Cavalera – Bestial Devastation & Morbid Visions (re-recorded)
Release Date: 14th July 2023
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Order/Stream Bestial Devastation
Order/Stream Morbid Visions
Genre: Thrash, Death Metal.
FFO: Sepultura
Review By: Eric Wilt
If you’ve been following the Cavalera brothers’ post-Sepultura careers, you know that they have made a whole lot of music in a variety of genres, both together and individually. Now, Max and Iggor are going all the way back to their roots to revisit the two albums that got them their start. It is surprising to learn that Bestial Devastation and Morbid Visions were written and recorded when Max was just 14 and Iggor just 13, but it is true. The songs sounded like they were written by much older men, but the albums suffered both from the primitive recording methods and the Cavalera’s lack of experience. Max’s guitar was often out of tune, and Iggor’s drumming was inconsistent at best, but the songs were well-crafted and full of the energy and aggressiveness that the brothers would become known for.
On 14 July 2023, with the help of modern recording methods and decades of experience, Max and Iggor’s newest musical endeavor will unleash updated versions of these seminal albums onto the metal community.
As a rule, I’m not big on re-recording albums. Often, the original versions of albums contain an energy and spontaneity that can’t be replicated, so many years removed from the initial creation of the record. In this case, I think Cavalera has done the metal world a huge service by giving old fans and a new generation of listeners a chance to hear these songs at their absolute best. The songs themselves haven’t been altered, so fan favorites like the title songs as well as Troops of Doom, Crucifixion, and Antichrist pack as much punch as ever. In fact, the songs on these albums sound so fresh, they could’ve been written in present day.
I’m not sure where Cavalera is going in the future, if this is a one-off or if the brothers plan on recording new music somewhere down the line, but either way, these updated versions of Bestial Devastation and Morbid Visions are welcome additions to the Cavalera’s legacy and are enjoyable reminders of what made Sepultura’s early output so good.
(4.5 / 5)
