Sepultura
Sepultura (Portuguese: [ˌsepuwˈtuɾɐ], "grave")[2] is a Brazilian heavy metal band formed in Belo Horizonte in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera.[3] The band was a major force in the groove metal, thrash metal and death metal[4] genres during the late 1980s and early 1990s,[5] with their later experiments drawing influence from alternative metal, world music, nu metal,[4] hardcore punk and industrial metal.[6][7] Sepultura has also been credited as one of the second wave of thrash metal acts from the late 1980s to early-to-mid-1990s.[8][9][10][11][12][13]
Not to be confused with Sepulture.
Sepultura
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
1984–present[a]
The band has gone through several membership changes throughout its 40-year existence, with Max and Igor Cavalera departing in 1996 and 2006, respectively. Sepultura's current lineup consists of singer Derrick Green, who replaced Max in 1997, guitarist Andreas Kisser, bassist Paulo Jr. and drummer Greyson Nekrutman, who replaced Eloy Casagrande in 2024. Since Igor Cavalera's departure in 2006, there have been no original members left in the band. Although Paulo Jr. joined Sepultura shortly after its formation in late 1984 and is the longest serving member, he did not play on any of the band's studio albums until Chaos A.D. (1993).[b] Kisser, who replaced onetime guitarist Jairo Guedz, has appeared on all of Sepultura's albums since their second full-length Schizophrenia (1987); he also recorded bass guitar until Chaos A.D..[b] In March 2024, after four decades together, the band began what has been announced as a year-and-a-half long farewell tour.[1][18][19]
Sepultura has released fifteen studio albums to date, the latest being Quadra (2020). Their most successful records are Beneath the Remains (1989), Arise (1991), Chaos A.D. (1993), and Roots (1996).[20] The band has sold over three million units in the United States and almost 20 million worldwide,[21][22] gaining multiple gold and platinum records around the globe, including in countries as diverse as France,[23][24] Australia,[25] Indonesia,[26] the United States,[27] Cyprus,[28] and their native Brazil.[29]
Musical style, influences, and legacy[edit]
Sepultura has been influenced by a variety of music, including heavy metal and hard rock groups such as Queen, Kiss, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Venom, Celtic Frost, Twisted Sister and Whitesnake, thrash metal bands Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Exodus, Testament, Anthrax, Kreator, Sodom and Destruction, and death metal bands Possessed and Death. They were also influenced by punk rock music, including bands such as the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Terveet Kädet, Rattus, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Kaaos, Discharge, S.O.D., Amebix and New Model Army.[37][128][129][130][131][132][133] Andreas Kisser has affirmed that "without Slayer, Sepultura would never be possible."[134]
Sepultura's music comes in a wide range of heavy metal musical styles. The band has been described mainly as thrash metal and death metal,[5][135][136][137][138] and considered one of the primary inventors of the latter genre.[139] Another genre the band has been commonly categorized under is groove metal.[140][141] The band later on started experimenting with elements of other musical genres such as hardcore punk, industrial metal,[6] alternative metal,[142] world music[6][140][141] and nu metal.[4]
Elements of Latin music, samba and Brazilian folk and tribal music have also been incorporated into Sepultura's metal style, particularly on Roots. Roots was partly recorded with the indigenous Xavante tribe in Mato Grosso, and incorporates percussion, rhythms, chanting and lyrical themes inspired by the collaboration.[143][144][145]
Looking back on the band's career arc for a 2016 article on Max and Igor Cavalera's retrospective Return to Roots tour (in commemoration of the album's 20th anniversary), Nashville Scene contributor Saby Reyes-Kulkarni observed that "Before Chaos A.D., the overwhelming majority of metal had a 'white' feel to it. Sepultura changed that forever. And with Roots, the band went a step further, asserting once and for all that the genre can accommodate native stylings from any culture, much like jazz had done for decades prior."[146]
MTV has called Sepultura the most successful Brazilian heavy metal band in history and "perhaps the most important heavy metal band of the '90s."[37] In 1993, Robert Baird of Phoenix New Times wrote that the band played "machine-gun-tempo mayhem" and that the members "love to attack organized religion and repressive government."[32]
A number of bands have cited Sepultura as an influence, including Slipknot,[147] Korn,[148] Hatebreed, Alien Weaponry, Krisiun, Gojira, Between the Buried and Me, Bullet for My Valentine, Xibalba, Vein, Toxic Holocaust, Children of Bodom,[149] Code Orange, Puya and Nails.[150]
