In the last twelve months Sepultura through no fault of their own have perhaps become something of a soap opera in the eyes of the metal media.  Will there be a reunion of the classic Sepultura line up? Max allegedly said he would like to see it happen, Igor is against the idea and Sep's bassist Paulo Jr says there's no way it's ever going to happen. So who knows?

There's one thing you can say about the band though and that is that they certainly evoke opinions in the metal world.  Some friends of mine would say that the band have never managed to follow up 'Beneath The Remains' whilst others claim 'Chaos AD' is the band's career pinnacle, many others would state that the more tribal route they took on 'Roots' is their preferred poison whilst the braver amongst them just love the band and feel that vocalist Derrick Green is doing a fine job of flying the flag in the Sepultura camp.

Whatever your opinions are on the subject its business as usual for the Brazilian Thrashers with their new album 'Kairos'.

You can't help but feel sorry for the man mountain front man that is Derrick Green, he has been fronting the band for nearly fourteen years now and where most vocalists would be preparing to celebrate a milestone in the band, he is still mentioned as the new guy as he stands behind the rather larger shadow of Max Cavalera.  The injustice of it all is that the man in question has a fantastic vocal ability and even manages to deliver on the live front (so give the dude the break he so much deserves will ya).

Opening with 'Spectrum' featuring an impressive guitar intro from guitarist Andreas Kisser, I soon start to get the feeling that the band may not be breaking down any new musical barriers here but this is still a pretty impressive album opener that leads the way for a mighty fine follow up to the critically acclaimed Clockwork Orange inspired 'A-Lex' of 2009, and numbers such as 'Relentless', 'Mask', 'Dialog' and album title 'Kairos' could easily sit along classic Sepultura with ease.

Then the band seems to take a wrong turn of sorts by adding a couple of cover versions into the mix. Personally I rarely feel that a cover version sits right on a album, ('Jailhouse Rock' on Motley Crue's 'Girls, Girls, Girls', being the perfect example) as they simply end up looking like a filler, which is displayed perfectly here by a rather pointless cover of Ministry's 'Just One Fix'.  Don't get me wrong it's a great track played perfectly the trouble is it sounds exactly like the original, unlike the other cover Prodigy's 'Firestarter' renamed '4648' here. This time they do add their own Sepultura vibe to the proceedings but I can't help feeling these tracks would probably have been more suited to an EP or kept simply for their live outings.

I know there are probably legions of Sepultura fans up in arms right now as I get accused of slating the mighty Sep's, but please don't get me wrong I think 'Kairos' is great album and I will certainly be looking forward to hearing these songs live when Sepultura head to the UK at the tail end of June.  And whilst many metal fans think the band should have handed back the bands moniker when the second of the Cavalera brothers finally quit leaving only original member bassist Paulo JR in the current line up (even though guitarist Andreas Kisser has been shredding his six string since 1987) I believe that whilst they still deliver albums of this quality, then why shouldn't they carry on, it certainly never did Napalm Death any harm.  Unlike the hair metal genre of the eighties where bands continue with a multitude of inferior line ups and a revolving door of band members, Sepultura have done the Thrash genre proud and can still hold their heads up high whilst flying the flag.

Whether we will ever see the classic reformation of Sepultura or not is yet to be seen but until then I suggest you give 'Kairos' a listen you certainly won't be disappointed.

http://sepultura.uol.com.br/v7/