Sepultura

Black (metal) Friday: Sarcafago- “Screeches from the Silence”

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Led by original Sepultura singer, Wagner “Antichrist” Lamounier, Sarcafago were one of the first wave of black metal bands. Hailing from Brazil, they were, perhaps, the first black metal band in the Americas. Their debut album, INRI, is hailed as a defining moment in the genre. The cover art for the record helped to establish the visual aesthetics of the genre, including the use of corpse-paint, leather jackets and bullet belts. The band existed from 1985-2000 and reunion rumors persist, despite Lamounier’s insistence that the band is over for good. From their second studio album, The Laws of Scourge (1991), here is “Screeches from the Silence.”

Killer Be Killed: Don’t call it a supergroup!

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The word “supergroup” has a nasty stigma and for a very good reason: these often transient, assemblages of egos rarely sound like a group and even less frequently is there anything super about them. More often than not, these affairs turn into a bunch of alpha types in a pissing match for dominance. Add in the whole “lead singer disease” factor that exists in any band and you can imagine the dubious collective eye that the metal world would cast upon a “supergroup” consisting of three lead singers from fairly disparate corners of the metal world (and a former drummer of The Mars Volta).

Now, before I tell you my thoughts on this disc, let me start with a bit of historical and contextual perspective. As an old school metalhead, I hold the original line-up of Sepultura and their output in an almost sacred light. If Max Cavallera had done nothing else in his career, this would be enough alone to gain him a legend pass. Despite having spent the better part of the last 20 years hell-bent on fucking up that legacy in the nu-metal travesty that is Soulfly, the man has also managed to make make two stellar records with his brother and original Sepultura drummer Igor Cavallera in their side project, Cavallera Conspiracy. Additionally, he is no stranger to the world of supergroups, having been part of the insanely great, proto-industrial, one-off project Nailbomb.

The other two frontmen in this band were a bit more on the wild card side for me. Greg Puciato is the singer of The Dillinger Escape Plan, a band specializing in a schizophrenic and disjointed sounding genre known as “Mathcore.” Yeah, yeah, I know they’re insanely great musicians playing shit that I can’t even count, but despite some great guitar stuff, I just don’t “get it.”

Troy Sanders is the bassist and co-vocalist for Atlanta’s progy, stoner, sludge giants Mastadon. They’ve always been more of a mixed bag to me. When they’re on, they’re really great, but their collective output is splotchy and they are perhaps the one of the most boring live bands I’ve ever had to sit through.

Drummer Dave Elitch is best known from his stint in the progressive, post-metal band The Mars Volta. I really dig that band, but it’s hard to really say what his contributions were there besides being a really great drummer.

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So, having said all of that, I came into this record with incredibly low expectations for the sum adding up to it’s parts. I have to say, it’s rare that something catches me musically from so far out in left field, but I was NOT expecting this…

This record is really quite good!

Now, I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that it doesn’t have it’s flaws and moments that feel like filler. Fortunately though, those moments are few and far between. These 11 songs manage to capture all of the best elements of each members band and yet, somehow, not quite sound like any of them. It’s a record that sounds very modern with a few songs that would be right at home on a playlist of monumental metal classics. The three vocal styles intertwine almost seamlessly and rarely sound as though any one is fighting for the foreground. Killer Be Killed is a record that shines with the heaviness of it’s pedigree and manages to be more melodic than any of it’s members previous output. And, thankfully, not a  Soulfly moment in sight! A solid and enjoyable record from an anti-supergroup. that I hope will not prove to be as ill-fated as Nailbomb.

Do yourself a favor; if you like heavy, modern metal with a melodic bent, check out this record. You can thank me later.

Don’t miss moments: “Wings of Feather and Wax” “Dust Into Darkness” “Melting of My Marrow”

Album Rating 8 out of 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJE_V3QACRk