Sepultura

Sepultura was founded in 1984 in one house – literally. It was formed by two brothers, Max and Igor Cavalera. Almost immediately, they were joined by a bassist, Roberto Raffan; however, he didn’t stick around for long and the spot was filled by Paulo Jr., who plays in the band to this day. When Jairo Guedz joined as the lead guitarist, everything was set to kick things off. In 1985, they introduced themselves to the world with a split EP with Overdose; a year later, they debuted with a coarse yet magnificently angry and hateful death metal on Morbid Visions. After the record’s release, Guedz left the band and was replaced by the band’s current leader, Andreas Kisser. Schizophrenia, the first album released after he joined the band, was something altogether thrasher, more complex and selective. After the premiere of this album, the Brazilians were approached by the burgeoning Roadrunner Records and in 1989, they released their third record, Beneath the Remains, with the label. After its release, the band from Belo Horizonte toured all over the world, becoming thrash/death metal stars. The second, even bigger breakthrough came with Chaos A.D. released in 1993. Sepultura slowed down their playing and began eagerly incorporating elements of Brazilian folk music and mighty groove. They became the biggest metal name at that time and after the release of the polarising Roots, entered into the canon of genre legends. Unfortunately, following its release, due to internal conflicts, the frontman Max Cavalera left the band. He was replaced by Derrick Green, who has been fronting the band ever since. With Green behind the mic, the band kept to the groove metal paradigm, but with time, they began flirting again with thrash or even progressive elements. In 2006, the second Cavalera brother left the band and after a sequence of drummers, five years later, Eloy Casagrande sat on the stool behind the drum kit and he’s widely considered the best drummer in the history of the band. Last year, however, he also left and was replaced by Greyson Nekrutman of Suicidal Tendencies fame. The latest full-length record from Sepultura that had original material on it is the 2020 album Quadra.