Sepultura

This is the third or fourth time I've seen Sepultura, each time with Derrick Green as frontman (who has now been in the band longer than Max Cavalera had been prior to his leaving in 1997), and the second time now in as many years. Any opportunity to see Sepultura perform is a treat, as they are always on top form, tight as a unit and are charismatic performers and consummate professionals who always clearly enjoy being up on stage and playing. This occasion was no different, and as this was a tour celebrating 30 years of Sepultura in action, my interest was especially piqued as to what surprises might be in store within their set.

Throughout this tour they have been performing a fairly diverse range of songs from most of their albums, with an emphasis on bringing up some very old tracks from the band's modest origins back in the mid and late 1980's, including tracks from 1985's "Bestial Devastation". This, for me, is something of a mixed bag, though, as although it's fun to hear some very old-school thrash/death-metal from the band's more basic earlier releases, the material itself doesn't really hold up as well until you get to tracks like Inner Self, from 1989's "Beneath The Remains" (a true 80's thrash classic album on a par with the best of Slayer or Metallica), and from then on their back catalogue is consistently littered with memorable and distinctive songs.

In contrast, and rather disappointingly, Sepultura's albums from the last fifteen years were largely ignored, with only individual tracks played from "Kairos" (2011), "Dante XXI" (2006) and newest release "The
Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart" (2013), with nothing from "Nation" (2001) (which is usually absent, except maybe for the anthemic "Sepulnation" on occasion), "Roorback" or "A-Lex". In part, this is obviously because of the inevitable compromise of keeping the set to a reasonable duration, and from the band's perspective it would make sense to stick to fan-favourites (several tracks from both "Chaos A.D (1993) and "Roots" (1996) were played, all excellent) in a live-context, but for me it's a shame that the set was not more reflective of their more recent achievements, which are just as important in the grand thirty-year story of Sepultura as any of the proto-death-metal from the 1980's. As a pleasant surprise however, the band played "Choke" from 1998's "Against" (in my view, a severely underrated, refreshing and experimental album that marked Derrick Green's introduction to the band), something I have always hoped to see the band play live again but until now had not.

Sepultura, making me go as wild as a bunch of angry animals in a zoo since I first listened to them. They may have lost a bit of their style and authority ever since Max Cavalera but now they've come back at their very best with their new album The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart with Derrick Green and his powerful vocals and their new drummer with exceptional talent at just 23 years of age. His phenomenal ability is what struck me the most when seeing them at the Ritz. When going to see Sepultura, you are expecting to hear that loud and aggressive thrash metal which is classic of them, combined with the funky Brazilian samba beats meant to get the fans dancing like Capoeira people. When they play those samba songs, it is just out of the blue and suddenly the fans start getting curious and really willing to learn about their musical culture. The venue itself was tiny but the sound quality was truly awesome for a tiny place with only a capacity of 1,500. The drummer though, as I said, was just on fire that night. The vocalist with his bellowing scream also really impressed me and he is one of the only screamers I know that after more than 20 years of screaming really knows how to look after his voice compared to someone like Corey Taylor with Slipknot (because when I saw him last year at Download, he could barely scream at all.) The fans really looked lively and I could see "I'm Ready for this" written across their faces because when Sepultura are at their best, especially at The Ritz, it is a madhouse. Sepultura are so good at getting their fans going as they are always determined to steal the show and make their fans walk out at the end with the biggest smiles of their entire lives on their faces. This is by far the best of Brazilian metal I have heard in my entire life and with Sepultura I really think that other fans should see them as they will never disappoint anyone. I think that they have really found their feet again when it comes to wanting to give a spectacular performance.

Every time I see Sepultura it’s like being pleasantly kicked to death in the best possible way. The Brazilian Godfathers of Thrash bring it and bring it hard every single time.
Last night’s show was no exception. Starting off with the classic Troops of Doom, the show started in high gear and just got crazier from there. Full of favorites both old and new, the boys were in rare form and we all rocked all night. Unlike so many of today’s weaksauce metal bands, Sepultura needs no crazy sets or fancy costumes; you can tell these are hardworking passionate musicians who are there to get the job done. And what a job it was! Right up in the pit at the front of the stage is where I stayed.
The crowd last night was a fantastic one. They were hardcore but still friendly. Well, as friendly as you can be while slamming into someone else at high speed. Very considerate for all that, no one got trampled and there were always hands waiting to help you up if you fell. My one beef was with the venue. It seemed to me that the air conditioning was turn up too high. I mean, sure, you are going to sweat your face off when moshing but with a show like this, they should really crank the temperature down some. All in all, a great show, as usual with Sepultura.

What a gig, the first time Sepultura had been to New Zealand in 15 years! Sepultura arrived on stage with the eerie intro to The Vatican and as soon as they started playing they decimated it. The crowd was lapping up favourites such as Propaganda, Territory, Refuse/Resist, Roots Bloody Roots and even old school classics such as Inner Self, Arise and Dead Embryonic Cells. All the new songs fitted well amongst the classics and the drumming by Eloy Casagrande was nothing less than spectacular and well worth the ticket price alone!

What an amazing gig. All the bands were absolutely amazing. Was right down the front for the full gig with my 14yr old son and his friend but had to get out just before the end as the pit and crowd surfers were brutal lol also got to meet members from all of the bands and my son got a drumstick signed from Ben from Evile. Can't wait for next one.

Wow and more Wows. Death angel and sepultura playing together was awesome. Everyones heard of the big 4. Anthrax,megadeath,slayer,metalica. I call that night the big 2. Its the best ive been to in ozzy gigs. Im still sore from the mosh pit. And want to thank the guys for helping me up when i got nocked down. Fuck yeah

The venue is just perfect for outdoor concerts, and the bank took the opportunity to deliver a impressive and solid performance including the most important songs throughout their career. They have shown again why have remained in top for so long.

This show was postponed. Why is Songkick asking me for a review?

I'm writing this sentence because it's required that reviews have at least thirty words. I'm writing this sentence because it's required that reviews have at least thirty words.