As far as heaviness and intensity go,
Sepultura were one of the top live metal bands of the late '80s/early '90s, during their
Max Cavalera era. But with singer
Derrick Green a member of
Sepultura for nearly ten years by 2005, the time was right to document what the latter era of
Sepultura could do on-stage, as evidenced by
Live in São Paulo. The double-disc set includes selections from throughout the Brazilian metal band's career, while
Sepultura gives a metal makeover to a few interesting covers from non-metal bands:
Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" and
U2's "Bullet the Blue Sky." Elsewhere, you can't go wrong with power-packed versions of the
Sepultura classics "Refuse/Resist," "Territory," "Biotech Is Godzilla," "Dead Embryonic Cells," a set-closing rendition of "Roots Bloody Roots," and such latter-day tracks as "Choke" and "Apes of God." As evidenced by
Live in São Paulo,
Sepultura can still unleash the fury on-stage. ~ Greg Prato