Sepultura
Under A Pale Grey Sky

THE REVIEW

The essence of the true Sepultura led by Max Cavalera.

That's how I can summarize this "Under A Pale Gray Sky," which, although it doesn't fail to excite, can't help but instill us with a doubt: why? Why release it in 2002, when Sepultura were no longer the same band that played in these recordings?

This really has the flavor of a commercial operation, or at least a driven one, and I'm left wondering because, in reality, I don’t know the story behind this release. I only know that it's the live recorded at the Brixton Academy in London in December 1996, where, after the performance, according to legend, backstage there was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, further straining the already tense relationships within the group. But, leaving that consideration aside, we're left to deal with the passions, and then I no longer care to know why, because for an old fan, this record can only give strong emotions that retrace the band's career in its most splendid decade. The decade that goes from the early 80s of "Bestial Devastation" to "Roots."

In this record, the songs are played with heart, and I presume without any kind of overdubbing/fake, in fact, it's endowed with a roughness at times unique, and often some mistakes due to the live execution can be heard without excessively engaging in a meticulous listening. But this is precisely its strength and its beauty, and as for the rest, there’s room for everything that made their success: impact, roughness, instrumental power, thrash/death and experimental/tribal songs, like only they could do. I greatly appreciated the execution of "fucking old" songs like "Necromancer" and "Troops Of Doom", decidedly much better compared to the original ones, after all, Sep weren’t technical monsters at the time, and their means were very limited. Instead, I was left a bit disappointed by the fact that some songs end halfway or are cut off to make a medley with others like "Desperate Cry", but for the quality and the emotion, I'm willing to accept even that.

An excellent snapshot of one of the groups that made history in metal, that no fan should miss. Who knows how it would have been to see them play in front of you, just a few meters away, this record instills nostalgia in me, and I always listen to it with pleasure in memory of the times that were.