Albums

Album Review: Cavalera – Schizophrenia

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Posted on 20th June 2024

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Review by Rick Eaglestone for MPM

The Cavalera name has long been synonymous with fast paced and unrelenting aggression and now right in the middle of tour to celebrate its recording Max & Iggor look to rekindle the flame and hunger of last year’s successful re recordings of Morbid Visions and Bestial Devastation look to continue that bone breaking intensity as they revisit Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is no doubt an iconic album in terms of early thrash and death metal but much like its predecessors it was recorded very early in the brothers musical life and not under the best conditions and whilst the original is still admired are revered there is an strong counter argument especially based on recent history that this something the brothers are keen at putting not only their experience but also their technical ability that comes with being in the extreme side of metal for a long, long time that this something the brothers are more than proud to out the Cavalera name to.

This is apparent from the ominous Intro to the album which fires into From Past Comes The Storms which even though I have lost count how many times I have heard it before, the re invigoration makes me feel like I am hearing it again for the first time, once again Iggor’s drumming is outstanding.

To The Wall sounds like a modern thrash hit, and you forget how well the follow up track Escape The Void gels with it but then this will always be the best track of this release for me.

For its release at the time a song coming in at seven and half minutes was no mean feat and I feel that all this time later where in some cases it has become the norm there is still a tendency to include filler parts but, I can comfortably confirm that Inquisition Symphony certainly doesn’t rest on its laurels and is more that comfortable using it’s instrumental nature to highlight all the technical enrichment this version contains as there really is something for every metal fan all, especially the solos.

The inclusion of Pig Destroyer’s Travis Stone and of course what’s one more Cavalera right? As Igor Amadeus Cavalera basslines are full of the fire from the past add just another dynamic that just enriches and wholeheartedly justifies another delve into the back catalogue and as the album then launches into Screams Behind The Shadows I am immediately taken back to the recent opening night of the tour.

Moving onto Septic Schizo and it’s woeful companion The Abyss you have to appreciate that they have left no stone unturned even going so far as to revising the original cover artwork of the album, restored in hand painted watercolours by Eliran Kantor but just as you become swept away in details you are fiercely pulled back into R.I.P. (Rest In Pain) and the albums final opus Nightmares Of Delirium which finally concludes this modern bridge straight back to 1983.