Stormbringer Webzine

Sepultura : Portsmouth Pyramid Centre : 2/12/98

Have you ever had one of those days, when no matter how hard you try everything just goes wrong?

Even to such extent that you always seem to be taking two steps backwards for every one forward, Yeah, well, good, because that's exactly what happened to Derek and I, on the day of the above concert.

The day started full of promise, the weather was fine, a bit cold, but we didn't give a fuck, because tonight not only were we going to see one of the Metal true Icons, but we were actually going to meet and interview them as well at 6pm.

Now Bournemouth to Portsmouth is not that far away, about one hours drive, so we set off in plenty of time, 4:15 to be precise, giving us time to get something to eat and prepare ourselves for the interview and that's when everything started to go pear shaped.

The traffic into Portsmouth was appalling and to say we cut it fine was an understatement, never mind we thought, it'll be worth it in the end!

Wrong, those wonderful people at Roadrunner Records, who had put us on the guest list, had failed to arrange for us to do the interview or that was what we were lead to believe by Sepultura's tour manager. Basically we were told we could not interview the band and to come back at show time.

Feeling rather pissed off, as you would expect, we wandered overt o the local KFC and not dwelling too much on the contents of my burger. I took one bite and yes, you've guessed it, all the contents flew out the other side. Well, if shit does happen, I'm glad cows can't fly.

Well, anyway the burger must have worked because by the time we returned to the Pyramid Centre, we cannot wait until ShowTime. Unlike the London shows, tonight the Sep's were supported by Psycore, this would be in fact the second time we have seen them as we had seen then earlier this year supporting Stuck Mojo. And as usual they did not disappoint.

Nut tonight was all about Sepultura and in particular Derek Green. Could he win over the fans on a live stage and lay the ghost of Max Cavalera to rest once and for all.

The sound of tribal drums signalled the arrival of the Sep's and from the moment they hit with 'Against', it was clear that they had lost none of the power and intensity that we have come to know and love.

The audience responds to the new material in true rabid fashion and by the time 'Old Earth', comes screaming from the stage, the Sep's had the audience eating out of their hands. Sepultura were simply on fire and Derek Green was holding centre stage and showed such confidence that you would never had guessed that this was his first tour with the band.

One thing that impressed me most was the way the new material blended perfectly with the older numbers.
Yes. It's true.
The loudest cheers of the night may have been for classics such as 'Refuse Resist', Chaos AD', and 'War For Territory', but this was more out of respect than anything else and I am sure it won't be long before the new material is greeted in the same manner.

Sepultura delivered an hour and a half of pure metal magic and mayhem and proved without any doubt that they are still one of metal's true giants. Everything about the show was spot on, even down to the sound, which added to the enjoyment even more.

Time, simply flew by and by the time the last few notes of 'Roots' faded out, Brazil's finest were gone and it was time for us to go home.

Stepping out into the cold night air, I stopped to reflect on what had been a wonderful night's entertainment, and I felt sorry for those who doubted the Sep's in anyway. Make sure you don't miss them next time round.