Sepultura - an analytical assessment (sort of)

Certif1ed · 10-13-2009, 08:07 AM

First listening light analysis of Sepultura: Morbid Visions

Morbid Visions - like Hell Awaits with Chuck Schuldiner doing vocals. Very cool and fast, but not particularly distinctive and severely lacking in the solo department.

Mayhem - badly out of time, and very similar to Morbid Visions, with the same Slayer riffs. Same kind of slowing down/speeding up thing going on. A Jeff Hannemann solo still shows the "influence" clearly on the sleeves. Still cool somehow.

Troops of Doom - now this has a more unique flavour. Kind of like a more bouncy version of Death, but not the same. Very Slayer solos.

War - Possessed seem to have crept in as an additional influence, and maybe a dab of Kreator, Testament and even a touch of Sacred Reich. Good influences to have in 1986, and a logical mix. Mmm. Definitely Sacred Reich. And a lot of Slayer. Good to hear someone having a decent stab at Dave Lombardo's style.

Crucifixion - I can only continue commenting in terms of the influences really - they stand out so strongly, but despite the derived nature of the music, it's all performed so well and with so much metal grit, that it simply does not matter how derived it is. This is simply a good, brutal, metal song that delivers.

Show Me The Wrath starts out a bit Sacred Reich - but there's definitely something unique bubbling under. Then it ploughs into the familiar mix of Kreator/Death/Slayer/Possessed - but somehow more manic, with an insanely fast double bass drum that makes the rest seem somewhat laboured - but I'm being picky on details here. It's the overall song that counts, and this is another good one.

Funeral Rites begins in a doomy vein - OK, that's a bit predictable, but some predictablility is necessary in a balanced album, and after 6 slices of mayhem, some slowing down (however brief) is welcome - because it all blows up again into Bathory speed manicness (is there such a word?). This goes into the whole slow/fast structure thing that plagues many "genres" of metal that seem to think that doing this all the time makes for variety. Sepultura pull it off, because they've found the balance that occurs naturally when you're writing songs.

Empire of the Damned - I wasn't expecting another slow start, and it doesn't stay slow for long, and neither does it hurtle into breakneck speed immediately. I'm hearing a touch of Celtic Frost in here somehow alongside the usual suspects. Some really nice changes (and plenty of them) in this one - they saved the best for last!

Altogether, a thrash album that belongs in anyone's top 20 of early thrash ('83-86), and while not as polished as the offerings from the big guys, it's a debut that shows so much promise that I can't wait to get stuck into the follow-ups.

Unknown Soldier · 10-13-2009, 08:13 AM

Things really get moving with the third album in 1989 with "Beneath the Remains" with Scott Burns producing and the group`s savagery firmly focused.

almauro · 10-13-2009, 11:15 AM

Morbid Visions/Bestial Devastation is in that brutal raw euro thrash style, however it's also considered one of the early death metal classics as well as proto black metal. It's a really cool recording and both eps are now bundled together.

Certif1ed · 10-14-2009, 07:52 AM

Bestial Devastation

Horrible title - very cliched in the wrong way. Maybe on purpose, who knows...

I got caught out by Wikipedia again, which lists Morbid Visions as Sepultura's debut - but in fact, it would appear, it is this album which is the debut.

This only makes it more impressive - and what makes it more impressive still (again, if Wikipedia is to be believed!) is that apparently, the band had an argument with their producer about the cleanness of the sound, playing him Venom to show how it should sound.

Venom were far from the best sounding of the early thrash-based bands (call them Black Metal if you must, but it's all thrash-based), so actually wanting to sound like them seems a bit mad for a band that surpassed them easily in terms of playing abilities.

Thankfully, then, the production here is nowhere near as bad as any of Venom's 4 releases up to this point, yet has the unmistakable Venom grind underneath it all. It sounds a lot like Possessed meeting Slayer, really, except without Possessed's mad time sigs.

Similarly to Morbid Visions, however, some uniqueness of sound comes through for "The Antichrist", and even more for "Necromancer", where a more brutal guitar tone is suddenly "discovered"

Before our ears, Sepultura have dropped the tuning of the guitars almost on a per-track basis, until the C# tuning of "Antichrist" - then tuned it up a semitone for "Necromancer", giving each track a distinctive tone, making the album feel heavier and heavier as it progresses - and re-eqing the guitars for each track.

"Empire of the Damned" features guitars that are slightly uncomfortably out of tune and a mega-scooped eq giving the distinctive boxy sound of Possessed. Less eq is scooped for the tone of the title track, with a crisper tone giving sharp relief to the demonically fast thrashing.

Pace is also increased and decreased with nice attention to overall album dynamic - "Antichrist" rips along at scary, Bathory speed and Necromancer begins at an almost doomy pace (for this genre), before piling headlong into a Slayer groove.

The final track, "Warriors of Death" begins with a satisfying bu-chi-bu-chi thrash drum lick, a la Sacred Reich, which propels the entire piece into oblivion.

On first listen, like its follow-up, there isn't anything really outstanding - but that's no different to listening to Possessed, Venom, Exodus - or even early Slayer for the first time.

Despite the variations in time, key and even style, the tracks all blur together to make one highly enjoyable thrash metal album, with nothing particularly outstanding - except, perhaps, in the multitude of changes in the final track.

I guess, like the others I mentioned, this is an album that reveals itself over time, which in my experience, is almost always the case with the earliest recordings in this genre, since the first thing you have to do is adjust yourself to the production, which is usually either a case of a producer not understanding what the band were trying to achieve (very common), or hideously low budget - or both.

Final opinion - every bit as worth getting as Morbid Visions - nearly as good as Seven Churches.

almauro · 10-14-2009, 03:04 PM

What's impressive about Morbid Visions was Sepultura's ability to slow it down, and create space between their frantic pace. This trait was perfected later with Andreas Kisser on Beneath the Remains, but is immediately apparent on their first long-player. This creation of space and atmosphere, within this heavy speed metal reminds me of the slower tempos which were further explored by Death on Spiritual Healing. You also had Igor "Skullcrusher" Cavalera, a master percussionist, delivering a kick-_ss performances on both recordings.

jackhammer · 10-16-2009, 08:23 PM

Schizophrenia is still their masterpiece as far as I'm concerned. When they signed to Roadrunner in Europe they lost that raw edge that was evident on Morbid Visions but not fully realised until Schizophrenia. They made better tracks after this (Inner Self is stunning) but the sound from this album was not only raw it was highly influential and lead to a whole slew of South American bands that are still pumping out variants of noise to this day (Checkout 'The Killing').

10-13-2009, 08:07 AM	#1 (permalink)
Certif1ed Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 194	Sepultura - an analytical assessment (sort of) First listening light analysis of Sepultura: Morbid Visions Morbid Visions - like Hell Awaits with Chuck Schuldiner doing vocals. Very cool and fast, but not particularly distinctive and severely lacking in the solo department. Mayhem - badly out of time, and very similar to Morbid Visions, with the same Slayer riffs. Same kind of slowing down/speeding up thing going on. A Jeff Hannemann solo still shows the "influence" clearly on the sleeves. Still cool somehow. Troops of Doom - now this has a more unique flavour. Kind of like a more bouncy version of Death, but not the same. Very Slayer solos. War - Possessed seem to have crept in as an additional influence, and maybe a dab of Kreator, Testament and even a touch of Sacred Reich. Good influences to have in 1986, and a logical mix. Mmm. Definitely Sacred Reich. And a lot of Slayer. Good to hear someone having a decent stab at Dave Lombardo's style. Crucifixion - I can only continue commenting in terms of the influences really - they stand out so strongly, but despite the derived nature of the music, it's all performed so well and with so much metal grit, that it simply does not matter how derived it is. This is simply a good, brutal, metal song that delivers. Show Me The Wrath starts out a bit Sacred Reich - but there's definitely something unique bubbling under. Then it ploughs into the familiar mix of Kreator/Death/Slayer/Possessed - but somehow more manic, with an insanely fast double bass drum that makes the rest seem somewhat laboured - but I'm being picky on details here. It's the overall song that counts, and this is another good one. Funeral Rites begins in a doomy vein - OK, that's a bit predictable, but some predictablility is necessary in a balanced album, and after 6 slices of mayhem, some slowing down (however brief) is welcome - because it all blows up again into Bathory speed manicness (is there such a word?). This goes into the whole slow/fast structure thing that plagues many "genres" of metal that seem to think that doing this all the time makes for variety. Sepultura pull it off, because they've found the balance that occurs naturally when you're writing songs. Empire of the Damned - I wasn't expecting another slow start, and it doesn't stay slow for long, and neither does it hurtle into breakneck speed immediately. I'm hearing a touch of Celtic Frost in here somehow alongside the usual suspects. Some really nice changes (and plenty of them) in this one - they saved the best for last! Altogether, a thrash album that belongs in anyone's top 20 of early thrash ('83-86), and while not as polished as the offerings from the big guys, it's a debut that shows so much promise that I can't wait to get stuck into the follow-ups.

10-13-2009, 11:15 AM	#3 (permalink)
almauro Way Out There Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 850	Morbid Visions/Bestial Devastation is in that brutal raw euro thrash style, however it's also considered one of the early death metal classics as well as proto black metal. It's a really cool recording and both eps are now bundled together. __________________ rock n music blog

10-14-2009, 03:04 PM	#5 (permalink)
almauro Way Out There Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 850	What's impressive about Morbid Visions was Sepultura's ability to slow it down, and create space between their frantic pace. This trait was perfected later with Andreas Kisser on Beneath the Remains, but is immediately apparent on their first long-player. This creation of space and atmosphere, within this heavy speed metal reminds me of the slower tempos which were further explored by Death on Spiritual Healing. You also had Igor "Skullcrusher" Cavalera, a master percussionist, delivering a kick-_ss performances on both recordings. __________________ rock n music blog Last edited by almauro; 10-14-2009 at 03:50 PM.

10-16-2009, 08:23 PM	#6 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	Schizophrenia is still their masterpiece as far as I'm concerned. When they signed to Roadrunner in Europe they lost that raw edge that was evident on Morbid Visions but not fully realised until Schizophrenia. They made better tracks after this (Inner Self is stunning) but the sound from this album was not only raw it was highly influential and lead to a whole slew of South American bands that are still pumping out variants of noise to this day (Checkout 'The Killing'). __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”

10-13-2009, 08:13 AM	#2 (permalink)
Unknown Soldier Horribly Creative Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: London, The Big Smoke Posts: 8,265	Things really get moving with the third album in 1989 with "Beneath the Remains" with Scott Burns producing and the group`s savagery firmly focused.

10-14-2009, 07:52 AM	#4 (permalink)
Certif1ed Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 194	Bestial Devastation Horrible title - very cliched in the wrong way. Maybe on purpose, who knows... I got caught out by Wikipedia again, which lists Morbid Visions as Sepultura's debut - but in fact, it would appear, it is this album which is the debut. This only makes it more impressive - and what makes it more impressive still (again, if Wikipedia is to be believed!) is that apparently, the band had an argument with their producer about the cleanness of the sound, playing him Venom to show how it should sound. Venom were far from the best sounding of the early thrash-based bands (call them Black Metal if you must, but it's all thrash-based), so actually wanting to sound like them seems a bit mad for a band that surpassed them easily in terms of playing abilities. Thankfully, then, the production here is nowhere near as bad as any of Venom's 4 releases up to this point, yet has the unmistakable Venom grind underneath it all. It sounds a lot like Possessed meeting Slayer, really, except without Possessed's mad time sigs. Similarly to Morbid Visions, however, some uniqueness of sound comes through for "The Antichrist", and even more for "Necromancer", where a more brutal guitar tone is suddenly "discovered" Before our ears, Sepultura have dropped the tuning of the guitars almost on a per-track basis, until the C# tuning of "Antichrist" - then tuned it up a semitone for "Necromancer", giving each track a distinctive tone, making the album feel heavier and heavier as it progresses - and re-eqing the guitars for each track. "Empire of the Damned" features guitars that are slightly uncomfortably out of tune and a mega-scooped eq giving the distinctive boxy sound of Possessed. Less eq is scooped for the tone of the title track, with a crisper tone giving sharp relief to the demonically fast thrashing. Pace is also increased and decreased with nice attention to overall album dynamic - "Antichrist" rips along at scary, Bathory speed and Necromancer begins at an almost doomy pace (for this genre), before piling headlong into a Slayer groove. The final track, "Warriors of Death" begins with a satisfying bu-chi-bu-chi thrash drum lick, a la Sacred Reich, which propels the entire piece into oblivion. On first listen, like its follow-up, there isn't anything really outstanding - but that's no different to listening to Possessed, Venom, Exodus - or even early Slayer for the first time. Despite the variations in time, key and even style, the tracks all blur together to make one highly enjoyable thrash metal album, with nothing particularly outstanding - except, perhaps, in the multitude of changes in the final track. I guess, like the others I mentioned, this is an album that reveals itself over time, which in my experience, is almost always the case with the earliest recordings in this genre, since the first thing you have to do is adjust yourself to the production, which is usually either a case of a producer not understanding what the band were trying to achieve (very common), or hideously low budget - or both. Final opinion - every bit as worth getting as Morbid Visions - nearly as good as Seven Churches.