Cavalera
Schizophrenia

The second full-length album of the legendary Brazilians, released in 1987, rarely comes up as an analogy when mentioning the name of the group, rather undeservedly being in the shadow of its more popular chronological neighbors “Beneath the Remains” and “Arise”. The fact that “Schizophrenia” was released on the Brazilian label Cogumelo can be reasonably considered as an objective reason for this injustice. But it was after hearing him that the group was signed to Roadrunner. So why is he so good? This album still retains the underground charm of Sepultura's early work, but at the same time, it is on a different level. The transition from garage thrash with a “sawing” sound to structured material, frightening in its unexpected maturity (created, by the way, by 18-year-old guys) was surprisingly quick and painless. Can all this be attributed to the arrival of new guitarist Andreas Kisser? Quite, because being a fan of Metallica, he clearly transferred his impressions of the leaders of the thrash metal scene to the neck of his guitar. Starting from the first seconds of the intro, a sick atmosphere of coldness and alienation is created, and the heart-rending scream leaves no doubt - those who are here are not burdened with any sense of reason. And whoever dared to come here will face the same fate... With a punchy riff, “From the Past Comes the Storms” immediately captures your consciousness, either inexorably moving into speed, or sliding with measured riffing over Igor’s powerful bass drums. "To the Wall", with a great solo and a melodic section, tells the story of Max, Igor and Paolo's run-in with the Brazilian cops. The hysterical guitar in “Escape to the Void” quickly calms down, and the rhythm breaks into punk speed, spurred on by the killer work of Igor Cavalera. Overall, it’s a rather “schizophrenic” song in mood, combining fast moves, “hysterical” guitar solos with some doom-like strumming. The impressive instrumental “Inquisition Symphony”, surprising with rhythm changes and acoustic inserts. I would like to describe it further... But is there any point? The point is to describe something that, decades later, not being considered a masterpiece, continues to frighten with its powerful sound and Max’s “afterlife” vocals, sounding as if outside the door of a mental hospital room...