Album title: Machine Messiah
Artist: Sepultura
Genre: Heavy Metal/Death Metal/Thrash Metal
Nationality: Brazilian
Release date: January 13
Position in Discography: Fourteenth
Fear Factor: Low
Familiar with this artist? I've heard the odd album but I know of their reputation
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Somewhat; not as much as I'd like
Check out more from this artist? Yes
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes
I think it's safe to say this album kills. Kind of sounds like the sort of thing Slayer wish they had progressed to doing: the addition of weirdly classical guitars, horns and even a mini-Moog add to rather than dilute the sound here, and the album never loses its innate heaviness, but there's a lot more going on than blind, brutal thrash or death metal. Slightly more cerebral, perhaps: the thinking man or woman's metal album? Still blows your balls off, but with a certain finesse that many metal bands find it hard to integrate into their music. The instrumental “Iceberg Dances” is a perfect example of this, while tracks like “I Am the Enemy” and “Silent Violence” just go heads-down all-out metal, the kind of thing that no doubt Sepultura fans are used to, and expect. But there's no doubting that the band are evolving into something new here, while at the same time accomplishing the hard-to-manage trick of retaining all that makes them what they are.
Expectation Index: 1