Cavalera: Bestial Devastation

My exposure to Sepultura during my embryonic metal youth was fairly limited. The first time I ever heard the Brazilian legends I was crammed in a car with at least 4 other guys as we drove down the highway to go play laser tag. The album that was blasting through the speakers was Arise, which is probably the band's most well known thrash album. We were all headbanging in unison to that one, and since then I've always held that record in fairly high regard. I heard bits and pieces of Chaos A.D. and Roots, both of which really didn't do anything for me. As such, I moved onto other bands that tickled my fancy and I largely ignored the band from then on. Judging from what I've heard of the band since then, I haven't really missed out. The stuff from BEFORE Arise has also never really been on my radar. Seems like now would be a good a time as any to rectify that, because the project featuring the two most famous members of the original band (the Cavalera brothers) decided to re-record their debut EP and LPs under the 'Cavalera' moniker. We'll cover the EP, Bestial Devastation, first.

My first reaction upon listening is that this is definitely more akin to early death metal than it is to thrash, which is apparently the common opinion of a lot of the band's earlier work. The five original (four and an intro, more like) tracks are all fairly short, and even with a 6th bonus track added on the EP clocks in at a fairly lean 20 or so minutes. These songs are raw and aggressive, and the fact that this is a fairly short release works in its favor. as you never get a chance to grow tired of the fairly similar speed and aggro as all hell riffs that bombard you for the duration. Max sounds supremely pissed off here, and all of the instrumentals sound fantastic. I can't speak for the originals, but this assuredly has to be a marked improvement in that regard.

Bestial Devastation is chock full of all the balls to the wall energy you'd expect from songs written by angry Brazilian teenagers, and that's certainly it's biggest boon. Songs like the title track and "Warriors of Death" are just blistering death/thrash metal that rip and tear not unlike Slayer at their Reign in Bloodiest, but with some stomping mosh parts here and there to give the songs their own personalities. "Antichrist" in particular has a crossover style breakdown mosh bit that just makes you want to start a pit in your own house with your wife and cat. It's all just a lot of fun and, as I said, doesn't overstay its welcome.

The re-recording of Bestial Devastation is pretty sweet. As someone who basically has never heard the original recording I can't say with a ton of certainty that this NEEDS to exist, but I'm glad it does. It's just awesome, comically evil extreme metal that while being fairly primitive manages to satiate that primeval lust for something good to headbang to.

Tracklist:
1. The Curse
2. Bestial Devastation
3. Antichrist
4. Necromancer
5. Warriors of Death
6. Sexta Feira 13

Added: July 27th 2023
Reviewer: Brandon Miles
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 519
Language: english

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