Fourteen albums in,
Sepultura have no one's expectations to live up to but their own. The
Cavalera brothers are long gone and songwriter/guitarist
Andreas Kisser has remade this band in his own musical image.
Machine Messiah continues to build on the diverse proggish elements displayed on
Dante XXI,
A-lex, and
Kairos, while re-engaging with the thrash and hardcore that made 2013's
The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart so compelling. From painter Camille Dela Rosa's amazing cover artwork on, this conceptual set is all of a piece.
Kisser claims her painting inspired him to finish a story for the record he'd been working on for years. It illustrates a holistic (and apocalyptic) vision consistent through its sonic architecture (with help from producer
Jens Bogren), plotting, pace, songs, and dynamics.