SEPULTURA — Quadra (review)

Album · 2020 · Thrash Metal

4.5/5 · 2020-07-04
Kev Rowland

After Max Cavalera left Sepultura I, and it must said, a great many other metalheads, felt the band lost their way somewhat and that Green just wasn’t the same type of frontman. After some years they also parted ways with Igor, bringing in Eloy Casagrande, and somewhat surprisingly for me they started to have some sort of resurrection. This started with 2013’s ‘The Mediator’ which took me somewhat by surprise, as it was easily the best album since ‘Roots’ and then in 2017 they produced ‘Machine Messiah’ which just blew me away. What on earth had happened to the band? They were back punching way above their weight producing metal with real power, heart and soul, and when I saw them on tour (supported by Death Angel!) I finally appreciated the force and presence of the guys.

It may have taken three years for them to come back with ‘Quadra’, but this time around it was an event people were waiting for as opposed to just another Sepultura album with Derrick Green on vocals, and if anything the guys have ramped it up again. They have even brought in some traditional percussion on “Capital Enslavement” – it will be nice for guest drummers to have more than just “Roots, Bloody Roots” to play along with at festivals. This is brutal groove thrash metal which looks back to their past but is also looking forward. This quartet have been together for 9 years now, with this being their third album together, and it shows. Paolo and Eloy are joined at the hip, while Eloy is being so incredibly free in his attack and adding real dynamics and aggression to the overall sound. Andreas Kisser has a monstrous deep and dark sound, and all power to producer Jens Bogren for capturing it. Then at the front there is Derrick Green. For many years he has suffered just by not being Max and was never really given the acclaim he should have been. That seemed to change virtually overnight with the release of the last album, which metalheads rightly raved over, and here he has dropped whatever weight was pulling back and he is a man possessed – it is amazing what confidence can do to a singer. It may have taken more than 20 years for the band to move on and create their own destiny, but they finally have and with ‘Machine Messiah’ to build on they are yet again taking their music to a whole new level.

This isn’t the band that gave us ‘Roots’, half of that line-up has departed, instead this is the band which has given us ‘Quadra’, for which we should all be grateful.

more than 2 years ago
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adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I should listen to Dante XXI again. I do actually have that one and I was quite fond of it at one time, even though at first I found it a poor release and ironically decided that my next Sepultura stop should be the famous Roots album. We all know how that turned out.

Tupan wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Dante XXI was great, "Mediator etc" it's good, I still need to listen to Machine Messiah and Quadra

TheHeavyMetalCat wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I think Beneath the Remains and Arise are pretty great. The rest ranges from merely 'okay' to a load of crap. This one seems better on one listen, but it's not an album that's made me want to listen again in a hurry.

666sharon666 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I actually really liked Dante XXI, but this is certainly the best one they've made since Arise for me. I think all their albums since Dante have been at least solid work.

Vim Fuego wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I never really lost interest, although I don't like Roots at all. To me, this is the best album since Chaos AD.
And yes, Sepultura and Death Angel both went off on that tour...

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I'm in the camp that I respect the thrash metal work of Max era Sepultura, but they lose me with Roots and although there aren't many really great albums from it (until recently, at least) I've always thought Green was the better vocalist. I liked this one a lot when I streamed it a while back. I've since gone back and heard Machine Messiah which I also found to be very good. I'm interested in the band again now more than I have been for years and going through the records I own of them (from both eras but likely ignoring Roots) is something I plan to do.

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I´ve had a similar experience with Sepultura. I lost interest after Max left, and the few times I´ve given the Green albums a chance they didn´t impress me, until "The Mediator" came out. There was something about that album, which made me want to listen Again, and then "Machine Messiah" came and blew me away. What a great album that is. I´ve saw the Green-fronted Sepultura a couple of times in the last 10 years, and seing them live was the final piece missing for me to become a dedicated fan Again.