SEPULTURA - Kairos CD Review

ARTIST: Sepultura
TITLE: Kairos
YEAR: 2011
LABEL: Nuclear Blast
REVIEWED BY: Caroline Restiaux

I have to start this review off by saying that when I listened to 'Kairos' for the first time I absolutely loved it. I tried to keep an open mind and chose not to think about band member changes or whether they are going to produce another album like 'Beneath The Remains'. This album is hands down one of the bands best releases in a while! It is their 12th studio release however a first with the Nuclear Blast record label.

With 'Kairos' (an ancient Greek word signifying a time in between, a moment of undetermined period of time in which something special happens) these Brazilian thrashers take a more simplistic approach to the song arrangements. They've brought back the old school and have given it some attitude. When listening you can easily tell that the guys put a lot of thought into each song and didn't just throw a bunch of tunes together to create an album. They stuck closely to the theme of 'concept in time' and the album is pretty much raw and direct. There are some very simplistic riffs, you'll hear right from the opening track, followed by more melodic ones later on. My fave guitar 'and' drumming moments happen in the track 'Relentless' which just so happens to be my fave on the album. There are two covers: Ministry's Just One Fix and the last tune is a cover of The Prodigy's Firestarter. To be completely honest, I still don't know how to take that final track. I'm not too sure what the band was trying to prove with this 8 and a half minute piece but hey at least all the other tracks were well done.

The album was produced by Roy Z. (Judas Priest, Halford, Bruce Dickinson, Helloween). He did an excellent job with the release, it's rawness will easily be transmitted on stage while the guys are touring. I did see them not too long ago but left half way through their set. At the time I wasn't too impressed but after listening to this album I am back on the band wagon again! It's a shoe in for one of the best releases this month, heck for this year as well. So my suggestion to you if you are a fan of the band, just go in to the album like I did, purely to enjoy the music and forget about their past, I guarantee that you will like it.

TRACKLISTING:

01. Spectrum
02. Kairos
03. Relentless
04. 2011
05. Just One Fix
06. Dialog
07. Mask
08. 1433
09. Seethe
10. Born Strong
11. Embrace The Storm
12. 5772
13. No One Will Stand
14. Structure Violence (Azzes)
15. 4648