Sepultura

Sepultura

Sepultura is a Brazilian thrash metal band, formed in 1984. Their name means "grave" in Portuguese, which they chose after Max Cavalera, one of the founding members, was translating the lyrics of the Motörhead song "Dancing on Your Grave".

Biography

Sepultura was formed in Belo Horizonte in 1984 by Max Cavalera (rhythm guitar), his younger brother Igor Cavalera (drums), Paulo Pinto (bass), Jairo Guedes (lead guitar) and Wagner Lamounier (vocals). Sepultura signed to Cogumelo Records after a few years of performing. Lamounier left the band without recording on a demo due to differences in idelogies. Max took over as vocals later on. Their first EP was Bestial Devastation, a split with Overdose's album on the flipside. Their first LP was Morbid Visions (1986), which included the moderate hit "Troops of Doom" that attracted the band some attention. Both albums are nowadays regarded as early milestones in the establishment of death metal. After Morbid Visions, Jairo Guedes left the band for another thrash metal venture and Sao Paulo based guitarist Andreas Kisser replaced him. Their second full-length album was Schizophrenia, which was a critical success that led them to being contracted to Roadrunner Records.

With Roadrunner distributing Schizophrenia worldwide, Sepultura reached new audiences of metal fans. This was cemented by 1989's Beneath the Remains, which is hailed as one of the best thrash albums of the late 1980s. It was followed by a long European and American tour. Their first US show was October 31, 1989 at the Ritz in New York City, opening for King Diamond. By the time they released 1991's Arise, Sepultura were located in Phoenix, Arizona and had become one of the most critically-praised metal bands of the time, in spite of a lack of mainstream success.

This was changed by Chaos A.D. (1993), which saw a departure from the traditional thrash style, now mixing it with groove metal elements. Though generally regarded as a sell-out by thrash fans, the album helped form the groove metal genre and saw Sepultura achieve recognition beyond the thrash metal community. They continued with this on 1996's Roots, in which the band further innovated by experimenting with elements from the music of Brazil's indigenous peoples and traditional thrash, with a slower, downtuned nu metal sound. The title track is probably the band's best-known song, and often a staple at live shows.

In parallel, in 1994, Max and Igor, aided by Alex Newport of Fudge Tunnel, recorded a more industrial LP, Point Blank, under the signature Nailbomb. Nailbomb played a full set live only once, mostly the same tracks as on the album, and the performance was released as Proud to commit commercial suicide. Nailbomb also played selected tracks live on Sepultura's 1994 tour with guests Fudge Tunnel.

In 1996, Sepultura played on the Ozzfest main stage alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer, Danzig, Biohazard, and Fear Factory.

At the height of Sepultura's fame, however, a series of events broke the band apart. Just after the album "Roots", Sepultura decided to fire their manager, Gloria, Max Cavalera's wife.

It was rumoured that there was some intra-band tension throughout the latter half of 1996, and at the end of a successful tour of Britain later that year, at Brixton Academy on 16th December 1996, the band told Max they would not renew Gloria's management contract. Max Cavalera left the band, and subsequently formed a new one, Soulfly. The others announced that they would continue under the Sepultura name and were searching for a replacement.

A recording of Max's last show with the band was later released as a live album, 2002's Under A Pale Grey Sky by their former record label Roadrunner Records, against the wishes of the band. Derrick Green from Cleveland wound up filling the frontman spot, and the band released Against in 1998. Against was commercially less successful than its two predecessors, as was the follow-up Nation. These releases saw Sepultura move away from their previous approach of the thrash metal sound - a process already in motion in such releases as Roots, and aided by Max's departure - and this led to widespread criticism from the band's original fanbase. Subsequent releases have had a positive effect in returning praise to the band, but opinion is divided on their new direction.

After recording Revolusongs, an EP full of covers in 2002, the band released the album Roorback in 2003, which garnered a lot of positive reviews.

In November 2005 the live Double-DVD and Double-CD Live in São Paulo was released. This was the first official live album from the band.

The release of 'Live In Sao Paulo' marked the first involvement of the new 'Sepularmy' street team in promotion of the bands music. The Sepularmy is unrelated to the bands record label SPV and its members are motivated purely by the desire to share the bands music with as many people as possible. The army is expected to be involved in the promotion of all the bands releases and endeavours for the foreseeable future and anyone is welcome to register and help out.

A new album, called Dante XXI was released on March 14, 2006. It is based around Dante's The Divine Comedy. This album has been considered to be the band's best effort with Derrick Green and also carries some thrash influence. Although some areas of the media have criticized the album, fans have received it well.

In a recent interview, Igor stated that the band agreed to retire the Sepultura name at the conclusion of the band's current tour, but bassist Paulo Jr. has denied this report.

In a recent interview in Revolver Magazine, Max Cavalera stated that Igor and himself would reunite with the original lineup. There are also rumors that the newly reunited Sepultura will play on the main stage at Ozzfest 2007. However Andreas Kisser stated in a recent interview that there will be no reunion in 2007.

Andreas recently stated in an interview that the band is planning a new studio album release for 2008, being the first without any Cavalera member.

Sepularmy

The Sepularmy was set up in 2005 by Sepultura fans to help promote the band. In the past, the band had suffered from poor promotion from various record labels. After the split from Roadrunner Records, the band suffered a loss in popularity, and as a result, got less exposure.

Their aim is to help spread the word about Sepultura, and to promote the band in various ways. Methods include producing flyers that fans can print out and distribute in local venues and music shops, and posting on Internet forums to help reach potential fans.

The army is currently concentrating on promoting the new album, Dante XXI.

Trivia

• Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters was an early Sepultura fan, being pictured wearing a beany with the bands 'S' logo on more than one occasion during his Nirvana years. In his 'Probot' project, in which Grohl called upon the talents of many of his metal band heroes, he performed the track "Red War" with Max Cavalera on vocal duties.

• Royce Gracie, a UFC hall of famer, starred in the music video for "Attitude".

• In the 2006 movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, the songs "Desperate Cry" and "Inner Self" can be heard during the scene when Ricky and Jean are fighting for 1st place with six laps to go.

Discography

Main article: Sepultura discography

Studio albums

Year	Title	Label	Notes
1986	Morbid Visions	Cogumelo Records	Remastered on Roadrunner Records - 1990.
1987	Schizophrenia	Cogumelo Records	Remastered on Roadrunner Records - 1990, 1st album to feature current guitarist Andreas Kisser.
1989	Beneath the Remains	Roadrunner Records	Considered to be one of their Magnum Opus. -
1991	Arise	Roadrunner Records	See Above Beneath the Remains.
1993	Chaos A.D.	Roadrunner Records	Certified Gold, 1st album to not contain a definete death/thrash-metal theme. More focus on Pantera-esque groove-metal.
1996	Roots	Roadrunner Records	Certified Gold, experimented with the music of native Brazilians and also incorporated nu-metal influences like slower tempos and detuned guitars.
1998	Against	Roadrunner Records	First album without Max, enter Derrick Green as new vocalist, contains hardcore punk influences.
2001	Nation	Roadrunner Records	Last album with Roadrunner Records.
2003	Roorback	SPV Records	First album with SPV.
2006	Dante XXI	SPV Records	Last album to feature a Cavalera and their first Concept album based upon Dante's Divine Comedy. Considered to be their best work upon with Derrick Green upon from now.
2008	Untitled 11th album	SPV Records	The band has stated that they begin writing and practicing next month for a new album. They hope to start recording by the end of this year, possibily into early 2008. A spring release is expected.

External links

• Sepultura web site
• Derrick Green Interview at About.com
• Official Sepultura Fan Site
• photographies from ARISE european tour may 1991 Toulouse France
• Video Interview with Andreas Kisser in Bucharest