Where to start with this review, or rather, should this review be written at all? Those who refuse to listen to, or listen and automatically hate the newer Sepultura because it doesn't have both of the Cavalera brothers (or neither of them, since Igor left two years ago) have already made up their mind and will say things like "Sepultura is dead to me" and come across as ignorant idiots, and the other ones who are free from such retarded preconceptions will already know the record will be awesome. In any case, Sepultura's newest album "A-Lex" is another concept album just like "Dante XXI" was. This time the concept revolves around Anthony Burgess's book "A Clockwork Orange", but on a more general note, this is basically more of the same violent, hardcore-based thrash metal of "Dante XXI", only with somewhat less of an evil twist to the shredding, although a track like "Moloko Mesto" is still devastating as it is.

But first thing's first, there's a new drummer in the band to replace Igor Cavalera: the somewhat unknown Jean Dolabella of Udiro fame. Given that he's being compared to one of the best metal drummers on this planet, he's doing a reasonably good job in delivering similarly varying and interesting drum sequences as his predecessor. The rest of the band more or less sounds typical to modern day Sepultura; monstrous growls that are still decipherable, and dirtily distorted, twisting thrash riffs with the occasional (dark) extra melody on top. "Forceful Behaviour" is my personal favorite on the record because of the brutal/catchy dynamic it presents, and "Strike", which follows a similar formula, is another instantly memorable track from the record. But most interesting of them all is "Ludwig Van", a symphonic metal cover of Beethoven's "9th symphony", where string instruments meet electric guitars much in the same way as that strange cover found in the additional bonus content of Guitar Hero World Tour. It's supposed to represent protagonist Alex's love for Beethoven's music, so I suppose it fits the concept, but other than that, it does sound kind of strange on a Sepultura album.

So in summary, all is well on the Sepultura camp even without Igor behind the drumkit. "Dante XXI" to me was a masterpiece, so even when "A-Lex" doesn't necessarily produce quite as good result, it's still worthy of listening to any thrash metal fan, considering the uniqueness of Sepultura's sound in comparison to pretty much all their genre colleagues. So whether you're a Cavalera fanboy or not, you shouldn't miss out on "A-Lex" - but get "Dante XXI" first if you haven't listened to these guys in a while. [7½]
Download: Moloko Mesto, What I Do, Strike, Metamorphosis
For the fans of: Soulfly, Slayer, Cavalera Conspiracy
Listen: Myspace

Release date 26.01.2009
SPV/Steamhammer
Provided by Target ApS



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