For
more than twelve years, Sepultura has beaten the odds, accepted and overcome
challenges, and triumphed over every obstacle thrown in their path. But
in December of 1996, the band who first emerged from Brazil over a decade
earlier faced their greatest challenge yet: the departure of frontman and
co-founder Max Cavalera. The remaining members of the band knew they had
reached a crossroads.
"Throughout
this year-and-a-half, we thought about everything," says Andreas. "We did,
in fact, think about saying, fuck everybody, fuck music, fuck bands, fuck
everything.' But we didn't make any decisions during the most turbulent
time, because those decisions usually turn out to be the wrong ones. We
took things slow and took our time to think everything through."
Now,
in 1998, Sepultura is back with an album as filled with ferocity and power
as anything they've previously done. AGAINST, produced by Howard Benson
and mixed by Bill Kennedy, takes Sepultura into territory they've never
explored before, and introduces the world to the band's new singer, Derrick
Green. Basing it all firmly on the foundation of the band's six previous
studio albums, yet incorporating new musical influences and the broad new
range of Green's vocals, Sepultura is re-launching themselves with a whole
new freshness and energy.
"We
didn't even know if we would use the name Sepultura," says Igor Cavalera
about the band's evolution. "We decided that we would write a few songs
first, and if it didn't sound like anything resembling Sepultura, then
we would stop using the name right away. But once we had a few songs, we
saw that we were justified in keeping the name. And the more we played,
the more comfortable we felt. Our only relief during this whole time was
playing music."
Music
is what literally saved Igor and Max Cavalera from an obscure existence
in Belo Horizonte, a small Brazilian city. The brothers formed Sepultura
in 1984 with Paulo Pinto and original guitarist Jairo T. After a couple
of crude early releases (the Bestial Devastation EP and Morbid Visions
album), Andreas replaced Jairo and the band kicked themselves to a new
level of musicianship with the now classic Schizophrenia. That album, and
a growing underground fan base, persuaded Roadrunner Records to sign the
fledgling act. Sepultura's first worldwide release, Beneath The Remains,
was voted one of 1989's top metal albums by critics everywhere and was
hailed as a masterpiece of the genre.
Three
more albums, Arise (1991), Chaos A.D. (1993), and the groundbreaking Roots
(1996) found Sepultura incorporating more and more different influences
into their style, ranging from ancestral Brazilian sounds to African roots
music, creating a unique blend of genres that, coupled with the band's
near-legendary live show, made Sepultura a million-selling act around the
globe. But different views on the band's business affairs led to a parting
of the ways that even the band members' strong bonds couldn't prevent.
"A
lot of people really thought that Sepultura was only Max, and we were only
the musicians behind him," says Andreas. "But Sepultura was always everybody
together, and everybody contributed their ideas. We have the same attitude,
the same music, and the same message. The only thing different is that
Derrick is here now."
Born
in Cleveland, Derrick Green has been singing since he was 16, when he joined
the Midwest hardcore act Outface. He and the guitarist moved to New York
after six years together to form Overfiend. When Sepultura announced that
they were looking for a new vocalist, a Roadrunner A&R man sent them
an Overfiend demo and told them to check it out.
"We
sent him a tape of Choke' and asked him to put vocals over it," recalls
Andreas. "We liked it a lot, so we invited him to come to Brazil, because
we were staying there at the end of last year. So we got together, and
right away, we were pretty sure he was the man. Not just because of Derrick's
technical abilities, but because he's like us. He really believes in the
same stuff, has the same vibe--plus he really likes soccer!"
"I
didn't know what direction they wanted to go in, but I knew that if they
wanted someone who was identical to Max, it would have been totally ridiculous
and I wouldn't have done it," says Derrick. "I didn't want to do anything
remotely similar to that, because it's just not me. So it was really important
for me to meet them and find out what they were looking for."
Once
it was established that Green was "the man," the band commenced recording,
laying down tracks in several different locations, including studios in
Brazil and, for one memorable song, Japan. "We recorded a song called Kamaitachi'
with Kodo, a Japanese percussion group," says Andreas. "We spent four days
in Japan and it was very cool to switch to something different and use
elements from a different musical culture. It's not as prevalent as the
other influences were on Roots, although the album artwork also reflects
a Japanese influence."
For
Derrick, the new man on the scene, recording was an enjoyable experience.
"There was a lot of pressure at first--and it started to get to me for
a little while. I could feel it internally, physically. But after meeting
the guys, they made it a totally non-stressful situation. We listened to
the songs, and it only took four or five days to open up, get into the
rhythm and begin communicating ideas back and forth. It was a learning
experience for myself and the test of the band."
Now
that AGAINST is ready to be unleashed upon the world, Sepultura will take
to the road and do what they do best: bring their music to audiences around
the world. "We've grown a lot in the last year-and-a-half," says Paulo
Pinto. "We learned to stick together more, and found out a lot of what
friendship is really about. When we go out on tour, that's really gonna
express itself onstage. We're very excited about getting out and playing
again."
Having
survived the most difficult period of their careers, Sepultura has refocused
on what playing music means to them, and are proud to let AGAINST speak
for them. "It's a good time to come back to the idea of what Sepultura
is," concludes Igor. "It's not just me, or Andreas, or Paulo, or Derrick--it's
the chemistry of four people playing together."
