SEPULTURA — Bestial Devastation (review)

SEPULTURA — Bestial Devastation album cover

EP · 1990 · Death Metal

4/5 · 2021-06-29
siLLy puPPy

While generally considered a second wave thrash metal band for its international success in the late 1980s / early 90s, Brazil’s SEPULTURA actually formed as early as 1984 in Belo Horizonte and remained an underground extreme metal band for a good number of years before releasing the album “Beneath The Remains” which catapulted the band onto the global stage. While generally disregarded as an early amateur hour, the band’s first release BESTIAL DEVASTATION was actually first released as a split with fellow Brazilians Overdose and was officially titled “Bestial Devastation / Século X.X.”

The album has since been released independently but is the easiest to acquire as a tag on reissue of the band’s debut “Morbid Visions.” This earliest offering from Brazil’s most famous metal export was released as far back as 1985 for the first time but already finds the band in fine form. As with most bands the lineup of SEPULTURA has changed substantially over the ensuing decades and at this point was the four-man group of Max “Possessed” Cavalera (vocals, guitar), Jairo “Tormentor” Guedz (lead guitar), Paulo “Destructor” Jr (bass) and Igor “Skullcrusher” Cavalera (drums).

Musically speaking SEPULTURA was at the forefront of the early thrash metal scene with BESTIAL DEVASTATION but in 1985 the distinct styles of thrash metal, death metal and black metal hadn’t drifted off into the own genres quite yet which makes this brief moment in extreme metal history so distinct since all three of those genres were still indistinguishable. Following in the footsteps of bands like Venom and Hellhammer, SEPULTURA clearly had its hands on the pulse of the extreme metal underground and delivered five tracks on BESTIAL DEVASTATION with savage fury. These fiery tracks perhaps were some of the fastest high octane early thrash metal offerings for 1985 in league with bands like Possessed and Sadus.

Themes were very much in the Slayer camp with horror, gore and death as the topics of choice and therefore a clear influence on what would become death metal although the music didn’t take that next step like bands like Possessed had already taken with its own 1985 album “Seven Churches.” While BESTIAL DEVASTATION isn’t as refined as the primetime productions that would come, this is a monstrous powerhouse display of youthful angst in top form with excellent exhilarating guitar riffs, devastating and damaging drumming prowess with wicked vocals that provided a glimpse of where early black metal was heading. While often overlooked in SEPULTURA’s canon, BESTAIL DEVASTATION is a very competent little debut with no weak moments in its mere near 16-minute run.

I’m really not sure why this one is so poorly received in general. This is primeval metal in all its rawness delivered with a passion that becomes extinguished on the higher production value albums. Not that i don’t love those albums as well but sometimes extreme metal connects on a more dynamic level when everything is done on the cheap (as was this one) and simply overcompensated by the performances that speak for themselves. For my tastes, this earliest SEPULTURA release is absolutely essential for any extreme metal head’s collection and easily obtainable as a tag alone with the band’s full-length debut. Primo speed / thrash / proto-death metal delivered here unlike anything else from this early year. Oh yeaaaaaaahhh!