Warthur Sepultura follow up the brilliant Beneath the Remains with another masterpiece of thrash metal. Many bands in their position would have been tempted to simply make "Beneath the Remains 2: This Time We Have a Major Studio Budget", but instead Sepultura slow things down a little, slip in a little groove here and there, and generally continue to refine and experiment with their sound, creating a companion piece which builds on the success of Beneath the Remains rather than meekly trying to replicate it. Slipping samples and world music influences atypical in metal at the time into the mix not only keeps things fresh but also gives Sepultura a legitimate claim to be one of the progenitors of 1990s alt-metal.

Warthur On Beneath the Remains, Sepultura launch a devastating barrage from the extreme end of the 80s thrash metal spectrum, comparing favourably on the brutality scale to classic-era Slayer and at points approaching the proto-death metal territory of early Celtic Frost. They even have a delightfully pretty little introduction to the title track which proves that they can pull off the whole "tranquil opener to a crushingly heavy track" just as well as Master of Puppets-era Metallica could. Bringing this combination of musicianship, compositional excellence, and crushing heaviness to bear, the album bellows defiance at anyone who dares doubt that Sepultura deserve a place in the thrash metal hall of fame.

Diogenes Some time after the release of their landmark album Arise, the well of thrash metal riffs that had powered Sepultura’s last few efforts abruptly ran dry, and the Brazilian pioneers briefly adopted a style that was far slower and groove-oriented than the scene was used to at the time. That Chaos A.D. was the band’s first big step into the mainstream probably isn’t a coincidence, but regardless of how Pantera-influenced it may seem at first, Sepultura’s fifth full-length album remains a classic of the metal genre and a huge influence to this day.

As highly regarded as the trio of Schizophrenia, Beneath the Remains, and Arise are among thrash-heads, Chaos A.D. is undoubtedly the album in which Sepultura really found themselves as a band and forged a sound that really set them apart from the crowd; it’s the first indication that they would be around for the long haul, if you will. The tribal and industrial elements that were introduced on Arise are explored in earnest here, from the famous drum intro to “Refuse/Resist” to the full-fledged acoustic instrumental “Kaiowas”. These are blended quite nicely into the slower compositions, giving the music plenty of room to breathe without sounding forced (a problem people might have with the band’s next album, Roots). There are also a couple of punk-ish tracks in “Biotech is Godzilla” and a cover of New Model Army’s “The Hunt,” which actually sound really good (though Sepultura have always been an excellent cover band, so this shouldn’t be a surprise). This doesn’t completely excuse Chaos A.D. from its absence of great riffs, but the melting pot of different genres makes each and every track well-distinguishable from one another. For this reason, it’s also a pretty easy album to listen to from beginning to end.

What ultimately makes Chaos A.D. a winner in my book is its absolutely impeccable atmosphere. Andy Wallace really did a spectacular job producing this one, but that’s just gravy compared to how Sepultura plays their instruments here. Each song is dark, hulking, and aggressive, and you can just feel the anger flowing through the guitars while Max Cavalera rages on about governmental corruption and censorship; once again, the cover art fits the music like a glove. Andreas Kisser is definitely the MVP of the album, projecting evil and hatred with his six strings, and really making the listener feel like they’re a part of that weird mummification process on the album art (the lead in “Propaganda,” for instance). This is something that just isn’t found on modern groove metal releases (or most groove metal releases, for that matter); clean and polished the album is not, but I think that’s ultimately what makes it so appealing.

While I’m no fan of groove metal, Chaos A.D. is just a solid album in every sense of the word. With its unique combination of world elements, suffocating production, and accessible instrumental work, it’s not only an important stepping stone for Sepultura as a band, but for the genre of metal as a whole. As such, it’s definitely deserving of a place in just about any metalhead’s collection, and continues to stand the test of time as a must-listen collection of tunes.

UMUR "Kairos" is the 12th full-length studio album by Brazilian thrash/groove metal act Sepultura. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in June 2011. It´s Sepultura first release on the label after their long business relationship with SPV/Steamhammer ended.

...the album is divided into four parts, each ending with a short interlude (except the outro "4648" which is a great deal longer). All tracks on the album are thematically based on the ancient Greek word "Kairos", which means something like "The right or opportune moment (the supreme moment)".

The music on the album is thrash/groove metal. It´s actually nice to hear how many thrashy riffs the band have chosen to include this time around, because IMO that´s when they are strongest. There´s good variation on the album, which in part is due to the two faster paced thrashers "Mask" and "No One Will stand", the Ministry cover "Just One Fix" and the industral metal track "Structure Violence (Azzes)". The two latter I could have done without though. They might bring variation to the album, but why on earth include a cover track that is vastly inferior to the original and a rather soulless industrial metal track? The rest of the tracks are good but seldom reaches higher than standard quality level for the band. One of the highlights is "Relentless" which features a pretty badass riff.

To be honest I expected much more from "Kairos" than what I got. There´s simply little here that makes my blood boil. I don´t know if it´s the quality of the songwriting, the flat Roy Z sound production or something else, but to me "Kairos" is just another album in now a long line of albums by the band that has left me unimpressed. Of course the level of musicianship is high as ever, the sound production is professional (if you enjoy Roy Z´s productions) and as such the songwriting is professional too, but I´m still left with a feeling that they could do so much better, and that feeling warrants that "Kairos" gets a 3 star (60%) rating from me.

Diogenes Man, was I excited about this one. There was a bunch of talk in early 2009 among Sepultura fans that the band’s upcoming album would be a long-awaited return to form, especially after their previous effort Dante XXI was so well-received. I bought into it after hearing the samples of “The Treatment” and “We’ve Lost You,” sensing that a Chaos A.D.-style album was in the works. Two-plus years later, I can say that SPV did a damn good job of marketing, because there aren’t many more highlights than those two songs on the disappointing A-Lex.

A-Lex is a concept album based on the famous novel “A Clockwork Orange”. This is a really cool idea in theory, since anyone who’s read the book and/or seen the movie adaptation knows that A Clockwork Orange kicks a whole bunch of ass. Unfortunately, the most important part of any thrash album was seemingly lost in this whole concept: the riffs! Yes, there are some fast songs here, namely “Moloko Mesto,” “Forceful Behavior,” and the aforementioned “The Treatment,” but those serve only as a mask to some very average riffing; other tracks reveal that this is basically the same guitar work that Andreas Kisser has been criticized for throwing out there ever since Max Cavalera’s departure from the band. The same guitar tone, the same hardcore influence, the same plodding style. It really stinks that the band never hired an additional guitar player, because the one-guitar approach brings A-Lex down. On past Derrick Green releases, this was acceptable since it fit what the band was trying to do (or, if you want, not trying to do), but here the intricate concept is completely nullified by the mediocre guitars. It’s like a domino effect gone haywire: the concept means that there are more songs (some of which don’t even hit 2 minutes), which means that the riffs that Kisser did come up with are more spread out, and that ultimately leads to an album that’s half filler despite supposedly needing those songs for the concept!

That being said, A-Lex is saved somewhat by the two factors that should have otherwise been afterthoughts. Derrick Green’s vocals have never sounded better, his rough barking excellent as usual while mixing in some surprisingly effective cleans. Behind the drumkit, newcomer Jean Dolabella is no Igor Cavalera, but his energetic playing carries tracks such as “Sadistic Values,” showing that he’s a worthy replacement to one of thrash metal’s greatest drummers. Beyond that, Paulo Jr. is usually solid when you can hear him, offering some fun little bass doodles throughout the album. None of this is really enough to overcome the glaring blandness of the guitars, however.

Don’t get me wrong; A-Lex isn’t terrible. It simply suffers from having too much of too little. Many of the negatives can be ignored if the album is played all the way through at once (it is a concept album, after all), but that shouldn’t be necessary. There’s just too much filler. This would have been right up there with Against and Roorback had the band either a) ditched the concept or b) put more time into filling out the music for it. If you’re looking for a place to start with the unfortunately overlooked latter half of Sepultura’s discography, this isn’t it.