Creation of insane rule,all we hear:desperate crySepultura was formed in
Belo Horizonte in
1982 by
Max Cavalera (guitars and vocals), his younger brother
Igor Cavalera (drums),
Walter Silva,
Paulo Pinto (bass) and
Jairo Guedes (guitars). Sepultura signed to
Cogumelo Records after a few years of performing. walter Silva was the original bassist for the band but left about 2 months after their first tour due to personal issues. Their first EP was
Bestial Devastation, a split with
Overdose's album on the flipside. Their first LP was
Morbid Visions (1986), which included the moderate hit "Troops of Doom" that attracted the band some attention. After Morbid Visions, Jairo Guedes left the band for another death metal venture and
Sao Paulo based guitarist
Andreas Kisser replaced him. Their second full-length album was
Schizophrenia, which was a critical success that led to a contract with
Roadrunner Records.
With Roadrunner distributing
Schizophrenia worldwide, Sepultura reached new audiences of metal fans, cemented by
1989's
Beneath the Remains, which was followed by a long
European tour. By the time they released
1991's
Arise, Sepultura were located in
Phoenix, Arizona and had become one of the most critically-praised metal bands of the
1990s, in spite of a lack of mainstream success.
Chaos A.D. (1993) was another hit within metal communities, and also helped form the
groove metal genre. They continued with this on
1996's
Roots, in which the band further innovated by experimenting with elements from the music of Brazil's indigenous peoples and traditional thrash metal.
In parallel, in 1994, Max and Igor, aided by
Alex Newport, recorded a more industrial LP,
Point Blank, under the signature
Nailbomb. Nailbomb played live only once, mostly the same tracks as on the album, and the performance was released as
Proud to commit commercial suicide.
At the height of Sepultura's fame, however, a series of events broke the band apart. Just after the album "Roots" (1996), Sepultura decided to fire their manager, Gloria. Since she was Max's wife, he decided to quit too.
It was rumoured that there was some intra-band tension throughout the latter half of 1996, and at the end of a successful tour of Britain later that year, at Brixton Academy on 16th December 1996, the band told Max they would not renew Gloria's management contract. Max Cavalera left the band, and subsequently formed a new band,
Soulfly. The others announced that they would continue under the Sepultura name and were searching for a replacement.
A recording of Max's last show with the band was later released as a live album, 2002's
Under A Pale Grey Sky by their former record label Roadrunner Records, against the wishes of the band.
Derrick Green from
Cleveland wound up filling the frontman spot, and the band released
Against in 1998.
Against was commercially less successful than its two predecessors, as was the follow-up
Nation. These releases saw Sepultura move away from their previous approach of the
thrash metal sound - a process already in motion in such releases as
Roots, and aided by Max's departure - and this led to widespread criticism from the band's original fanbase. Subsequent releases have had a positive effect in returning praise to the band, but opinion is divided on their new direction.
After recording
Revolusongs, an EP full of covers in 2002, the band released the album
Roorback in 2003, which garnered a lot of positive reviews.
In November 2005 the live Double-
DVD and Double-
CD Live in São Paulo was released. This was the first official live album from the band.
The release of 'Live In Sao Paulo' marked the first involvement of the new 'Sepularmy' street team in promotion of the bands music. The Sepularmy is unrelated to the bands record label SPV and its members are motivated purely by the desire to share the bands music with as many people as possible. The army is expected to be involved in the promotion of all the bands releases and endeavours for the foreseeable future and anyone is welcome to register and help out.
A new album, called
Dante XXI was released on
March 14,
2006. It is based around Dante's
The Divine Comedy. This album has been considered to be the band's best effort with Derrick Green and also carries some thrash influence. Although some areas of the media have criticized the album, fans have received it well.
In the 2006 movie Talledega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby, the songs Desperate Cry and Inner Self can be heard during the scene when Ricky and Jean are fighting for 1st place with six laps to go.
In a recent interview, Igor stated that the band agreed to retire the Sepultura name at the conclusion of the band's current tour, but bassist Paulo Jr. has denied this report.
[2]In a recent interview in Revolver Magazine, Max Cavalera stated that Igor and himself would reunite with the original lineup. There are also rumors that the newly reunited Sepultura will play on the main stage at Ozzfest 2007. However Andreas Kisser stated in a recent interview that there will be no reunion in 2007.
[3]Andreas recently stated in an interview that the band is planning a new studio album release for 2008, being the first without any Cavalera member.
[4] Sepularmy
The
Sepularmy was set up in 2005 by Sepultura fans to help promote the band. In the past, the band had suffered from poor promotion from various record labels. After the split from Roadrunner Records, the band suffered a loss in popularity, and as a result, got less exposure.
Their aim is to help spread the word about Sepultura, and to promote the band in various ways. Methods include producing flyers that fans can print out and distribute in local venues and music shops, and posting on
Internet forums to help reach potential fans.
The army is currently concentrating on promoting the new album,
Dante XXI.