Once upon a time there were four young guys coming from one of the poorest countries
of the third world, but a country of all dreams for us, Brazil. After
an EP Bestial Devastation and a couple of albums Morbid Visions
and Schizophrenia, they came up to the face of the world with an album
full of hate Beneath The Remains. The world would never
be the same again. Now 14 years later (I can't believe it's been 14 years since
they released it...), can we still believe the three remaining guys are still
angry at the world now that they have sold millions of albums ?
Roorback's opening track Come Back Alive says it all. They
are still @#?!ing angry. And all the fans of their metal era such as me will
only be pleased to hear the band playing it loud and heavy again. Indeed Sepultura
went back to their metal roots to come up with a strong heavy album.
Unfortunately heavy doesn't necessarily mean quality and that's my only
complaints with this album. Gone are the usual guests and that's not too dissatisfying for
me, on the contrary. The band decided to focus on the music itself and they
come up with real heavy songs. The problem is that songs roll one by one during
36 minutes (the outro song lasts 11 minutes and consists of only the three last
minutes) and suddenly the album is over and there's a "that's all"
that comes out of your mouth (if you know what I mean). Roorback sounds
as a cross between their latest two albums Nation and Against with
Chaos A.D. and a bit of Arise and Beneath The Remains.
Alas, no song really emerges on Roorback as some did on their previous
albums. No Roots Bloody Roots, Refuse Resists or Inner
Self. Some songs such as Corrupted, The Rift or Activist are really
good tunes, but I doubt they might become some day Sepultura's
classics. Bottomed Out is an untypical slow song for Sepultura.
It's a good one though with a great guitar solo. And that's a fact on this new
album, Andreas surpasses himself with his guitar work, and sometimes
it feels like going back to their Beneath/Arise/Chaos era. Derrick
(... I mean the singer, not the guy on the German tv show) finally proves he
was a good choice. And probably the best choice. I know some of you might disagree,
even violently, but I think Derrick really outdoes what Max does nowadays with
Soulfly. With that kind of performance I don't see how Max
could ever pretend one day to return home, but never say never... history has
proved it.
Finally I don't know what to think with this new album. In fact after a dozen
of listens, I still don't know if I am going to buy it. The album is to be found
in it's regular edition or on a double digipack edition coupled with their last
year Revolusongs EP. Had I not bought their Revolusongs EP in
Montreal (30 $), I would have bought it in any case. Let's see if I found it here
in Switzerland under 15 $ I will... but since I own all their discography I
might buy it anyway because after all it's not such a bad album, of course alot
better than their two previous works, but far from the trio Beneath/Arise/Chaos.