Max & Iggor Cavalera, Shatter Brain @ The Gov, Adelaide 19/3/2019

“Under A Pale Grey Sky, We Shall Arise!” That’s the headline lyric from Arise, Sepultura’s fourth full length album, and the war cry of a generation of disenfranchised youth with the system, be it political, be it media or anything in between. Those brutal sounds are rarely heard as time, band tensions and history stop those songs being played. So tonight a whole generation of fans get to hear that voice, those drums, blast those lyrics out in a very special event as Max Cavalera and brother Iggor Cavelera return to Beneath/Arise.

Opening proceedings are local guys Shatter Brain, fresh from touring Japan, their constant graft over the last year shows with a brutal display of musicianship. Swinging from pneumatic drill battering of the senses one song to groovy riffing the next, the band leaves you on the edge anticipating their next move. Their next move is a crowd pleasing cover of Slayer’s Seasons In The Abyss by the way.

The opening intro tape to Beneath The Remains, the title track from Sepultura’s classic third album, starts. The roar from the crowd raises the roof and Max and Iggor take to the stage and blast straight into the adrenaline fuelled number.

Much like the last tour, which focused on the Roots album, this tour is a celebration of both Sepultura’s Beneath The Remains and the follow up Arise albums. Playing the songs in the order they appeared in the album with a twist, not all the songs are played, they keep the energy and drive going throughout the set.

Inner Self and Mass Hypnosis are sung with gusto but those who are taken back to that time alongside those hearing them live for the first time.

Before you know it, six of the best from Beneath The Remains have flown by and Max makes that famous war cry of “Under A Pale Grey Sky, We Shall Arise” and the band tear into Arise like a starving lion feeding on its prey.

Dead Embryonic Cells, complete with that spine chilling breakdown, sounds as powerful as at any time in its history. The thrash classic Desperate Cry has the crowd surfers and the umpteenth mosh pit breakout before the band groove into a interactive jam with the crowd.

While there was the conspicuous absence of the mental Murder, that was made up with the Motörhead classic Orgasmatron and one of the band’s earliest tracks, a belting Troops Of Doom.

A surprise change in the flow is the arrival of Shatter Brain vocalist Tom Santamaria, who joins the band for a raucous cover of AC/DC’s Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap before the band close proceedings with Refuse/Resist. A quick re-imagining of the title tracks Beneath The Remains and Arise, with a dash of that breakdown from Dead Embryonic Cells, is hammered out once again in glorious triumphant fashion to round out the night.

Max and Iggor are metal fans and know how to get a crowd involved. The know what they want to hear and are always sure to make you feel part of that show. It was frantic, it was powerful, it was nostalgic. Today there will be more than few metal-heads waking up under a pale grey sky with sore necks and a hangover.

Live Review By Iain McCallum