Actually I was kind of done with SEPULTURA. I thought they overdid the tribal percussion thing somewhat on Roots. Max Cavalera apparently thought differently because he left SEPULTURA to overdo it some more with his bloody godawful SOULFLY. With Derrick Green as his replacement SEPULTURA continued to release substandard thrash albums that were simply no match for classics like Arise or Beneath The Remains. Like I said, I was done with 'em.

Now SEPULTURA have returned with (shock! horror!) an honest-to-God concept album based on Dante's Divina Comedia and whaddayaknow? It's actually a quite pleasant surprise! Like the book the album is divided into three segments. The first one is called Lost and consists of five basic brutal thrash metal tracks. It's the loudest part of the album and probably the most interesting for old school SEPULTURA fans. On the fourth track "False" we hear the first careful experimental bits (horns) and "Fighting On" almost sounds like a hardcore version of CELTIC FROST. Nice!

The second part is called Limboi and here we hear a slower, groovier SEPULTURA. On the first song "Ostia" we get more horns and there is an instrumental midsection with strings. The good thing is that it's all done sparingly and in a way that fits with Andreas Kisser's basic to-the-point riff work. In terms of playing and songwriting this whole section is definitely the strongest part of the album. It will take only one listening session to plant songs like "Buried Words" and "Nuclear Seven" firmly in your head. The third and last part is called Eunoé and it features the most unusual tune SEPULTURA has ever recorded. It's called "Still Flame" and it's a very atmospheric piece of music that accomplishes what "Kaiowas" (from "Chaos A.D.") only hinted at.

It took them a few albums but with "Dante XXI" SEPULTURA has proven that there is life after Max.

- Van Hoften

OFFICIAL SITE: http://sepultura.uol.com.br

RELATED ITEMS: Picks of the litter, 1989