SEPULTURA - Virgin Oil Co, Helsinki 22.03.2012

What happens when Sepultura comes to town? You go see them! Unless, of course, you are one those stuck up know-it-all musical gurus that share their wisdom with the world via the comments section on Blabbermouth. We’re not into that, but we’re definitely into crushing heavy metal riffs, which is why we were present in the audience at the recent Sepultura show in Helsinki’s Virgin Oil Co. club on the 22nd of March.

There’s a continuous debate going on regarding the sensitive matter of “old” Sepultura vs. “new” Sepultura, so we thought it would be a good idea to ponder this while watching the show. We’ll come to the conclusion at the end of this review. Now back to the show. With the first sounds the crowd went bananas, jumping, moshing and all the usual fun. And how could you not? Once Andreas Kisser appeared on stage, it was a trip down the memory lane for many people present this evening, for whom Sepultura was one of the leading forces as they made or are still making their first steps through the metal gates.

The audience was presented with a set that went through the milestones of Sepultura’s catalogue (“Arise”, “Chaos A.D.”, “Roots”, etc.) and it was a special treat to have “Refuse/Resist” as one of the opening songs. Some of the material from the band’s latest effort “Kairos”, such as “Kairos”, “Relentless”, “Mask” and “Dialog”, blended in perfectly with the old classics – a proof that there is no such terrible difference between the end products of the “old” and “new” Sepultura.

Naturally, Andreas, being his charismatic and energetic self, was getting the most attention from the crowd, with hands stretched towards him most of the time. However, it is noteworthy to say that Derrick Green fulfilled his frontman position up to 110%: his vocals are a great fit for the “old” Sepultura songs and he kept up the dynamics of the performance, giving the crowd very little time to catch their breath. Maybe less gym attire next time. The newest addition to the band’s line up – Eloy Casagrande – has to be a new drum prodigy, no less. His extremely powerful and highly professional performance, mixed with his young age, left everyone in awe: this guy sure knows how to beat the hell out of a drum kit.

Even though the situation couldn’t have been more appropriate, crowd surfing wasn’t allowed and one unlucky fellow was promptly thrown off the stage. This minor downside still didn’t prevent anybody from having a good time and mighty sore necks. The encore was like cherry on top of the cake: “Ratamahatta” and, of course, “Roots Bloody Roots” – an over-the-top culmination to an amazing evening.

So what about the “old” Sepultura vs. the “new” Sepultura, you ask? Well, we’ve come to a conclusion that it’s simply a natural development of things, the evolution, if you please. Yes, it is definitely not the same Sepultura as it was, with only two members left from its golden line-up. But is it a completely different band that should have another name, so that no moron on the Internet could call it a “cover band” or shrug it off as unworthy of their attention, because Cavalera brothers are no longer there? Absolutely not. It is still Sepultura, the one that has undergone certain changes and a natural development process, just like anything on this planet. Are you still the same person you were a decade ago? Maybe you are mentally, but then you have to be one of the Blabbermouth gurus. Deny it as much as you want, you know you are not the same as you were. So quit being a judgmental whiny fuck and accept this change. It still is Sepultura, it still sounds like Sepultura, even with different vocals, and it still has the same drive as Sepultura.



Case closed, class dismissed.