Sepultura Bids Farewell To London With Jinjer, Obituary And Jesus Piece

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Sepultura Bids Farewell To London With Jinjer, Obituary And Jesus Piece

Some bands become popular enough that they put their hometowns on the map. Some even get to become the metal ambassadors for their country, for example Moonspell of Portugal or Skinflint of Botswana. And then there’s Sepultura, not only the first breakthrough metal band from Brazil, but the first from South America. For forty years, Sepultura has been a major name in metal, releasing genre defining, and genre-defying classics and selling out venues across the globe. On December 8th of last year, the band announced that they would be hitting the road for 18 months to say goodbye, calling time on one of the most important names in the history of metal, though new music is still expected to arrive at some point in the form of a four song EP. Having recently completed a trek across the United States of America and Canada, the Brazilian titans are currently rampaging across Europe, alongside a stellar cast of support acts, and this past Tuesday, Metal Underground was on hand to witness their final show in the United Kingdom, as they headlined the legendary Hammersmith Apollo.

The Apollo, formerly known as the Odeon, has a huge place in rock and roll history, dating back to the fifties when Buddy Holly not only performed his final British shows at the venue, but also had the caps of two teeth knocked out by his bandmate Joe B. Mauldin, to being the host of live albums by Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, Dream Theater and Black Sabbath to name only some, and when entering the venue, one can immediately feel the legacy. This feeling doesn’t last for too long, as there’s an immediate scramble for the merch booth, but once that’s over with, it’s right back to basking in the Apollo’s glory. Opening what promised to be another memorable night in West London was Philadelphia metallic hardcore heavyweights Jesus Piece. Many would argue that hardcore works best in a smaller, more intimate setting, and maybe it does, but a good band can make any stage their home, which is exactly what Jesus Piece did.

Vocalist Aaron Heard is a ball of energy, tearing across the wide stage and barking out lyrics with sheer ferocity, and his bandmates are just as amped up, each putting in a great shift to get the crowd going. Indeed, it didn’t take too long for the early birds to get a circle pit going, swirling around the famous hall at full speed, and the whole crowd showed a lot of appreciation. What was nice was that Jesus Piece made excellent use of their time, getting in as many songs as possible and not wasting anyone’s time with the cliche hardcore speeches about brotherhood and positivity, which while well intended, are really annoying at this point in time. As quickly as they arrived, they went, but Jesus Piece definitely made their mark in W6, proving themselves to be an excellent live act that can fit in well on any heavy bill.

From the North East to the South Coast, it was time for the first bonafide metal legends to take to the stage, as Florida death metal kings made their presence known straight away with a perfect rendition of the instrumental, “Redneck Stomp.” Following this, vocalist John Tardy barged his way into the eyesight of fans and the quintet launched into “Threatening Skies,” the first part of a double barreled blast of their 1997 album, “Back From The Dead,” along with “By The Light.”

Though they performed three songs (“The Wrong Time,” “War” and the title track) from their latest album, “Dying Of Everything,” all of which were received well, it was mostly an old school set, featuring “Solid State” from the “World Demise” album, as well as “Chopped In Half” and “Turned Inside Out” from “Cause Of Death,” a fan favourite album whose cover was originally intended for Sepultura’s “Beneath The Remains” record, as I’m sure fans of both bands know by now. Despite the relatively short set time, it was a breath taking display from the veterans, who no doubt got fans and newcomers excited enough to book tickets for their own headlining UK tour next month, before they ended with the title track from their iconic debut, “Slowly We Rot.” On a personal note, I would have loved to have heard “Don’t Care” and “Violence,” but here’s hoping they dig those tunes up when they’re back in a few weeks. Tremendous stuff.

Time then for some younger blood. Having gained international attention with their song, “Pisces,” Jinjer has worked their arses off to continue that momentum, quickly becoming one of the most impressive names in metal and perhaps the most well known band from their home country of Ukraine. Recently, it was announced that their fifth full length album, “Duél,” would be hitting the shelves in February and so, as expected, the quartet were eager to air some of these songs for the raucous London crowd. In fact, despite it not being released as of yet, “Duél” was the most represented record of the set, with four new songs including “Someone’s Daughter,” “Kafka” and “Fast Draw” all pummeling the audience with crushing heaviness.

Of course, by now, Jinjer have their own live staples and fans got to hear plenty of their previous work, including the set opener “Sit Stay Roll Over,” followed immediately by a spellbinding performance of “Ape” from the “Micro” EP. Much gets made about vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk and it’s easy to see why, as she takes control of the room from the stage, throwing everything she has into her performance, though the rest of the band all deserve enormous praise for their inch perfect playing, which all combines to create a truly incredible sound. The latest album, “Wallflowers” was also given some air time tonight as Jinjer performed “Colossus” and “Copycat,” as well as “Retrospection” from the “Macro” album, and by plucking songs from almost all of their releases, the group showed just how diverse and fascinating their music really is. They finished with another new song, “Rogue,” which fans will be hearing a lot more of once “Duél” is released, and left to a huge ovation. It won’t be long until they’re headlining venues of this size themselves.

If I may be allowed to indulge with another personal note, a part of me was dreading this night, as after Judas Priest, Sepultura are without question my favourite band. Saying goodbye to them felt like giving a last hug to a family member or closing the door on your childhood home before moving out. It’s something that nobody really wants to do, but you’ll hate yourself forever if you don’t do it, and so there was no way I was missing out on this. With such a vast catalogue and so many fan favourites, it must have been hard to pick a setlist, but sure enough, after playing the Black Sabbath classic, “War Pigs” and the Titas anthem of rebellion, “Policia,” Sepultura got the ball rolling with the first of their own staples, “Refuse/Resist,” and the Apollo absolutely erupted. The crowd jumped up and down in unison with heads banging in every direction, looking like a human popcorn machine as Derrick Green roared the lyrics out, the start of a triple threat of “Chaos A.D.” songs which was followed by “Territory” and “Slave New World.”

Naturally, the band wanted to showcase as much of their material as possible on their farewell tour and so the three early nineties singles were followed by “Phantom Self” from the acclaimed 2017 album, “Machine Messiah,” before “Roots” got its first demonstration in the form of “Attitude.” From there, Sepultura focused on what we’ll call the second half of the career, beginning with “Means To An End,” the first of three songs from their latest album “Quadra,” which would later be revisited via “Guardians Of Earth” and “Agony Of Defeat.” While it would have been nice to have heard something from the excellent “A-Lex” album or the unfairly maligned “Nation,” we are talking about a band with four decades worth of material, so there’s going to be some casualties. That said, it was nice to have “Roorback” represented with “Corrupted,” while its successor, “Dante XXI” was also showcased in the form of “False,” along with “Choke” from the first album of the Derrick Green era, “Against.”

There was still room for some surprises, including bringing out several guests to jam the instrumental “Kaiowas” and a cover of the Motorhead classic, “Orgasmatron.” We also got to go old school with such songs as “Troops Of Doom” and “Escape To The Void,” which is always fun, while “Inner Self” also went down a storm. The four looked like they were having as much fun as the audience tonight, being clearly appreciative while retaining their intensity throughout, something easily done when a man with the presence of Green is leading the charge. The setting itself was also impressive, with some cool lighting and a video screen behind them displaying various short films, clips and of course, the band themselves, which all added to the occasion and celebration of Sepultura.

After performing, “Arise” the band walked off to tease the inevitable encore, which arrived with two “Roots” classics, “Ratamahatta” and of course, the obligatory finale, “Roots Bloody Roots.” Most fans stayed behind afterwards to give Sepultura a well earned standing ovation, cheering, chanting, clapping and waving goodbye to a band which kicked down the doors for bands all over the world to make a name for themselves and has meant so much to so many people. What will happen after the band plays their last show remains unclear, but they can be proud of all they’ve accomplished, and that they can still perform excellent sets like this one.