Schizophrenia

Sepultura is a hero to everyone playing in a third-world country 'cause they are the few bands that make it big, course they later sold out but they still deserve respect. This album being one reason and the next being the other. Also the broken English lyrics are hilarious at times.

The album opens with the pretty much standard "scary crap from hell" intro. Well actually they rip off the "Psycho" theme, you know the one where Bates kills the chick in the shower. But since the album is called "Schizophrenia" I guess it fits. Then somebody says something in a distorted voice before "From the Past comes the Storms" riff comes. My friend said it reminds him of "Angel of Death" but eh whatever.

The first thing you notice, even in the remaster, is the fact that they have shit production. Considering they are from Brazil and back then nobody knew how to produce thrash in Brazil, I guess it's okay. The guitar tone makes it hard to make out individual notes in the riffs and you can't hear the bass a lot. The drums however get the best treatment and it's still a benchmark on how drums are supposed to sound in thrash. Oh and the growled vox with the Brazilian accent also sound odd at times and even by growl standards it's kind of hard to make out the words.

The second thing you notice is the fact that the first song sings about, well nothing really. There's something about apes, giants, dwarves (what the fuck does a "flight of dwarves/Strengthening the giants" mean?), fruit and nature though. Ah well it's still excellent thrash. Oh and the solo is awesometastic(tm) as well.

Up next, "To the Wall" a song about an execution. The riffs are damn fine yet again and the drums are damn brutal. So why did they go groove again? At least they had three thrash albums before they bought the farm. The song fades out, which is something I don't like 'cuz it ruins the experience unless it fades into something. Then out of nowhere, BAM! "Escape to the Void" comes in with a nice little solo before the thrash mania begins. Three songs in and nothing resembles Mr. Cavalera's future outputs. Seriously what went wrong?

Then comes the legendary "Inquisition Symphony". It starts with some acoustic stuff then break out into riffmania! This is much better than most thrash instrumentals *cough*Orion*cough* 'cuz it's heavy on the riffs. Then "Screams Behind the Shadows" comes though it's not as memorable as the previous tracks. Then "Septic Schizo" which, I guess, is the title track. Another good song but not as memorable. The last song is "R.I.P." or "Rest in Pain", well there is an instrumental before it, but it's more like a segue than a song. Good song yet again from the Boys from Brazil.

The re-release comes with "Troops of Doom", "The Past Reborns the Storm", which is an even more broken English laden "From the Past comes the Storms" though the production gives the guitars a wider space making you feel not as suffocated as the album cut, and rough demo tracks for "Septic Schizo" and "To the Wall" no solos or nothing, not even vox. The liner notes also detail the history of the record though not as much as the intro for the tab book. Neat pictures though.

Conclusion: essential thrash from Brazil, track down the re-release (well I had to, metal is fucking rare here.)