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Sepultura have decided to call it quits, again. When the last of the Cavalera brothers departed in 2006, many considered Sepultura over, carving a brutal trail of classic albums in their wake; including Arise (1991), Chaos A.D. (1993), and Roots (1996). The current incarnation of Derrick Green on vocals, Andreas Kisser on guitar, Paulo Jr. on bass, and their now former drummer Eloy Casagrande enjoyed many a tour season in the United Kingdom. But now it’s curtains - for real this time (or so they say), and it is truly better to burn out than to fade away. They even brought along a few friends for the funeral. Touching stuff.
A cold Tuesday night at the Evertim Apollo, gaps fill quickly in the standing zone and the seats become filled out. The crowd waits hungrily, eyes primed upon the stage. They are quickly satiated by Philly metalcore jammers (and Out of Rage Album of the Year 2023 winners…) JESUS PIECE, fresh off of their sophomore album, who offer up a delicious slam-burger of a set. They break out with Tunnel Vision, a complete aural assault that gets heads on a swivel. The lyrics are muddied by the sheer brutality of vocalist Aaron Heard, but the entire Apollo seems to wholeheartedly agree with his passionate arguments, supplemented by more chugs than a model railway. Yet as the first opener, as quickly as it began, it ends – leaving behind a sense of longing.
The die has only just been cast before bonafide Floridian death metal giants OBITUARY arrive for some more carnage. Redneck Stomp is a call to arms, every ear trained for old-school death metal at the bar outside hears the iconic opening riff and answers the call back in kind. To the band’s credit, they have always been consistently good with their energy. The set has a great variety from their many album outputs, and the old-heads seem delighted by it. What you see is what you get; good grooves and gnarly vocals that never let up. Chopped in Half/Turned Inside Out is a highlight. Sadly they never did seem to get more than a few die-harders off the ground, and their set feels like it was cut short. But, like all great mailmen, they came, delivered, and left.
While this is primarily a final bow to this particular Sepultura incarnation in old blighty, this does have the air of a co-headliner show. There is a very good reason why one band on the poster shares the font size of the headliner themselves, and that is because JINJER have come onstage and are tearing the stage to pieces. The only real way to report on Jinjer’s set is as if you are a poor Japanese newscaster watching Godzilla wipe out Tokyo from a distance. This was truly the Ukrainian outfit’s time to shine, as they have the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand. Singer Tatiana Shmayluk’s hair flickers wildly to the dissonant riffs and the crowd begins to boil like some hot metal-stew. Shockingly their workhorse single Pisces is absent from the set, favouring instead to close on Rogue from their as yet unreleased new album. Technically phenomenal and electrifying, the night seems to have reached its high point.
We are off to a good start here; three bands that have transformed the tired post-work London crowd into a fighting force ready for war, several shirts are already off and the tension in the room is palpable. After a crowd rendition of War Pigs and an if-you-know-you-know rendition of Polícia by Titãs, the intro rolls slowly, and then they arrive - SEPULTURA.
They burst out of the gate with a three-song assault of Refuse/Resist, Territory, and Slave New World. Guitarist Andreas Kisser seems to have found his true church as he beams at the mosh-pit, while Derrick is sweating profusely and delivering a solid vocal performance. For a second, we were back in the blood and fire of '93. But like a wheel caught in mud, the energy sputtered as they segued into Means to an End from their latest album Quadra, and suddenly the magic dimmed. It is disappointing, yet endemic of Sepultura as they have been for the last decade; with a few exceptions like Kairos, the energy just isn’t there for the band’s later offerings. The same happened at their Bloodstock 2023 set, and their show at Electric Brixton in 2022.
Another big factor was the noticeable absence of former drummer Eloy Casagrande, whose mad chops at Brixton had brought chaos before he ultimately left for nü pastures within Slipknot. It all feels slower, somehow, (yet there were some grooves that had the crowd tapping their feet like Fred Astaire). Nostalgia in the form of Kaiowas follows, featuring “all the Sepultura family and friends” uniting on drums and a shortened version of their wonderful Orgasmatron cover, then it was back to the classics. The now completely shirtless pit-warriors set upon each other once more with Troops of Doom, Inner Self, and finally Arise, and in a blaze of glory it is over once more. The encore of Ratamahatta and Roots followed, a monster of a finale with Greyson Nekrutman, newcomer and former Suicidal Tendencies drummer, beating out a preamble on the kit. He was solid, no doubt, but against Eloy and Igor Cavalera, he had some pretty big, mud-encrusted boots to fill, and the effort of it showed, almost painfully.
And just like that, in a savage blaze, it was over. The band bows and the crowd roars in approval, yet a final question remains; what is the future of this band? Anyone who is aware of the toxic relationship between the Calaveras and this Sepultura know deep within their gut that this is not the end of the story, and that they have many rounds still left in the chamber. Those with doubts about this should consider that we are living in a bizzarro-future where Zombie bands are on the loose; Linkin Park are headlining shows and Pantera is playing at festivals. How and when this future Sepultura should rise from the grave is not known, but if history has taught us anything, it’s that it's hard to keep a good band down.
Words: Kiarash Golshani
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