Album Review: Cavalera – Morbid Visions/Bestial Devastation

By DAN SOUTHALL

WE all know the Max and Igor Cavalera story and how they brought a band from Brazil out of the primitive death/thrash ooze to become world beaters.

But every story has a shaky beginning, and if you are any kind of Sepultura fan, you are well aware of the underproduced, rough-cut gems that lay on Sepultura’s first releases.

Ever unhappy with the sound quality of the early recordings, and (possibly) bereft of any solid ideas for another release of new material, the brothers Cavalera decided to go back and have a modern stab at things. Straight off the bat, the most obvious change has been their ability to actually play their instruments. Igor long ago become a very admirable and strong player and his power and speed really stick out, as do Max’s vocals. In recent years, Max has buried his vocals in reverb and here is no different, although in the grand scheme of what they are attempting to achieve here it is a neat little throwback.

I never had a problem with the original releases, as just about everything recorded in that era sounds very muddy. It was a sign of the budget nature of the music played by broke and angry young men trying to scare each other and their Mum. I feel that some of the charm has been sapped because of more modern sheen on display, although it does make tracks like “Antichrist” or “Troops of Doom” have more bite and the simplistic nature of the badly translated lyrics has been allowed to stay.

The real highlights are the two new recordings of super early Seps tracks “Sexta Feira 13” and “Burn the Dead” that show no matter what musical route the brothers have taken in their careers, traditional death and black metal have always been burning in their hearts.

The natural cynic in me just wants to offload about how lazy I felt this all was when the re-records were first announced, but after sitting with them (and the glorious new artwork) for a few days since release I have come to peace with it. After all, if these were released right now people would be all over them for how great they sound and the simplistic power that drives both recordings, as the passion never feels lost. And I still have the originals tucked away for when I want to properly assault my senses.

Buy Morbid Visions on vinyl, CD and cassette
Buy Bestial Devastation on vinyl, CD and cassette