Vim Fuego As unlikely as it may seem now, there was a time when Sepultura were held in high esteem by extreme metal fans the world over. Thrashers hung off every word Max and co. uttered, every note they played and every song they released. There were a few rarities floating around at the time. The band had recorded a track for the Dead Kennedys' tribute album 'Virus 100'. There was the odd live bootleg doing the tape trading rounds. And most difficult to find for those without connections in Brazil, a cover of Motörhead's 'Orgasmatron' was being played on Brazilian radio.

Being the independent, music–for–music's–sake label we know they are (please don't miss the sarcasm in that statement), Roadrunner gathered together a few Sepultura goodies for their 1992 tour to Australia and New Zealand, and then released them to just those two countries.

Anyway, those fortunate enough to be located in Australasia at the time managed to pick up a real gem. The five–song 'Third World Posse' EP kicks off with "Dead Embryonic Cells", one of the better tracks from 'Arise'. The track is refined from the death/thrash fury of 'Beneath The Remains' into a sharper, more focused sound.

Next is a hardcore hyperblast through the Dead Kennedys' "Drug Me". Incomprehensible as the original is, Sepultura actually slow it down a little, beef it up a lot, but gain absolutely no more clarity.

The final three tracks are pulled from Sepultura's excellent live video 'Under Siege', recorded in Barcelona in 1991. The sound quality is faultless, but is still definitely live, with the crowd chanting out of time, and Max's crap stage banter intact. Both "Inner Self" and "Troops Of Doom" seem to come across with more warmth and life in the live situation than they do on the studio albums.

Closer "Orgasmatron" is a cover version classic. While it does not sound like a song Sepultura would have written at the time because of the simple riff and song structures, it is infinitely heavier than the original. The mid–pace tempo of the song allows the rhythm guitar to build to mountainous proportions, and Igor Cavalera punctuates the song with seemingly effortless double kick drum fills and rolls.

Short and to the point, this has all been re–released on albums elsewhere. If nothing else, it documents a time when the band Sepultura held the metal world in its grasp, before tribalism, before dumbing down, before the split, before irrelevance.