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Destruction Joins Sepultura For A Great Tour Package

Just a few weeks ago I watched Cavalera Conspiracy perform Sepultura songs at the Texas Independence Festival on the very same stage at Empire Control Room & Garage. At that show I heard the former voice (Max) and beat maker (Igor) of Sepultura. With the band bearing the namesake Sepultura, I witnessed original bassist Paulo Jr. and longtime guitarist Andreas Kisser. Most of all I would be comparing vocalists. I saw Max Cavalera front the band during their vaunted “Chaos A.D.” album twenty-one years ago, so I was curious to hear Derrick Green’s fill in this position.

Twenty-one years ago Sepultura toured with an excellent supporting cast of Fudge Tunnel, Fear Factory and Clutch. The current tour also features a strong supporting cast in Destruction, Arsis and Starkill. Local heavy weights HeadCrusher opened this Come And Take It Production promoted concert. These makers of melodic death metal were in fine form playing material from their “Let The Blood Run/Black Burning Skies” LP. Mauro Gonzales of Bonded By Blood once again filled in for Gustavo "Kike" Valderrama. He had an energizing stage presence.

Chicago’s Starkill has made a name for itself in its short three-year existence. The band has released two albums on Century Media Records. It’s easy to see why this band has made such an impact in such a short amount of time. Their mixture of symphonic power metal and melodic death metal is both technical and epic. Parker Jameson sings, plays guitar and keyboards on their albums. Tonight the keys were run through the speaker system so Jameson could concentrate on shredding notes on his guitar. He put on a dazzling performance including many finger-tapped notes.

Arsis has a string of albums and fifteen years under its belt. Their technical prowess caught my ear the last time I saw them eight years ago with Enslaved. This time I was more captivated by their sheer brutality. Their melodic death metal style and James Malone’s voice really brought to mind God Dethroned. Shawn Priest’s double bass playing was also exceptional.

Sepultura deserve major accolades for bringing Destruction out on tour with them. They brought an old school thrash band out on a tour celebrating 30 years of their own brand of thrash. Starting with “Curse The Gods,” the Teutonic metal brigade tore through classics like “Mad Butcher,” “Invincible Force” and “Bestial Invasion.” The group even played their rendition of The Plasmatic’s “The Damned.” That song allowed the group to slow down and let heavy chords ring. The band also played a couple of newer, post-Schmier breakup songs like “Nailed to the Cross” and “The Mad Butcher Strikes Back.” Unlike Tom Araya, Schmier can still hit those shrill notes. He didn’t look like someone who is well into his fifties, he is still full of youthful vigor. It’s always a pleasure to bang my head to the ultra catchy riffs of Mike Sifringer especially “Bestial Invasion.” He has a signature sound and his speed picking is some of the best around.

It didn’t take long for Sepultura to step back in time to the era before Derrick Green. The band started with newer material playing “The Vatican” from their latest effort "The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart” and then the title track from “Kairos.” Then the group played “Propaganda” from their hugely popular “Chaos A.D.” album. Then they returned to newer material before launching a string of old school tunes starting with “From The Past Comes The Storms” from their oft overlooked “Schizophrenia” album. “Territory” and “Refuse/Resist” quenched the “Chaos A.D.” material while the title track from “Arise” was the sole song from that album. Being their 30 year anniversary show they played the demonic “Bestial Devastation” including the spooky intro "The Curse." They finished with a string of nu metal songs from “Roots”—“ Ratamahatta” and the title track. Their set was a good mix of old and new, although they were missing something from “Beneath The Remains.” They should have played at least the title track from that album. They could have substituted “Beneath The Remains” for one of the tracks from “Roots.”

Derrick Green’s voice matches his large stature. While I still prefer the voice of Max Cavalera, one thing Green had going for him was no guitar in his hand. While Max plays the guitar he doesn’t always actually play the guitar. Green was able to move around the stage and join Eloy Casagrande playing the floor Tom that was in front of him. Paulo Jr. played tightly with Andreas Kisser. It was a treat watching Kisser produced the riffs. From the fast finger play of “Arise” to the groovy parts in “Territory,” he created huge riffs. Even though they started when I was only nine-years old, Sepultura is showing no signs of slowing down.