By Schuler
Their 35 years on the metal spectrum have seen Sepultura mutate and progress further and further away from the death-thrash roots with which they made their bones in the late 80s and early 90s. While this isn’t entirely uncommon for veteran acts, what’s impressive is that Sepultura have managed to do it—and do it well—while working against the momentum of one of the most sound-conservative fanbases in metal. Despite the fact that it’s been over two decades since Derrick Green replaced frontman Max Cavalera, there’s somehow a section of the fanbase still pining for a reunion that’ll almost certainly never come. On Quadra, the fifteenth album of the band’s tumultuous career, Sepultura have released their boldest and most satisfying stylistic departure to date. And while there may be no going back to the meat-and-potatoes groove of the band’s most commercially successful albums, that’s not to say that progression means leaving absolutely everything about the past behind. There’s something here, and something incredibly powerful, for fans of all the band’s eras and fans of well-crafted heavy music in general.
Opener “Isolation” features longtime guitarist and Sepultura showrunner Andreas Kisser’s most Arise-esque riffs since… well, since Arise. The symphonic elements that crept in around 2006’s Dante XXI and became overwhelmingly prominent on 2017’s Machine Messiah are now more dramatically and seamlessly incorporated than ever, and when combined with riffs like the one that propels “Isolation”, they really best represent what Sepultura have become (over their last three releases, in particular): a band that manages to embrace their roots while actively spreading outward into weird, new territory. “Means To an End” is one of the album’s most powerful, groove-heavy numbers, with newest member Eloy Casagrande turning in the most intimidatingly intense drum performance of his three-album stint with the band. Addiction meditation “Last Time” combines with tribal rocker “Capital Enslavement” to embrace every single thing the band did right from Roots up until Roorback. In songs like “Guardians of Earth” and “Agony of Defeat”, the somber experimentation of Nation collides with the melodic strides of A-Lex’s most poignant moments. And songs like “Autem” have the anthemic sensibility of an almost radio-ready rock single (while Green’s employed plenty of clean vocals in the past, he’s never sang quite like this before). Finally, there’s “Fear; Pain; Chaos; Suffering”, the album’s closing track and one of Sepultura’s biggest reaches yet, pitting one of the band’s most melodically emotive performances against a stirring guest vocal performance from Emmily Barreto.
All the descriptions I’ve given so far have used previous Sepultura records as reference points, and while there are certainly similarities, to say the record is only aping its predecessors is selling Quadra criminally short. This record just clicks, man, and it clicks in a way the band hasn’t managed to pull off since the lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry they had during Chaos A.D.
and Roots. While 2017’s Machine Messiah was probably the best release of the Green era, it was only gesturing towards the successful experimentation, comfortable synergy and memorable songwriting the band displays on Quadra. That’s something that only comes over time, and something that, for many groups, never comes at all. While I’ve found something to love (dearly) about every Sepultura release, there are a couple albums I won’t try to defend against the band’s more ardent critics. I can recognize where my nostalgia and loyalty skew my judgment. And that’s by and large the story of fans of long-running acts who’ve lost the fire; “they’re not doing it like they used to, but at least they’re still doing something.” Don’t soften your ear or manage your expectations for Quadra. It is exceedingly rare to see a band get a second (or third, or fourth) wind this far into their career, but Sepultura have pulled it off. This record is a masterpiece, not just for the band as it exists now, but in the context of Sepultura’s most celebrated records and their entire catalog on the whole.
Quadra is available now on Nuclear Blast Records. Follow Schuler’s show on Instagram, @deathdrive90.5, and tune in every Saturday night from 10pm to midnight.