Refusing to listen to the naysayers who urge them to call it a day, Brazilian behemoths Sepultura keep plodding on, like a wheezy dinosaur lumbering on to inevitable extinction with the glory days of the late 80’s and early 90’s when they were releasing utter classics such as Arise a distant memory. They arguably haven’t recorded anything great since frontman Max Cavalera jumped ship in 1996, and while he seems content to keep “focking sheet up” in Soulfly, his former band has taken several turns into angular, left-field territory, with the occasional odd cover thrown in for good measure, on a series of underwhelming releases. Can curiously named new album The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart (Nuclear Blast), their thirteenth studio offering, stop the rot?
Opening track ‘Trauma Of War’ comes as a complete surprise with its serrated Slayer-esque riffing indicating that Sepultura may have at last listened to their loyal fans who just want the band to go back to the old groove/thrash workouts that they did so well. Derrick Green’s gruff vocals are largely buried in the mix, allowing Andreas Kisser to riff hard, while the clinical percussion of Eloy Casagrande does the job nicely, although the tribal rhythms of old are not forthcoming. The abrasive style continues with the blistering ‘The Vatican’ with the band members playing harder and faster than they have done in years. It isn’t quite the old-school Sepultura we know and love but it still sounds pretty damn heavy.
The mid-paced chops of ‘Impending Doom’ call to mind the stripped down style that manifested on the Roots album, but the murkier production ensures that no trace of the nu-metal flourishes that tainted that release are present here. Kisser seems to be mining a deep well of inspiration with badass, swaggering riffs also joining the party, while the sheet metal guitar lines of ‘Manipulation Of Tragedy’ are unspectacular yet searingly proficient, especially when the tribal percussion finally makes an appearance, nicely complementing a breezy solo.
The meaty thrash metal of ‘Tsunami’ calls to mind bands such as The Haunted, who also realised that a bit of weirdness and originality could do wonders to your average thrash record, relaxing the pace in favour of a slightly more angular tempo that gives some variety to proceedings. That said, the monstrous groove of ‘The Bliss Of Ignorants’ takes no prisoners with its route one approach, with Green making himself heard with a series of loud bellows. The pace slows down even further on the well-worked ‘Grief’ alternating between tranquil calm and crushing walls of noise while things get even better on the kinetic riffage and brooding atmospherics of ‘The Age Of the Atheist’ with Kisser again demonstrating his knack for flashy solos and gnarled, crushing riffs.
All in all, this is Sepultura’s best release since Roots came out in 1996. It achieves this by turning up the heaviness dial, with an appreciation for the classics, but also with a foot firmly planted in the modern camp of bands that deftly mix aggression with individuality. Who would have thought it!? It’s taken a long time but the Seps are finally back in business. Let’s hope it isn’t too late.
8/10
James Conway