I'm rooting for Sepultura. I mean, really, here was a band most people were writing off after their frontman, guitarist/vocalist Max Cavalera, decided to up and leave to form his own band after putting together arguably Sepultura’s most commercially successful album, Roots in 1996, an album that helped to lay the foundations for the now old and obnoxious Nu-Metal sound. But instead of calling it a day, they instead chose to regroup and release Against in 1998 with new lead vocalist, Derrick Green.

Roorback, the third album released under “the Green Party,” as it were, is also the first under new label SPV. And while the word “roorback” actually means “a defamatory falsehood published for political effect,” it’s probably no coincidence the title was chosen for Sep’s latest. Which of course leaves the burning question: is it indeed the roaring back of a band many considered a lost cause?

While Against and it’s follow-up, Nation, felt more scattered and uninspired, Roorback feels a lot more in control. The opening track, “Come Back Alive,” is a smoker, slowly coming in to set the tone and then slamming the listener with Andreas’ muddy, down and dirty swamp guitar and Igor’s pounding of the skins proves he’s still relevant to heavy metal. Following tracks “Godless” and “Apes of God” are also exhilarating in their aggressive attack.

Steve Evetts’ production is like an incredibly wound up spring; every snare hit from Igor snaps back so cleanly and tightly, every strum of Paulo’s bass has just enough thickness and depth. It’s most certainly not over-produced, however. If something needs to be muddy, it will be muddy, make no mistake.

Derrick Green, who many thought not up to the task of replacing Max Cavalera actually does a pretty damn good job of holding his own. He’s not going to wow you, but his screams and growls are definitely solid and serviceable. He even manages to break it up a bit with some clean bits here and there. In the latter half of the track “Outro,” we catch the band goofing off as Green croons endlessly about “Paulo’s Microphone.” It’s silly but it shows the band’s actually having a good time out there, which makes me enjoy the album that much more. Definitely cool.

Unfortunately, the cool starts to wear out somewhere right around the middle when you begin to notice that Andreas hasn’t really done anything but hold one repetitive rhythm down for most of the album. Simply put, the band needs a lead guitarist. Kisser’s low down and dirty rhythms are cool but by the time “As it is” comes on, you start to wonder when he’s going to do something else. The band and listener ride the waves of raw aggression and energy but once the adrenaline runs out, it gets pretty boring.

Should Roorback then have been an EP? Nah. There’s certainly more than an EP’s worth of stuff to enjoy here. And, in all honestly, most of its pretty good, you just can’t listen to it all at once or you’ll end up getting tired of it.

When all is said and done, the band’s still not back up to the level of classic Arise-era Sepultura, nor the groundbreaking Roots-era. But, they’re getting there. That’s why I’m rooting for them. Finally beyond the growing pains of breaking in the new guy and able to make a fresh start on a new label, Sepultura can finally break free of their former frontman’s large shadow and do what they’ve always set out to do: play music. Good luck to you, boys.

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Sepultura

Roorback

Released: August 26, 2003
Origination Year: 2003
Time: 56:19
Tracks: 14
Produced by: Steve Evetts
Style: Studio
Format: CD
Enhancement: Video Track
Label: SPV Records
Website:
www.sepultura.com.br

Come Back Alive
Godless
Apes of God
More of the Same
Urge
Corrupted
As It Is
Mind War
Leech
The Rift
Bottomed Out
Activist
Outro
Bullet the Blue Sky *