Sepultura - A-Lex

February 1, 2009

Reviewer: Rottenbucher

Sepultura has clearly become Andreas Kisser’s band.  Igor Cavalera left right after Dante XXI and has been replaced by the shoe-filling Jean Dolabella.  And following the cues from their previous album, A-Lex is another literary concept album: This time based on A Clockwork Orange.

So will the post-Max naysayers be satisfied?  Probably not. For most, Sepultura will never be able to escape the massive shadow of Roots, the previous singer or the disastrous Nation. But for those who actually want to give the band and vocalist Derrick Green a chance, A-Lex continues the band’s revitalization that started with Roorback.  Especially when the thunderous thrash of the album opener “Moloko Mesto” could have appeared on Arise.  That’s right, in perhaps the band’s heaviest and fastest track in over a decade; Kisser and the boys can still serve up more than just primal, post-thrash groove.

“Filthy Rot” continues the aggression with a discordant, choppy riffs and tribal performance from Dolabella.  The clean vocal gang chorus is unique and the riffs are thick. “We Lost You!” returns to the groove the band has become known for while “What I Do!” and “The Treatment” could have appeared on Chaos A.D.  “Sadistic” value fuses groove and trash together nicely while Green shows of he can sing and scream.  “Forceful Behavior” and “Conform” continues the resurrection of elements of Arise/Chaos A.D. and Kisser shows he still knows how to unleash a great solo.

“The Experiment” roars with a perfect combination of grove, trash, melody and aggression as well as spectacular drumming from Dolabella.  Both bassist (and sole original member) Paulo and Dolabella push “Stike” along while Kisser goes off on a riff and solo tangent.  “Enough Said” is 1:53 of righteous trashing and soloing while “Ludwig Van” will turn heads as the band tries to tackle a medley of Beethoven’s classic pieces with the help of a 15-piece orchestra.  It’s better than Metallica and Kiss’ attempt at being symphonic but still a little too bombastic. The final interlude of “A-Lex IV” seems to capture the quirky sound of the film adaptation while “Paradox” proves Sepultura is still a trash band at heart.

A-Lex is easily the best and heaviest of the Green-era.  It continues the aggression of Dante XXI and even gets more ambitious.  Green (as he always has) proves he is a fierce vocalist and his sandblasting roars meld perfectly with Kisser’s dirty power chord punches. The stars seem to align when Kisser and Co. create high-brow concept albums.  They also have succeeded in trying to expand upon the multi-instrumental experiments found on Roots and Against. They’ve come along way in 25 years and A-Lex is not only a worthy and improved follow up to Dante XXI, it’s their strongest album since Chaos A.D.

Release Date: January 23rd, 2009
Label: SPV

TRACK LISTING

1. A-Lex I
2. Moloko Mesto
3. Filthy Rot
4. We’ve Lost You!
5. What I Do!
6. A-Lex II
7. The Treatment
8. Metamorphosis
9. Sadistic Values
10. Forceful Behavior
11. Conform
12. A-Lex III
13. The Experiment
14. Strike
15. Enough Said
16. Ludwig Van
17. A-Lex IV
18. Paradox

Total playing time: 54:23

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