Chaos A.D. is a brutally heavy mash of thrash, hardcore, and death metal that hits like a gut punch straight to the solar plexus. Sepultura was one of the more influential heavy metal acts in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and along with Pantera helped to develop a more groove-oriented form of death-metal that inspired a lot of bands during the 90’s. There are still elements of thrash here, but for the most part Chaos A.D. focuses less on pummeling you with speed and instead seems determined to slowly grind you down with slower grooves that have a bit of a bounce to them.
And there’s some interesting footnotes throughout this album. “Kaiowas” in an all acoustic track featuring an interesting percussive section, and is made even more interesting with the backstory that it was recorded in a medieval castle in Wales. “Refuse/Resist” is your standard fare, but has the touching detail of featuring the heartbeat of lead singer Max Cavalera’s then unborn son Zyon to start the song, who has gone on to be a metal drummer himself in a band with his father.
All this to say there is a lot of variety on Chaos A.D. that will appeal to metal heads of all stripes.
Standout Songs: “Propaganda”, “Refuse/Resist”, “Nomad”
