In case you didn't know, the Brazilian SEPULTURA is a contender for the title of the most unfortunate band on the planet. To go from being thrash scene leaders to mid-tier angry-terrorists — that must be a cruel blow to one's pride. Left by their commander Cavalera in an Amazon jungle tangled with lianas like a fly in a spiderweb, the musicians decided to grope their way forward, hoping that a "sixth sense" would lead them back to the mythical El Dorado — but no, it didn't happen... The promo that landed in my hands contains just two tracks: an alternative version of "Godless" from last year's opus "Roorback," and "Bullet The Blue Sky," which appeared on the album as a bonus track. Alas, I cannot judge how this "Godless" differs from its original version — to my shame, I haven't heard the album — and my impressions are far from concrete: something menacing, agitprop-like, noisy, monotonous. The second track grabbed me a bit harder: staying true to themselves, SEPULTURA keep shaking their fists and surveying the distant shores of the North American continent with a furious gaze. This pantomime unfolds against a backdrop of bass rumbling like a boiling kettle, rampaging guitars, and the frenzied screams of the dark-skinned vocalist. A season of absurdity!!! Tom Stoppard would feel right at home, so to speak... The only desire I felt after listening to "Godless" and "Bullet The Blue Sky" was to find out what exactly fuels the Sepulturians' pronounced anti-Americanism — whether it has a solid ideological foundation or is, after all, personal in nature, as in the case of that Argentine fellow Ernesto and his "horse-powered" airplane. The desire to reach for the disc a second time and re-listen, however, did not arise. Strange...
