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A middle finger to thrash and metal elitism. - 92%

imqa, September 12th, 2012

After reading several reviews of this album (both positive ones and negative ones) I can conclude that several things of this release are quite overlook. Be it repetitive riffs or lack of virtuoso soloing or conventional "metalness" if you will, this does not take away from the sound at all. This album is indeed overwhelmingly metal.

If you are indifferent about sounds from other countries, be it the folk music of those nations or the tribal music of those nations, stay away from this album at all costs. Obviously you're gonna get the sound of Sepultura's origin. And goddamn is it a great sound. Sepultura explicitly mark their territory when it comes to the uniqueness of their brand in metal. What's definitely one of the best aspects of this album is the percussion. Igor Cavalera did an exceptionally superb job with his percussive delivery and the combination of tribal percussive instruments along with his own drum kit. "Roots Bloody Roots", "Rattamahatta", "Breed Apart", and "Attitude" are among the greatest percussive tracks of this album. If you're a drummer and you enjoy multiple brands of metal, never hesitate in buying this album or listening to it anyway you can.

Andreas Kisser's soloing or exceptional guitar work does not exactly become a focus or an outstanding aspect of this release but it is definitely consistent and it blends well with the rest of the album's sound. Yes, while Max's lyrics aren't optimal, his vocal delivery impresses regardless. "Jasco" is definitely a track where Andreas' guitar playing stands out the most. It is definitely a song that stands out and gives a nice extra acoustic flavor to the album.

Something that I really loved, being a bassist, is the production of this album. The bass is pretty damn loud! this really made the album all the more enjoyable for me. "Lookaway" for me is the with the best bass groove in it. Ross Robinson as well as the rest of the staff involving the album's production definitely deserve a thumbs up.

Something that I found absolutely laughable was the way that so many complained about this album being "nu-metal" influenced. From what I hear, Max didn't quite write douchebaggy lyrics and not every track in this album had turntables other than "lookaway". Sure, you can definitely see some korn influence when you talk about the downtuning, but damn it's nowhere near being a important focus of the album. The percussion is definitely much more of a focus in this album rather than any nu-metal or metal specific influence. This album takes a little bit of everything and pretty much combines it with Sepultura's roots.

Overall: An underrated album among thrashers and extreme metal fans. Definitely deserves different perspectives and extra listens.