Sepultura, "Dead Embryonic Cells"

Posted by Luminator (A) on September 25, 2016 at 21:23:01

It's difficult to measure intensity. But of the myriad requests I receive, the most enthusiastic may be from thrash metal fans. Yeah, yeah, my readers clamor to be quoted. But for the most part, I do not, even when I have permission, copy & paste any of these emails. Turn that coin over, however, and when I go for more than a few days without writing about thrash, the natives get restless, and start badgering me.

Since we focus on 5-year increments, we've been turning the spotlight on 1991, which took place 25 years ago. I believe it was late April or early May 1991, when I went home to San Francisco. Late on a Friday, I just caught my friend Todd, who was working for the Hokubei Mainichi newspaper in Japantown. He had, on CD, Sepultura's then-new album, Arise.

Arise is where rock music really came together. It blended punk rock, social commentary, Slayer-like thrash, growling but intelligible Cookie Monster vocals, South American drumming, and Scott Burns' expert production skills. A bonus track, a cover of Motorhead's "Orgasmatron," really put Sepultura on the map. But among their own material, it was really "Dead Embryonic Cells," which launched them past mainstream acts, such as Metallica.

When I brought Arise back to my UCSC dorm, my neighbors, even though none was an audiophile, and very few were into thrash, knew that this was an important album. Even if they didn't personally like the music, those wannabe hippies respected the musicianship. Moreover, since those wannabe hippies were socially conscious, they latched on to the songs about police brutality. It's now 2016, and...oh, police brutality is still in the news.

The remastered CD, from which you can rip to your heart's content, sports cleaner sonics. It sheds some light, that perhaps the original recording was/is better than we previously had been led to believe. Appealing to your mind, international awareness, and inner spirit, the music is as fresh and relevant as it was, 25 years ago.

-Lummy The Loch Monster

Dead Embryonic Cells (Open in New Window)

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Topic - Sepultura, "Dead Embryonic Cells" - Luminator 21:23:01 09/25/16 (0)

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