and dark sound, and all power to producer Jens Bogren for capturing it. Then at the front there is Derrick Green. For many years he has suffered just by not being Max and was never really given the acclaim he should have been. That seemed to change virtually overnight with the release of the last album, which metalheads rightly raved over, and here he has dropped whatever weight was pulling back and he is a man possessed – it is amazing what confidence can do to a singer. It may have taken more than 20 years for the band to move on and create their own destiny, but they finally have and with ‘Machine Messiah’ to build on they are yet again taking their music to a whole new level.
This isn’t the band that gave us ‘Roots’, half of that line-up has departed, instead this is the band which has given us ‘Quadra’, for which we should all be grateful.
Rating: 9/10
Links:
https://www.sepultura.com.br/
https://www.nuclearblast.de/en/
