Review CAVALERA ‘Morbid Visions’ (re-recording)

A year after having released the split-EP, Sepultura premiered with ‘Morbid Visions’. At the time, Sepultura was young and hungry. Inspired by bands like Venom and Celtic frost, the Brazilians started to record songs that were raw and loaded with the energy of the youth, that finally found an outlet.

As with the re-recorded ‘Bestial Devastation’ – EP, also Cavalera ‘s version of ‘Morbid Visions’ carries the unbound aggressiveness of the early days while the sound is more dense and powerful. Compared to the early days, the Cavalera brothers are far more experienced and also the evolvement of recording techniques provides this release with a brutal sound, reflected by songs like the legendary ‘Troops of Doom’.

Furthermore, there are songs like the lightning ‘Crucifixion’, showing some parallel with bands like Slayer who released their milestone album ‘Reign in Blood’ the same year.

‘Morbid Visions’, that is an album with unstoppable freight train power. Arrangements become clearer today while the record doesn’t lose anything of its massive intensity. Songs like ‘Show Me the Wrath’, with its hypnotic repetitions are metal beasts and one can state that the Cavalera brothers managed to give some new life to these early thrash classics.

As on ‘Bestial Devastation’ also ‘Morbid Visions’ features a new song. ‘Burn the Dead’ is in line with what the original album offers. It’s a raging and savage metal track. It’s a murderous riff attack that ends the 2023 version of an album that paved the way for Sepultura’s great success; a rise that began a few years later with ‘Beneath the Remains’.