Sepultura @ 3Arena

Performers

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  Sepultura

  Sepultura is a phenomenon. For over twenty-five years, the band from Brazil has been delivering a brutal mix of metal, hardcore, thrash, punk and tribal that could hardly be more intense or more passionate. What had begun in Belo Horizonte in 1984 soon turned into a metal hurricane of threatening proportions and has taken on undreamt-of dimensions since the enlistment of American vocalist Derrick Green in 1998. You have to experience this band live on stage to understand the fascination that this South-American act holds. And Sepultura's current songs always indicate the future of heavy metal.

  SEPULTURA BIO 2016 (by Dom Lawson)

  Class is eternal and metal is forever. The road to heavy music glory is littered with the shattered corpses of those that didn’t have the strength to complete the journey. But true masters always win through, and Sepultura have long since earned their status as legends of the metal world. In 2017, they return with more fire in their collective belly than ever before. Machine Messiah is coming…

  Formed in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 1984, Sepultura swiftly became major players in the burgeoning thrash metal underground. With a sound that was as inventive and exuberant as it was raw and primitive, the band shattered preconceptions by planting South America firmly on the metal map, as early albums like Morbid Visions, Schizophrenia and Beneath The Remains helped to shape the sound of this new, brutal strain of heavy music. With a dogged devotion to touring anywhere and everywhere, Sepultura steadily built up one of the most dedicated fan bases on the planet, and while the ‘90s caused many metal bands to struggle creatively and commercially, the Brazilians went from strength to strength: both 1993’s Chaos AD and its groundbreaking follow-up Roots in 1996 were instant classics and have since proved to be hugely influential on several generations of metal musicians.

  The departure of frontman and founder member Max Cavalera in 1997 could easily have derailed a less focused outfit, but the recruitment of vocalist Derrick Green later that same year proved to be a masterstroke. The last two decades have seen Sepultura evolve, diversify and thrive, releasing a steady succession of devastating records that have added great depth and diversity to the band’s illustrious catalogue. From the scattershot euphoria of Green’s first album Against in 1998 and the snarling groove barrage of 2003’s Roorback to the gleaming, riff-driven futurism of 2011’s Kairos and the Ross Robinson-produced mutant extremity of the widely acclaimed The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart, released in 2013, Sepultura’s progress has been perpetual and their artistic integrity impeccable. Ever more revered as a destructive and exhilarating live band, the current lineup of Derrick Green, guitarist Andreas Kisser, bassist Paulo Jr. and drummer Eloy Casagrande recently celebrated Sepultura’s 30th anniversary with an unrelenting world tour that confirmed beyond doubt that the Brazilian crew are on the form of their lives right now.

  Fast-forward to 2017 and Sepultura are poised to release an album that promises to once again reaffirm the band’s status as standard bearers for heavy music. Recorded with esteemed producer and engineer Jens Bogren (Opeth/Kreator/Ihsahn/Paradise Lost) manning the controls, Machine Messiah is not just the band’s 14th studio album – a remarkable enough feat in itself – but it is also quite simply the most complete and absorbing album the band have made in the Derrick Green era. Thrillingly broad in musical scope but always firmly rooted in the spirit and fire of no-nonsense heavy metal, it is clearly an album that the band have crafted with great love, passion and determination.

  “We worked a lot in Brazil, doing as much pre-production as we could, to make it as complete as possible,” Andreas Kisser explains. “So when the producer comes, he comes with his suggestions and ideas and we refine the songs and then finally record it all. Jens was an amazing addition to the project. He’s a great producer. He’s very attentive to the details. I’m very happy with the sound – Jens mixed the album as well, in Sweden. We had an amazing time over there. We’re very excited about this record and we can’t wait for the it to come out!”

  Ranging from the stately menace of the slow-burning title track and the heads-down fury of classic thrasher I Am The Enemy to the esoteric percussive riot of Phantom Self and the monstrous dark metal behemoth of Sworn Oath, Machine Messiah strikes an exquisite balance between delivering the goods and veering joyously off-piste. An album of meticulously crafted songs, but also of jaw-dropping individual moments, it reaches an epic and invigorating crescendo with the glowering, nightmarish Cyber God, as one of Kisser’s finest ever solos spirals, soars and fades to black. A towering achievement and a bona fide team effort, Machine Messiah may just be the finest Sepultura album yet.

  “There are lots of new elements on this record, and that’s something we always do,” says the guitarist. “We always put 100% energy and passion into it. We talk about everything a lot, especially when it comes to the lyrics and finding the best way to express what we want to say. Derrick did his best job on this record. His voice sounds amazing and he can really sing! He really took over the lyrical part this time, too. Everyone was really professional. Even Paulo worked on his bass arrangements at home by himself, which he’s never done before! That’s what we need in Sepultura. I think this is one of our best albums, because it’s a real band effort.”

  Armed with their finest album in decades and itching to get back on the road to share their new music with the faithful, Sepultura have never been in such a confident and content state of mind. Machine Messiah emerges into a troubled world, but its extraordinary contents are guaranteed to lift the spirits of any loyal metalhead. This is metal with a giant heart, a head full of inspiration and one foot planted squarely on the accelerator. The messiah is coming. Praise be!

  “It’s a privilege to be in a band like Sepultura, 32 years into a career, and these are possibly the best times of all for us,” says Kisser. “It took a long time after Max left, we lost everything, so it took a while to rebuild everything and to find the right people to do stuff for us, but we’re in a good place now and we’re really excited about 2017. I love touring, man! We can’t wait to get back out there. Onstage is where the time stops and you lose your connection with reality and go somewhere else, and you have that exchange of energy with the crowd. It’s life - pure life.

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  Bloodbath

  Death is fucking everywhere. It’s time for another deep dive into the horrors of mortality and the foul side of the supernatural. It’s time for Survival Of The Sickest, the sixth full-length album from Bloodbath, Sweden’s undisputed masters of old school death metal.

  Bloodbath began life as a humble tribute. Formed by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström (both of Katatonia), Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth) and Dan Swanö (Edge Of Sanity) in 1998, they devoted themselves to resurrecting the increasingly forgotten art of pure death metal. Inspired by the greats and grotesques of the Swedish and Florida scenes, Bloodbath pooled their talents and discovered that they were more than equal to the achievements of the genre’s revered ancient gods. Kicking off with the release of four-track EP Breeding Death at the turn of the century, the Swedes have since evolved and mutated multiple times, releasing a succession of peerless, face-ripping death metal masterpieces along the way. Whether fronted by Åkerfeldt (on seminal debut Resurrection Through Carnage and merciless third album The Fathomless Mastery), or by Hypocrisy’s Peter Tägtgren (on 2004’s crushing Nightmares Made Flesh), Bloodbath steadily became a revered benchmark for deathly, old school evangelism.

  In 2014, Bloodbath unveiled a new frontman – legendary Paradise Lost vocalist Nick Holmes, now redubbed Old Nick – and yet another macabre musical evolution. With a line-up of Renkse, Nyström, Per ‘Sodomizer’ Eriksson, Martin ‘Axe’ Axenrot and Holmes, the only way to go was grim. Darker and nastier than any previous record, Grand Morbid Funeral was widely hailed as a masterpiece, and a new era had begun. Three years later, the maliciously blackened death tirade of The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn took Bloodbath even deeper into blasphemous, bloodstained depths, adding yet another gleaming gem to one of death metal’s most impressive catalogues.

  Fast forward to 2022 and the world is in flames. Survival Of The Sickest offers no respite from the horrors of reality. Instead, with the addition of new guitarist Tomas ‘Plytet’ Åkvik (Lik) onboard, Bloodbath’s latest and greatest album gleefully confronts the slavering ghoul lurking in the shadows, and treats him to ten songs of ripping death metal frenzy. From the thuggish brain-smash of opener Zombie Inferno, to the bleak, obsidian ooze of the closing No God Before Me, Survival Of The Sickest is the sound of a great band on blistering form.

  “We started writing during the second half of lockdown. It was all quite easy going, just file sharing and all the usual stuff you luckily can do when being thousands of miles apart,” says Nick Holmes. “I usually write all of my stuff with Anders, and Jonas writes all his own tunes. Our new guitar player Tomas, has written a couple of songs on there too. We had plenty of time to work on everything. Lockdown did us a favour!”

  In contrast with The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn, which borrowed heavily from the blackened end of the death metal world, the new Bloodbath goes straight for the jugular in true old school fashion. With strong echoes of everything from Morbid Angel and Death through to Deicide and Obituary, songs like the rampaging Putrefying Corpse, the disgustingly slow and heavy Dead Parade, and the deliciously twisted Tales Of Melting Flesh breathe fresh fire into an arcane, perpetually rotting formula.

  “I guess we were going back for more of the Florida sound and style this time,” Holmes agrees. “We also decided to drop the make-up for this new chapter. It was fun at first, but it had run its course, so we’ve jettisoned all of that now. All aspects considered, this album is probably closest to Nightmares Made Flesh, that same sort of vibe. I honestly think it’s the best album I’ve done with Bloodbath. You tend to say that with new records, but I absolutely love this one. It’s super heavy!”

  Alongside Bloodbath’s official alumni, Survival Of The Sickest boasts a smattering of irresistible cameos from the great, good and ghoulish of the metal underground.

  “We’ve got some great guests on there, too. Barney from Napalm Death is on one song, and we got Marc from Morgoth as well as Luc from Gorguts on a few others. We got people to sing certain parts, just to add a different texture. Barney’s bit really suits his voice and his style. I think you can tell we had a lot of fun writing this one. It’s super heavy and in your face, so hopefully it’ll do the trick.”

  In terms of subject matter, Bloodbath have always stared death in the face. On Survival Of The Sickest they evoke their most horrifying sonic scenarios to date, from the death-by-munching nightmare of Malignant Maggot Therapy, to the murderous nihilism of Affliction Of Extinction. Revelling in bloodstained darkness has always been the Bloodbath way, but this time they really sound like they are having fun.

  “This album is predominantly about zombies, really!,” laughs Holmes. “I’d say the songs are a little more thoughtful on this one. We tackle some environmental stuff as well as the usual gore, but it’s all die-hard horror, and I love having fun with that. The titles say it all, you know? The artwork is pretty gory too, so it all does what it says on the tin.”

  A glorious comeback from a legendarily wicked musical force, Survival Of The Sickest provides yet more proof that Bloodbath are the kings of the old school. This is death metal at its ugly best: vicious, unrelenting and irrevocably sworn to the black. Time for another Bloodbath!