Hardcore, thrash metal icons Sepultura hit The Hi-Fi stage (4th October, Brisbane) to huge cheers and an eager crowd ready to get down and dirty in a messy moshpit of mayhem.
The audible anticipation and testosterone-fuelled chants had my heart rate raised and the brooding, inner teenager ready to rumble.
With prime position located and the protecting, protruding elbows at the ready, I immersed myself in a sea of black T-shirts, beards and band patches. Unfortunately though, from the opening track through to the finish this show was quite underwhelming to say the least!
Having not engaged in a Sepultura experience since the ‘Roots’ album tour of the mid ‘90s, the once ballsy Brazilian metal juggernaut was missing its driving heart and soul (founding members, brothers Max and Igor Cavalera); for me, this current incarnation really failed to capture the original sound that underpinned my musical identification as a youth.
Click here for photos from Sepultura’s Melbourne show.
Although the thrashy tunnels of ear torment were extremely loud, their sound was quite empty, thin and and lacking the power and punch it deserved. I was quick to find excuses, laying blame with either the room schematics or the sound engineer, but in truth as the night progressed it was evident how impossible it is to recreate someone else's artistic energy and unique sound.
In saying that, they gave their all and had an almost full-to-capacity room engaged and exhausted. Frontman Derrick Green was charismatically playful and happy; Kisser shredded and the rhythm section were solid.
Sepultura at 170 Russell 03.10.14 - Image © Carl NeumannFan favorites ‘Chaos Ad’, ‘Dead Embryonic Cells’ and ‘Roots’ had the old-school beelining for the steamy, sweaty, nose-bleed section. While the younger fans sang in unison to the sounds that galvanised their friendship and connections.
I didn't want to use phrases like ‘flogging a dead horse’ or ‘time to hang-up the boots’ to a band that I idolised and held up high in an untouchable pocket of awesomeness and has survived 30 years, but these were the reoccurring thoughts that passed through my brain cave on the long stroll home after the show.
It was nice to relive old memories, but maybe it's time for this aging metal head to hang-up the boots as well.
