Sepultura burn up local stages
South Africa was graced by true legends of metal, Sepultura this month for two shows in Cape Town and Johannesburg. The Brazilian band has influenced and impacted on metal as a genre over the past 30 years. With a body of work which stands the test of time, placing them among the greats of metal to be remembered for generations to come.
Sepultura are currently on tour, and thanks to David Devo Oosthuizen from Witchdoctor Productions, we were fortunate enough to see them live, en route to sell out tours in Australia and New Zealand.
I arrived early at the venue for a debriefing, to be pleasantly surprised by a queue of fans, which came from far and wide, hours before the doors opened. A mix of young and old metal fans, who were totally amped at the prospect and notion of being able to see their idols live.
The evening kicked off with two powerful performances by local bands Boargazm and Groinchurn, who put on stellar performance, getting the crowd going with deep hard hitting riffs, and setting the tone for a would be a really special evening. One could sense the anticipation and excitement from the crowd. You could feel the tension in the air in anticipation of the performance, which personally I don’t think anyone was ready for.
Through the years the band has seen many changes from the original members, with different producers and record labels, influencing the sound, production and scope of material which the band delivers.
BHut with that said, Sepultura have maintained their unique sound, high powered energy, and hard hitting lyrics, which we’ve grown to love through the years. As stated by Andreas Kisser, it’s a non-synthetic sound, music with heart, which hits you on the deepest level.
Fronted by Derrick Green, who joined the band in 1997 as lead vocalist, with a hard hitting voice, unique energy and overall larger than life stature. He has maintained the bands unique intensity, while also working to form their new sound and identify which echoes loudly in their past couple of studio albums. I was fortunate to meet him after the show where he shared his rich background and influences growing up of hardcore punk and death metal, and the sheer legend status that the band has in Brazil, something he did not really grasp when joining them.
The performance kicked off with material from early repertoire, where the crowd went absolutely berserk. Hearts were thumping and heads were banging and the crowed was soaring into the moshpit with raw power, it was totally insane. This intense energy was maintained throughout their unrelenting two hours plus set, with a great balance of new and old songs, which was on the money with what the SA fans were hungry for.
As the evening progressed, I was totally impressed by the range of material and the unrelenting, impactful sound, which was all wrapped in a slick, well-rehearsed delivery, as can be expect from such accomplished musicians.
I have been fortunate to see bands such as Megadeath, Slayer, Metalica and can finally tick Sepultura off my metal band bucket list. I know there are hard core fans out there who care to critic the band in its current formation. The truth is Sepultura lives on, with new materiel and studio albums which keep on delivering, are relevant and awesome. Greatness is standing the test of time and leaving a legacy, which Seputura are already doing that. With their new format, Sepultura delivers a high octane, full powered, unique sound and material. They are right up there with the greats of metal bands.
It is clear that metal is alive and banging in South Africa, and that fans are hungry for a diversity and quality artists, I really hope that the big organizers take note, and with some luck we might be fortunate to see Sepultura again at one of the large festivals playing to huge crowds befitting of such an epic band.
