SEPULTURA — Schizophrenia (review)

Album · 1987 · Thrash Metal

3.5/5 · 2022-06-25
UMUR

"Schizophrenia" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Brazilian death/thrash metal act Sepultura. The album was released through Cogumelo Records in October 1987. It was recorded on a 16 track recorder at J.G. Estudios in Belo Horizonte in August 1987. The original album contained 9 tracks and featured a playing time of 38:13 minutes. Later reissues include a re-recorded version of "Troop of Doom" from the band´s debut album "Morbid Visions" (1986). Some versions also include some demos and rough mixes of songs from the album.

The music on the album is aggressive death/thrash metal with an emphasis on the thrash metal part. There´s been great development in the band´s sound since the more primitive/simple debut album, which was released just a year before "Schizophrenia". The music on "Schizophrenia" is not only aggressive and powerful, it´s also occasionally rather sophisticated for the style. While the band had certainly listened to the brutal euro thrash metal of artists like Kreator, Sodom, and Celtic Frost, it´s obvious that the more sophisticated thrash metal of Metallica (and other US thrash metal artists) also had great impact on the sound on "Schizophrenia". There´s even a long instrumental track on the album in the 7:16 minutes long "Inquisition Symphony" (again probably influenced by Metallica longer 80s instrumentals). The short acoustic "The Abyss" is also a nice variation from the more regular death/thrash metal assault of tracks like "From the Past Comes the Storms", "R.I.P. (Rest in Pain)", "To the Wall", and "Escape to the Void". Guitarist Jairo Guedes has been replaced by Andreas Kisser who adds a new dimension to Sepultura´s sound. His playing is much more diverse and sophisticated than the style of his predecessor, who had a more raw, fast-paced, and screaming chromatic guitar solo style.

"Schizophrenia" was the album that caught the attention of Roadrunner Records who signed Sepultura on the merits of the album. Roadrunner Records re-released Sepultura´s first two albums in addition to releasing the band´s international breakthrough album "Beneath the Remains" (1989). The latter which started the band´s rise to the stars. This particular album may have put Sepultura on the map, but "Schizophrenia" is like listening to a demo version of what would become "Beneath the Remains" (1989). The album features loads of powerful and aggressive death/thrash riffing, intriguing solo work and generally interesting compositional ideas, but the execution lacks slightly in places. First of all the production isn´t that well sounding. It´s distorted and muddy and while that´s not a problem all the time, it disturbs my listening experience in places. Secondly the musicianship isn´t as tight as it would be just a few years down the line, although the band are already a fairly well playing unit. "Schizophrenia" is overall a decent quality album though and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved. Better sound production values and more memorable songwriting could have elevated the album to the excellent zone, but that would happen already on the next album.