Sepultura's legacy can be divided into three rough eras: Max, Igor and Derrick. Though their name will forever by synonymous with the Cavalera brothers, Derrick Green has seen Sepultura through the majority of their touring career. He's been a beast of a frontman for almost 25 years, and his work on Machine Messiah in 2017 ranks among the 2010s' greatest thrash moments. Quadra has a lot to live up to riding on the back of that monster.
If Machine Messiah was Sepultura's proggy experimental record, Quadra is their symphonic phase. The swelling orchestras that pepper the album are a welcome new addition, counterbalancing the heavy, and building on the ideas behind Machine Messiah's standout track, "Icebergs Dances." "Agony of Defeat" and "Fear, Pain, Chaos, Suffering" hit the mark nicely, offering a glimpse of a Sepultura we've not seen up to this point, one more indebted to Devin Townsend and Nightwish then anything thrashy. Don't miss these tracks.
Elsewhere, the Sepultura we know and love comes through. Part of this is on drummer Eloy Casagrande, who has distinguished himself since 2013 as one of the most exciting drummers in modern metal. Never boring nor predictable, he stirs up a storm on "Ali," "Autem" and "Raging Void," an album highlight that sounds like the Sepultura/Gojira/Meshuggah collaboration we never knew we wanted until now.
You can't exactly say Sepultura are back. They never went anywhere in the first place. But they've (rather amazingly) broken new ground on Quadra. Make sure to check it out.
