Different levels of aggression
Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura sets itself apart from previous albums with Quadra because of how the band uses their instruments to create a different level of musical aggression. While Sepultura’s previous records contained blues, thrashing metal and melodic music, Quadra offers listeners all three musical genres but in a creative way to create a different style of metal music. Andreas Kisser, Derrick Green, Eloy Casagrande and Paulo Jr. do a great job of staying attune with each other because the instrumentation on each track is filled with electrifying music and there are multiple levels of aggression which can surprise some listeners. Sepultura put a lot of effort into creating Quadra and the band did a great job combining many elements to help shape a different sound.
On Quadra, the guitar playing shines in “Fear Chaos Suffering.” Kisser’s guitar fills the atmosphere with low and high strung notes and he does a good job keeping his composure when the aggression levels change. In some ways, the musical structure of Kisser’s guitar playing adds the depth of harmony on the track because when listening, the first guitar note is harmonic and then it shifts into thrashing metal. Both the harmonic and thrashing can be heard going back and forth in the background.
The song “Guardians of Earth” stands out because of the different musical style it contains. Listeners will be surprised to hear how soft the beginning of the song is because the guitar playing starts off with lower tempos. But, the twist in this song is the sound of a choir chiming in the background chanting melodic music. In some ways, the choir’s chants add a level of aggression because they are the melody and harmony in the song. The band did a great job adding different elements to help create a brilliant song.
Also “Raging Void” is a great song because of Green’s vocals. His voice fills the track with a grunge, high-pitched shouting. When listening, it does sound like Green is expressing himself through the shouting and it sounds like there is more than one person shouting the words. His low, grungy voice is wonderful on this track because the low pitch contributes to the darkness in the song and provides the quality of sound in the song when he shrieks. Also, Green’s voice contributes to the different levels of aggression by matching a vital range to the tempo the band is playing.
Another ear-catcher is “Capital Enslavement” due to the instrumentation. Sepultura did a fine job sticking with their Brazilian roots on this track because the beginning of the song represents the music from their country. After the Brazilian music, surging metal music can be heard. The cutting edge music can cause listeners’ hearts to race with enjoyment because Sepultura is playing aggressive notes. Whoever had the idea of adding keyboards into the song is brilliant because it adds a different level of aggression and it adds a theater element to the song. “Capital Enslavement” is a brilliant song because it offers a different variety of musical elements.
On another note, “Isolation” is a great track because the drum playing beats with authority. At the beginning of the song, Paulo Jr. does a great job pounding his drum with low, hard beats. When listening, the drum sounds like a heart beating with desire. Right after the low beats, Paulo Jr. starts to play erratically which will cause listeners to dance or head-bang along. The faster tempo contributes to the craziness in the song.
In the end, Sepultura did a great job expressing themselves through the power of metal music. Quadra is a great album and music listeners should give it a chance.
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