Band:	Sepultura
Album:	A-Lex
Style:	Alternative metal, Groove thrash metal
Release date:	January 26, 2009
Guest review by:	vezzy

01. A-Lex I
02. Moloko Mesto
03. Filthy Rot
04. We've Lost You
05. What I Do!
06. A-Lex II
07. The Treatment
08. Metamorphosis
09. Sadistic Values
10. Forceful Behavior
11. Conform
12. A-Lex III
13. The Experiment
14. Strike
15. Enough Said
16. Ludwig Van
17. A-Lex IV
18. Paradox

We all know the deal: Max Cavalera leaves Sepultura, they hire Derrick Green as his replacement and so begins a new era for the band. However, this meant they now had this odd fusion of nu metal and semi-thrash with tribal, groove and punk elements, which ended up sounding rather poor. In 2006 they released Dante XXI and seemed like they somewhat learnt to use this style to make a decent album. Three years later, here it comes, A-Lex?

The A-Lex concept (based on Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange, more well known thanks to Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation) was originally suggested for their previous effort that would become Dante XXI and so it was used for this album instead. There are four openers titled after the album "A-Lex". The first one starts off very promising, only to generate into sudden dirty and heavily distorted guitar riffing with the vocals immediately coming in, making it all seem explosive. Most of the tracks follow this or a similar pattern, making it seem like a suffocated sounding jam session. There are plenty of interludes, including the dragging beginning of "Sadistic Values" and the song "Ludwig Van" (the longest on the album, containing excerpts from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony). Although the guitar tone can be enjoyable, its main problem stems from the redundant and bland riffs. Derrick's voice is the same as always, so if you loved or hated it before, you'll still hold your views. The bass is really quirky and audible at almost all times but not distinguished enough to hold much significance amidst the music. Drumming is not bad at all, actually, but it's improperly mixed, therefore not having a very big impact either.

Of all the albums, this bears the most stylistic resemblance to Roots. "Enough Said" sounds like it's a rehash of "Dictatorshit" and "Filthy Rot" sounds like a primitive version of "Refuse/Resist" (from Chaos A.D.) but lacking the extreme tribal characteristics of Roots but, nevertheless, still retaining them to a degree. Atmosphere is where it partly excels at, helped by the odd synthesizer notes and guitar tuning but that's only a minor thing as the music itself is monotonous, bland and the way it's mixed, drains it from its power.

In short: if you liked post-Roots or even post-Chaos A.D. Sepultura (depends on your idea of the singing), then sure, buy this one. If not, stay the hell away.