UMUR
"Nation" is the 8th full-length studio album by Brazilian thrash/groove/alternative metal act Sepultura. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in March 2001. It´s the successor to "Against" from 1998 and is the second Sepultura album to feature lead vocalist Derrick Green, after the departure of original lead vocalist/guitarist Max Cavalera in 1996. "Nation" was the last Sepultura album released through Roadrunner Records, as the band didn´t feel the label gave them enough promotional support (a scheduled filming of a music video for "One Man Army" was for example cancelled).
Stylistically "Nation" is pretty much a continuation of the hardcore influenced groove/thrash metal style of "Against (1998)", featuring the occasional ethnic tribal rhythmic moment. Green expands on his already varied vocal arsenal, and in addition to delivering his aggressive raw snarling also sings some clean vocals. The album opens with the heavy groove laden "Sepulnation", and it´s a strong opening to the album. From then on Sepultura treat the listener to many different variations of their style and they can certainly not be accused of being one-dimensional in their songwriting approach. The songwriting is generally pretty creative, and in the end that turns out to be both a strength and a weakness. A strength because "Nation" is a varied and entertaining release throughout, and a weakness because it simply sticks in too many directions and ultimately leaves me wishing for a more stylistic consistent approach. Had that been the case, it´s my conviction that "Nation" would have been an overall stronger release.
The musicianship is strong on all posts, and "Nation" also features a powerful and well sounding production job, so upon conclusion it´s a relatively strong album release by Sepultura. It´s pretty similar in style to "Against (1998)" and I´ve always felt that the two were more or less sibling releases. Also in terms of quality and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is therefore deserved.