Brazil’s Heavy Metal Outfit Sepultura Blow Minds (And Ears) With Power And Passion, Live At The Gov – Review

Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, Wed 16 May.

Warmed up by Adelaide’s own Truth Corroded and San Francisco Bay Area’s Death Angel, old and new fans alike then watch with anticipation for Brazil’s heavy metal outfit Sepultura to take the stage – and take it, they did!

A major force in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s thrash and groove metal movements, the band start their set with a loud heart-thumping bass that you can feel deep within your bones; the crowd goes crazy, heads start banging and long hair goes spinning. With no talking between, it’s the music that draws the audience in more with each song; engaging us with their skill and energy. It’s not until the fifth song that lead singer Derrick Green finally greets the crowd, and is met with whoops of delight and whistles galore. He tells us they are playing songs from their new album blended with some of the old classics – much to everyone’s delight!

Lead guitarist Andreas Kisser declares that yesterday was Derrick’s 20 year anniversary, met with thunderous cheers and roars of approval, followed by belting out Against. Album title song Machine Messiah is the equivalent to a ‘rock ballad’ or a ‘metal ballad’. I was in awe of the deep velvety vocal talent and the haunting melody of this song.

Darkness and silence engulf the stage for an extended time, which draws our typically ‘reserved’ Adelaide audience out of its quiet shell as their chant of “Sepultura, Sepultura!” gains momentum. Punters are urged to sing and dance and make some noise, and that’s exactly what they gave! When the band played Ratamahata the crowd were jumping like Brazilian soccer fans. Roots sent the crowd crazy and I even witnessed some members of the crowd embracing with excitement!

Derrick Green has a deep, gravelly voice that comes from the depths and powers through each song with such power and passion. Andreas Kisser pulls off a brilliant guitar solo with amazing skill and awesome sound; he really is a genius on the strings and had the crowd jumping and moving.

Bass guitarist Paulo Jnr, the longest serving member of the band, looks like he still has the love for what he does and it shows with his exceptional performance and sound. The double bass from drummer Elroy Casagrande rattles deep inside your chest and bones and his absolute powerful drumming on the skins was awe inspiring.

Sepultura’s performance reaffirms why they are such a long-lived band – even with no original remaining members within this current line-up. You just can’t fake talent like theirs, and their fans know it. The sold out Gov show attests to this fact.

It was great to see Adelaide fans come out to support international acts and maintaining the fight to keep bringing such great bands to our beautiful city… even if I may never get normal functioning back to my ears again!

4 stars

Janine Spearpoint

Images courtesy of Janine Spearpoint

Set List:

1. I Am The Enemy
2. Phantom Self
3. Kairos
4. Territory
5. Desperate Cry
6. Sworn Oath
7. Against
8. Choke
9. Boycott
10. Machine Messiah
11. Iceberg Dances
12. Refuse / Resist
13. Arise

Encore:

1. Resistant Parasites
2. Ratamahata
3. Roots