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Sepultura - Dante XXI review



Reviewer:
8.5

328 users:
6.89
Band: Sepultura
Album: Dante XXI
Release date: March 2006


01. Lost (Intro)
02. Dark Wood Of Error
03. Convicted In Life
04. City Of Dis
05. False
06. Fighting On
07. Limbo (Intro)
08. Ostia
09. Buried Words
10. Nuclear Seven
11. Repeating The Horror
12. Eunoé (Intro)
13. Crown And Miter
14. Primium Mobile (Intro)
15. Still Flame

Sepultura is a band I've always been fond of. I like all their albums with Max Cavalera (yes, even Chaos A.D. and Roots), I think Derrick Greene is one hell of a good singer, I think Against is an excellent hardcore album. Nation was disappointing but has a couple of good songs and I've not heard enough of Roorback to have an opinion. That leads me to say that I've always respected Sepultura. They've been courageous enough to sack their former icon frontman, to hire this unknown guy with a hardcore background and to keep going as if nothing ever happened. But above all I respect them for having evolved. A lot of bands, when they change their leader, get stuck in pathetic attempts to revive old memories and only manage to rip off themselves. They become a shadow of a band. Sepultura took the opposite direction. They turned to hardcore first then thrashcore and followed this path against all odds and despite attracting only contempt and sniggering from most metalheads. This is an attitude I highly respect.

This intro was useful in order to explain my state of mind when I heard this Dante XXI. I wasn't expecting a bad album. I was actually expecting something decent. What I heard totally surprised me. No, don't expect them to play pure thrash again (this time is long gone, get over it now), the music is hardcore-influenced but still has thrash structures and riffs. The production is far more thrash than all they've done since 1998. It is cleaner and also darker than the rest of their Greene-era albums.

The albums opens on the catchy intro "Dark Wood Of Error" that soon leads to the single "Convicted In Life", a groovy track full of mid-tempos with an awesome chorus. First good point, Greene's voice is aggressive and furious, without this reserve he seemed to have on Nation. "City Of Dis" shows less hardcore influences than the previous song and is actually a bit more representative of the album. If you enjoy groove thrash this album is for you, seriously. "Fighting On" and "Nuclear Seven" are two other pure thrash songs that bring us ten years back. The guitar playing is particularly catchy on these two songs, just as on the rest of the album. They riff as if their life depended on it.

I can say whatever I want, all you need is listen to Dante XXI and realize that it is full of amazing riffs and great, memorable songs. Unlike on all Sep's albums since Chaos A.D., there is absolutely no filler here. Good thing they understood that you better record eleven top-notch songs rather than 15 with half of it made of uninteresting tracks. They obviously have put a lot of thought and efforts in this record. They even managed to be surprising and innovative: who would have expected this outstanding violin passage right in the middle of "Ostia"? This song is absolutely amazing of catchiness, of talent, of mastery. One of the best the band ever wrote.

I know a lot of you are probably thinking that this album is not worth your time, that I am just a fan who can't see one of his favourite bands has gone wrong. Don't make this mistake. This album is very different from the rest of their discography. It IS thrash. So do yourself a favour, give them a chance and try one of the songs listed below. I assure you will be pleasantly surprised. This is a very strong album, the Sepultura album I had been waiting for so long.

Highlights: OSTIA, Convicted In Life, City Of Dis, Fighting On, Nuclear Seven

Written by Deadsoulman | 28.02.2006




Comments

Comments: 21   Visited by: 233 users
22.09.2006 - 19:42
yonga
Account deleted
nothing compared to sepultura with max
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22.09.2006 - 22:09
Streetcleaner
Account deleted
Good review, and I'm very glad to see that I'm not the only one who loves Sepultura new Hardcore Metal stuff...
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04.12.2006 - 22:55
Mordack
Account deleted
I love this album. Definitely their best album without Max.
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21.05.2007 - 14:43
__Az__

Written by Guest on 04.12.2006 at 22:55

I love this album. Definitely their best album without Max.


I agree, best album since Chaos AD.
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22.10.2007 - 15:11
m3ta1he4d

Nice album compared to other post-Max Sepultura records..
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14.11.2007 - 15:50
Rating: 10
IllNiñoSweden

Very nice album. I rating this album 9/10.
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14.11.2007 - 16:24
Rating: 9
Warman
Erotic Stains
I love Sepultura, I hate Against and Nation... still Dante XXI may actually be their best album. Who would've thought?
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13.02.2008 - 21:46
Rating: 7
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
I have tyo agree the first posts...
This is actually the best cd without Max...

I tinkl I gonna buy this thing... Convicted in Life is a hellsong... very catchy!
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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02.03.2008 - 21:16
Rating: 6
SlaytallicA
Lycanthropy
Written by X-Ray Rod on 13.02.2008 at 21:46

I have tyo agree the first posts...
This is actually the best cd without Max...

I tinkl I gonna buy this thing... Convicted in Life is a hellsong... very catchy!


You're right,this is the best album in Derrick Green era
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One Pound Of Flesh, No More No Less, No Cartilage, No Bones, But Only Flesh...
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12.03.2008 - 09:07
Rating: 7
Dangerboner
Lactation Cnslt
Derrick's vocals annoy me so goddamn much, but overall this is the best album with him. It would have sounded so much better with Max, but that's obvious.
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03.04.2009 - 16:44
kisserisgod
Account deleted
Absolutely INSANE ALBUM!!!!
Better than Roots.
¡¡É SEPULTURA CARALHO!!
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23.04.2009 - 16:49
Ereinion
Account deleted
I wish that they woud kept the a symphonic elemnts more prominent on this album that would be really interesting

nevertheless this album is a clear step out from max's shadow
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19.10.2009 - 08:39
sinforosasneider
Account deleted
Better than ROOTS.
With this album any can forget Max "azzhole" Cavalera!!!
¡¡¡GOOD JOB SEPS!!
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16.04.2010 - 16:29
Rating: 9
@gent_-_orange

Their best album with derrick green
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24.08.2010 - 07:34
Vikcen
Metálico
Good review, i'm a similar fan like you... i will give it a chance .
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24.08.2010 - 10:17
Rating: 8
Angelic Storm
Melodious
Written by @gent_-_orange on 16.04.2010 at 16:29

Their best album with derrick green


Definitely.

I found Roorback to be a real step in the right direction after the horrible Sepulnation album. And Dante XXI built even futher on that momentum. It is a great album, if not quite a classic imo.

I also agree with the people saying it's better than Roots. Although I also find Roorback to be better than Roots.
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24.08.2010 - 14:22
Rating: 7
vezzy
Stallmanite
Written by Angelic Storm on 24.08.2010 at 10:17
Definitely.

I found Roorback to be a real step in the right direction after the horrible Sepulnation album. And Dante XXI built even futher on that momentum. It is a great album, if not quite a classic imo.

I also agree with the people saying it's better than Roots. Although I also find Roorback to be better than Roots.


I found Roorback to be rather terrible, only a minor improvement over Nation and not really up to par with Roots, as bad as it is.
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Licensed under the GPLv3.
Relinquish proprietary software for a greater GNU/America.
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24.08.2010 - 19:37
Vikcen
Metálico
Written by Vikcen on 24.08.2010 at 07:34

Good review, i'm a similar fan like you... i will give it a chance .


Well, i gave it a chance, and definitly i don't like. But after I continued searching and i tried with Cavalera Conspiracy. And i have to say that his record "Inflikted" is very good, being a great surprise for me, this is just what I want (I'll buy it).

By the way, thank you very much, it is ok .
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24.08.2010 - 22:54
Rating: 8
Angelic Storm
Melodious
Written by vezzy on 24.08.2010 at 14:22
I found Roorback to be rather terrible, only a minor improvement over Nation and not really up to par with Roots, as bad as it is.


For me, its waaay better than Nation. But then, I find even Roots and Against better than Nation. And neither of them are great albums. Nation is hands down, Sepultura's worst album IMO. I cant even recall a single song from that album I enjoyed.
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27.08.2010 - 23:44
Rating: 9
@gent_-_orange

Written by Angelic Storm on 24.08.2010 at 22:54

Written by vezzy on 24.08.2010 at 14:22
I found Roorback to be rather terrible, only a minor improvement over Nation and not really up to par with Roots, as bad as it is.


For me, its waaay better than Nation. But then, I find even Roots and Against better than Nation. And neither of them are great albums. Nation is hands down, Sepultura's worst album IMO. I cant even recall a single song from that album I enjoyed.

Against and Nation are bad IMO but everything else with green is worth a listen if you can cope without max
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17.09.2010 - 19:43
Deadsoulman

Written by Angelic Storm on 24.08.2010 at 22:54

Written by vezzy on 24.08.2010 at 14:22
I found Roorback to be rather terrible, only a minor improvement over Nation and not really up to par with Roots, as bad as it is.


For me, its waaay better than Nation. But then, I find even Roots and Against better than Nation. And neither of them are great albums. Nation is hands down, Sepultura's worst album IMO. I cant even recall a single song from that album I enjoyed.


I've noticed recently that for some reason when I listen to Nation as a whole I find it bad and boring but if I take single tracks separately, most of them are actually pretty good. Especially Sepulnation is a killer song. I now consider Roorback to be Sep's worst, it's almost unbearably bad.
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