25 years on and Sepultura are still at it. This time with new drummer, Jean Dolabella, at the helm. A-Lex is a concept album, based on the book A Clockwork Orange. This would explain the inclusion of a rather oddly placed Beethoven cover, which pops up sporadically, towards the end of the 18 tracks of A-Lex. The album itself diversifies quite frequently, going from the typical thrash metal sound into various styles of interludes and breakdowns. This gives the album greater listening power. Sepultura’s riffs are not the most intricate anyone has ever played but they do the job, straightforward and kicking hard. The interludes add another dimension drawing you away from the straightforward metal riffs.
A-Lex was written and recorded in the short space of 3 months and is an amalgamation of all the riffs that were jammed. This means that in certain places you can hear where they have literally stuck 2 riffs together as apposed to actually writing something to follow on what they have already got. These things aren’t overly noticeable but are still there. The production is very good with nice dirty guitar tone and the bass rumbling away underneath. There is a nice variety of vocals across A-Lex, ranging from screams to softer singing and some very Brazilian style chanting and grooves.
Sepultura created a name for them selves by playing a unique style of metal, by emblazoning their culture in to it, making it more groovy and solid. Brazil is known for its carnivals and strong heritage in music. This can be heard by the tightness of the band and the grooves that they can create. A-Lex has loads of great riffs and some interesting breakdowns. This is not the best thing they have ever done but should be enough to keep old fans and new fans happy.
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Sepultura - A-Lex (CD)
