Sepultura
Dante XXI

THE REVIEW

"Sepultura without the Cavaleras no longer scare anyone". Perhaps. While it must be acknowledged that after Max Cavalera's departure, the Brazilians quickly forgot their glory days, on the other hand, it should be highlighted that for some years now the Belo Horizonte combo has been making great efforts to regain a foothold in the market—not with masterpieces, because no one has heard any so far, but at least with more than decent products, worthy of a group no longer at the peak of its career but still coherently pursuing a story that began more out of necessity than by chance over twenty-five years ago.

After a, um, "debatable" album like "Roorback," Andreas Kisser and his associates return with an album that has marked the beginning of a new phase in their career, after rather gloomy years and lean times. Taking inspiration from the "Divine Comedy" of our beloved/hated Dante (damned tercets to memorize, which never satisfied our Italian teacher!), in 2006, with some months of delay from the initial plans, our guys came up with this "Dante XXI", the last work published for an SPV then on the brink of bankruptcy. And, guess what, the final result is not even bad. The disk indeed does its job: a good old-school thrash metal, fast, with short but well-structured tracks, each having a well-defined role in the album's economy. Let's accept it: Derrick Green is not Max Cavalera, nor does he want to resemble him that much. You can feel that this African-American giant comes from hardcore and not from metal tout-court, the attitude is there, here they "yell in your face", there's not a trace of growls imported from Death and Morbid Angel even if you tried to find them. Igor Cavalera, self-renamed "Iggor" here, does his task precisely, without getting too involved and with an attitude of imminent resignation, one must say, it’s no accident most tracks bear the Kisser/Green signature, but that he’s the same guy who sat behind the drums during "Beneath the Remains" era can be felt from a mile away. And what about the rest of the rhythm section? Well, dear old Paulo gives the impression of being there almost by chance for twenty years now, as if he’s the last surviving member of the original band: handing him a pen to write two notes is out of the question, but he’s there, you put the score in front and he plays it: a nice human jukebox, then. A sort of Ringo Starr in a carioca version. Mr. Kisser, now a leader more out of necessity than merit, leads the group with a steady hand (and pick), never overdoing it, also because everyone knows that technique isn't abundant here. As for the track list, the idea of orchestral insertions is not bad, though they could have been developed better, they are nevertheless a pleasant interlude between one piece and another.

What’s the problem? In the end, none, but perhaps given the constant (crushing) comparison with the historical formation, it would have been really wise to change their name. A "Dante XXI" will never be a "Roots" and a Derrick Green will never be a Cavalera in his prime, on the other hand, many bands have moved forward through countless transformations without ever dreaming of changing their name, see Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. Another consideration: good old Max, in recent years more overweight and out of voice than ever, although obsessed with reuniting with his historic Sepultura, does not seem so inspired anymore, also because if you make an album a year, which is always the same but comes out under a different name each time, inevitably you run out of new ideas after a while. Moral of the story: the Cavalera reunion seems to have been rather fleeting, Soulfly are Soulfly, and Sepultura have made at least a couple of decent records in recent years. As I said before: "accept it", the best Sepultura we can expect at the moment are these. For everything else, there is "Arise".

Sepultura:

Derrick Green: vocals

Andreas Kisser: guitars

Paulo Jr.: bass

Igor Cavalera: drums and percussion

"Dante XXI":

Lost [Intro]

Dark Wood Of Error

Convicted In Life

City Of Dis

False

Fighting On

Limbo [Intro]

Ostia

Buried Words

Nuclear Seven

Repeating The Horror

Eunoe [Intro]

Crown And Miter

Primium Mobile [Intro]

Still Flame