Noise & Stuff: Sepultura: The Vatican – new video & The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart

What happens when the legendary Brazilians SEPULTURA team up with photographer and video director Rafael Kent? A video for ‘The Vatican’ off the band's new album ‘The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart’ is what happens. And what happens when the legendary Brazilians team up with Nuclear Blast Records and Metal Hammer UK? A full album stream of SEPULTURA's thirteenth studio album ‘The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart’ is what happens. So, visit Metal Hammer UK here for the full listen, and then get yourselves a copy of ‘The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart’ here (Nuclear Blast store Europe & North America), on iTunes or from Amazon/AmazonMP3. The album is out now everywhere since October 2013. In case you’ve been wondering, the album's mouthful-of-a-title relates to Fritz Lang's classic 1927 film “Metropolis”:

“In the movie, a crazy millionaire wants to transform a robot into a real person. That’s kind of the opposite of what we live today. More than ever we are robotized, through the worldwide web, Google glasses, chips under our skins and the globalized slavery our society suffers nowadays. The phrase points to the heart as being the human factor who keeps a man, a man, not a robot. The heart beats with freedom of choice, we have to think by ourselves to create a real world, not a matrix,” [commented guitarist Andreas Kisser]

Described by SEPULTURA vocalist Derrick Green as “really sinister, dark, and metal as hell!”, ‘The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart’ was recorded with the “renowned sound guru Ross Robinson”, while its artwork comes courtesy Brazilian artist Alexandre Wagner, who specializes in charcoal drawing techniques. Anyhow, I like it and I’m glad Gregory Heaney, AllMusic, agrees:

“On their 13th album, ‘The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be the Heart’, it would seem the giant's alarm clock has finally gone off, and he’s not at all happy about oversleeping. While it’s not exactly the SEPULTURA of old, the band feels revitalized, shaking off the slower pacing of 2011's ‘Kairos’ in favor of a faster, more savage tempo that allows the band to really recapture some of its former power. This especially comes through in the vocals of singer Derrick Green, whose distorted growls serve as a vehicle for some old-fashioned metal menace,” [more here]

SEPULTURA formed in 1984 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, when that country was beginning to emerge from a 20-year military dictatorship, and went on to become the most successful Brazilian heavy metal band in history. The group has so far released thirteen albums, of which many achieved Gold and Platinum status in numerous countries all over the world, and has sold nearly 20 million records worldwide. “Over its history, the band grew from strength to strength, transforming itself from a primitive death metal ensemble into one of the leading creative trendsetters of the international aggressive music scene,” wrote Eduardo Rivadavia, AllMusic (more here). Founders of the band, vocalist and guitarist Max Cavalera (also of SOULFLY fame), drummer Igor Cavalera (CAVALERA CONSPIRACY), bassist Paulo Jr. and lead guitarist Jairo T., were first inspired by IRON MAIDEN, METALLICA and SLAYER (“Literally the first three records purchased by Max on a visit to the “big city” São Paulo,” Eduardo Rivadavia, AllMusic) and later by emerging death metal acts such as POSSESSED and DEATH: “And though all were only in their teens and still learning how to play their instruments, the band quickly evolved into underground contenders,” continued Mr. Rivadavia. After releasing a self produced split LP with OVERDOSE, ‘Bestial Devastation’, via Cogumelo Records in 1985, out came SEPULTURA's debut full-length, ‘Morbid Visions’ a year later, which earned the band some media attention:

After moving to “the big city” and replacing guitarist Jairo T. with Andreas Kisser, the group released the much improved, production and musicianship-wise, ‘Schizophrenia’ in 1987. The record gained enough publicity across Europe and America for Roadrunner Records to pay attention and release it worldwide and to offer the band a multi-album contract:

1989's ‘Beneath The Remains’ brought SEPULTURA into the international extreme metal arena; co-produced by Scott Burns, the album is considered to be a classic in the thrash & death metal genre:

The band met again with producer Scott Burns for the highly acclaimed 1991's album ‘Arise’: “And though it ultimately lacked the consistency of its predecessor and added little innovation to the band's sound, ‘Arise’ has aged surprisingly well, proving itself a worthy progression and surprisingly well-rounded in its own right,” added his Eduardo Rivadavia. The album went on to achieve Platinum status worldwide:

“The band's thick, chunky guitars, busy percussion, and hoarsely shouted vocals may be rooted in death metal, but it was often hard to call SEPULTURA a true death metal band, even if they flirted heavily with the style by way of SLAYER; ‘Chaos A.D.’ is rooted just as much in hardcore punk in its lean, stripped-down assault,” reviewed the band's 1993 effort AllMusic's Steve Huey (more here):

SEPULTURA's departure from death and thrash metal continued with their sixth album 1996's ‘Roots’: “The introduction of native Brazilian percussion and musical styles into their trademark down-tuned guitars and increasingly sociopolitical themes resulted in a highly unique record which could be loosely described as heavy metal world music,” observed Eduardo Rivadavia. ‘Roots’ was the band's last album recorded with founding member Max Cavalera who “left the band amid much bad blood and acrimony”:

SEPULTURA chose American vocalist Derrick Green as his replacement and released their seventh studio album ‘Against’ in 1998: “Andreas Kisser, Paulo Jr. and Igor Cavalera prove they’re no slouches themselves. But the problem with ‘Against’ is that it seems to lack a clear vision or direction; the band seems unsure of whether to return to the controlled, hard-hitting brevity of ‘Chaos A.D.’ or the epic, experimental sprawl of ‘Roots’,” commented Steve Huey, AllMusic (more here):

Despite better reviews, 2001's ‘Nation’ sold poorly; SEPULTURA's eight album would be their last for Roadrunner Records:

‘Roorback’ came out in 2003 via SPV / Steamhammer Records: “[Vocalist Derrick] Green is passionate and focused throughout the album - he has no problem going that extra mile - and the writing is consistently strong,” wrote Alex Henderson, AllMusic (more here). Green looked to Dante's “The Divine Comedy” for inspiration on SEPULTURA's 2006 album ‘Dante XXI’, and has based his words on Burghess' “A Clockwork Orange” on the band's eleventh full-length, ‘A-Lex’. The 2009 album was the first to feature new drummer Jean Dolabella (Igor Cavalera left in 2006), leaving bassist Paulo Jr. as the sole remaining founding member:

“For all its intellect,” [commented Alex Henderson, AllMusic] “this release doesn’t sacrifice anything when it comes to intensity; this is a vicious, loud sledgehammer of an album, and the kids in the mosh pit will have no problem connecting with alternative metal scorchers like ‘Filthy Rot’, ‘The Treatment’, ‘Paradox’, and ‘Forceful Behavior’ on a gut level. “The Clockwork Orange” angle is intriguing … but for metalheads, the bottom line is that SEPULTURA have no problem bringing the noise – and Green's angry lead vocals are an important part of ‘A-Lex’s intensity.” [More here]

SEPULTURA's twelfth studio album and Nuclear Blast Records debut, ‘Kairos’, followed in 2011; the album was recorded at Trama Studios in São Paulo, Brazil and produced and mixed by renowned Roy Z, with mastering being handled by Maor Appelbaum at Maor Appelbaum Mastering. Somewhat disappointed, the group's greatest cheerleader, Eduardo Rivadavia, found it lacking (of great songs), a “speed-bump in the road to salvation” (more here):