In This Moment Debut New Song – “Roots”


In This Moment recently confirmed that they will be releasing Ritual on July 21st via Roadrunner Records/Atlantic Records. The band has already shared the impressive ‘Oh Lord’ video online, and now ‘Roots’ is here for your listening pleasure.Continue reading


David Vincent Discusses His Drinkin’ With The Devil Album, I Am Morbid And More!


David Vincent is letting his love of music take him in several directions this year, and it all begins this month. Continue reading


Mike Patton Performs Lookaway With Max & Iggor Cavalera In California


Max & Iggor Cavalera will be wrapping up the “Return To Roots” tour tonight in Santa Ana, California, and it’s been a historic trek here in the States. Continue reading


Max Cavalera Discusses Sepultura’s Roots Album, The “Return To Roots” Tour And More!


Max & Iggor Cavalera brought their “Return To Roots” tour to The Gramercy Theatre in New York City earlier this week, and as I said in my review of the show, they completely decimated the sold out venue. Continue reading


Max & Iggor Cavalera Return To Their Roots In New York City


Max & Iggor Cavalera brought their “Return To Roots” tour to The Gramercy Theatre in New York City last night, and completely decimated the sold out venue. Continue reading


Max And Iggor Cavalera: Return To Roots, Immolation, Full Of Hell Tour Dates


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Max and Iggor Cavalera have been annihilating crowds all over the world on the “Return To Roots” tour this year, and now they’ve announced their return to the States. Continue reading


Branching Out – Iggor Cavalera On The Music and People That Inspire Him


mixhell

Keeping it fresh and invigorating is clearly the modus operandi for Iggor Cavalera. The 44 year-old father of four (In addition to his step son from his marriage to Laima Leyton) has expressed in the past that rock and metal was getting somewhat “uninspiring” for him. Considering the ground-breaking impact of Sepultura’s Roots (Roadrunner) album with its much imitated tribal drum patterns, you can’t blame Cavalera for looking to spice things up when it came to working in a different medium like electronica. “I have to say when I started doing Mixhell, I wasn’t finding much excitement in hardcore and metal. Bands were very reluctant to come out of their comfort zone and challenge themselves. I think now there are a new wave of musicians that are exciting in metal. I needed a break from metal and rock to grow to love it again.”

Certainly Iggor is not the only rock musician to dabble in other genres with Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton, (Who also made a guest appearance on Roots (Roadrunner), another notable example. Patton disciple and Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato also makes an appearance on Mixhell’s track ‘Exit Wound’. Puciato in turn collaborated with Iggor’s brother Max and Mastodon’s Troy Sanders in metal supergroup Killer Be Killed. Clearly birds of a feather… “Greg is such a talented guy. I remember when I first heard of him when he joined Dillinger after the E.P. they did with Mike Patton, (Irony Is A Dead Scene), they found someone who could really push himself. Dillinger Escape Plan did a tour with The Cavalera Conspiracy in the states and I played him the Mixhell material which he loved. He is a big fan of Nine Inch Nails and all the industrial bands so I sent him a track to put vocals on. Mike is one of the greatest artists in music. A real genius. He can do all this extreme stuff and then the Mondo Cane project playing Italian music from the 40s! He brings a unique atmosphere to everything he does! He is a very close friend and we see each other all the time!”

cavalera conspiracy album cover 2014

Cavalera Conspiracy on Facebook

MixHell on Facebook

 

ROSS BAKER


Sepultura – The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart


Sepultura_-_The_Mediator_Between_Head_and_Hands_Must_Be_the_Heart_artworkRefusing 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

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