Although a lot of people still associate Sepultura with Max Cavalera, the Brazilian band has been on a long and interesting journey since his departure at the beginning of 1997. Replacing a much-loved vocalist is always hard, but the band worked tirelessly to keep a high profile and bring their blend of thrash and groove metal to the masses.
The first clutch of albums recorded with Derrick Green may not be as well known as the career defining ‘Chaos AD’ and ‘Roots’ but each one contains several Sepultura classics, and although their Roadrunner Records swansong, ‘Nation’ (released in 2001) sold poorly in relation to previous albums, it captured an angry band still giving their all, and still masters of a tightly wound riff. It might just be one of the era’s most underrated metal discs. It’s definitely worth re-evaluating, especially if you haven’t heard it in a long while.