Sepultura has gone through a ton of changes in the past decade. The two founding members aren't even in the band anymore and haven't been for a while. I guess they are collecting royalties. I am going to focus on their earlier stuff because this article is about the impact the band had on my life for the most part.
Sepultura was very instrumental in me having a life-long love for metal. It was one of the first metal bands that i listened to that wasn't glam rock. I think they would be classified as "thrash metal" or "death metal"... someone feel free to correct me on that if you feel so inclined. There are too many classifications these days and despite being an avid fan, I can't keep up with them all.
One of the things that separates Sepultura from other metal acts is that they tend to have meaningful lyrics that are anti-corruption, anti-oppressive-government, anti-war, and anti-religion (ok, the last one isn't that uncommon in metal.) The lyrics really spoke to a lot of the people in their home country of Brazil, especially the people of Sao Paulo, which according to Max Cavalera (lead singer and primary songwriter in the 80's and 90's) has a very stark division of people "who are either very very rich or very very poor."
some powerful imagery in this vid
They later went on to incorporate a tribal sound into their music which at first I didn't like but there is something about the song "Roots, Bloody Roots" that i find exceptionally powerful.
Sepultura is a still a touring band now, although as i mentioned, changing singers changes the sound a bit.
A bit of tragedy struck the band in 1996 which lead to an eventual complete overhaul of the band. During a very big gig playing alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Sepultura took to the stage as a 3-piece band with their lead singer Max not on stage at all. Andreas Kisser had to perform all the lyrics and most of the solos were missing because Max is one of the guitar players. I don't know if you are aware of this but it is nigh on impossible to play both the rhythm guitar and the solo at the same time.
As it turns out Max had to depart the day prior because he had learned of the death of his stepson from a car accident. A few weeks after the death, the band had a meeting and decided they wanted to fire the manager (I forget her name) but she just happened to be Max's wife and also the mother of the now deceased stepson.
Max didn't take the news very well and abruptly quit the band. A feud has existed between Andreas Kisser and Max since that day. Unfortunately a feud also began between Max Cavalera and his brother Igor, who was the drummer and founding member (he eventually quit the band as well - 10 years later.)
Here is something that made me feel I need to travel to Brazil one day and check out the scene there. I don't recall what year it was. It was some time in the early 90's and the Grammy's were happening. The United States awarded the usual what-you-would expect winners being mostly high-selling pop acts like Madonna or something normie like that. Then the international awards came on briefly and Best Artist for Brazil was awarded to Sepultura, in particular for the song "Orgasmatron" - which is a song they didn't even write (it's by Motorhead) but it is an awesome track.
Here is their current lineup. I have nothing against them. I am just not familiar with their music because Max's voice was a big part of the reason why I listened to Sepultura at all.
i guess i'll go see if i like the new sound
Do you have a band that you obsessed over so much that you listened to their albums over and over and over again. Did you have a band / singer you idolized so much that they influenced what you enjoyed musically for the rest of your life? Do you have a band that you drew their logo on all available surfaces (that made my parents happy, i'm sure.)
I'd like to hear about them, even if they aren't metal.
As always thanks for reading and I welcome your comments / corrections to my spelling. :P