ALBUM REVIEW: Schizophrenia – Cavalera
The name Cavelera is royalty in extreme music circles. The brothers of Max and Iggor have been synonymous with extreme music from their frenetic early years as SEPULTURA, which put Brazil on the map for metal, and through their many subsequent projects over the decades. After rolling back the clocks to give 1985’s Bestial Devastation and 1986’s Morbid Visions a facelift with re-recordings and new artwork to boot under their CAVALERA moniker, now, with momentum on their side, the same job has been applied to SEPULTURA‘s second full-length album: 1987’s Schizophrenia.
1987’s original release marked a turning point for the development of thrash metal as Schizophrenia saw SEPULTURA fuse the frenetic energy of their European thrash counterparts with a death metal bite that would be replicated by bands in their droves in the decades ahead. And despite the vast development of death/thrash, championed by numerous bands from all four corners of the globe, Schizophrenia remains a timeless classic and that is clear as day on this re-recorded effort.
The likes of Escape To The Void wails and divebombs whilst Iggor beats his drumkit to within an inch of its life, the instrumental driven epic Inquisition Symphony benefits massively from the re-recording with extra emphasis added to the bass to make the track hit even harder, and From The Past Comes The Storms has a swagger and snarl that just begs for your head to bang. And it’s not just a simple case of remastering 1987’s classic, the 2024 re-recording features album closer Nightmares Of Delirium, a previously unheard track and the way in which it embeds itself into the record is remarkable, closing Schizophrenia with a thunderous bang.
Re-recordings of beloved classics can be a risky affair as the end product can not only tarnish the chosen record’s legacy but shake the hornet’s nest of a band’s loyal fanbase. Just like last year’s re-recordings, the production job applied to Schizophrenia is incredibly well done, helping the record enhance its thumping metal ferocity, especially with Max‘s vocals that sound immense from start to finish. The likes of To The Wall, with its hefty chugs, or the manically charged Septic Schizo sound absolutely phenomenal here and it showcases that the Cavalera brothers know exactly how to keep legacy fans happy whilst engaging the next generation of extreme metal fans.
At this point, there are not enough superlatives in the universe to describe just how influential the Cavalera brothers have been for extreme music. And with the re-recorded Schizophrenia, not only do the brothers pay homage to a record that helped put SEPULTURA on the map, but they have breathed new life into the record and it still sounds as viciously wicked as it first did 37 years ago.
Rating: 9/10
Schizophrenia is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.
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