Sepultura

Belo Horizonte

Sepultura formed in 1984 in Belo Horizonte around the brothers Max and Igor Cavalera. They took the name, Portuguese for grave, when Max translated the lyrics of Motörhead's Dancing on Your Grave. Their taste ran from Black Sabbath and Motörhead to Venom, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost and Slayer. Paulo Jr. joined on bass soon after the start, and Max took over the vocals in 1985 when Wagner Lamounier left. After a split EP with Overdose, recorded in two days, they made Morbid Visions in 1986 and moved to São Paulo.

Andreas Kisser replaced Jairo Guedz on lead guitar in early 1987, and Schizophrenia followed that October. It became a sought-after import in Europe and North America, and Roadrunner signed the band in spring 1988. Max flew to New York that February and spent a week negotiating. The label offered a seven-record deal but was unsure how well they would sell. Beneath the Remains was made in December 1988 in a Rio de Janeiro studio with the American producer Scott Burns, who took a $2,000 fee because he was curious about Brazil. To support it they went on their first tour outside Brazil, opening for Sodom.

Arise

In 1990 the band moved to Phoenix, Arizona, took on new management and went to Burns's own Morrisound Studios in Tampa. Roadrunner gave them a budget of $40,000, and Igor and Burns spent a week on the drum sound alone. Arise came out on 25 March 1991. It was their first record on the Billboard chart, peaking at 119, and their first to earn a certification, gold in Indonesia. A day after the sessions ended, they set off on a tour of 220 shows in 39 countries. MTV banned the video for the title track, Arise, over its religious imagery, but Headbangers Ball played Dead Embryonic Cells.

Chaos A.D.

Tired of playing the Arise songs for two years, Sepultura asked Andy Wallace, who had mixed that album, to produce the next one. Sessions in 1992 and 1993 took place at Rockfield Studios in Wales, with the acoustic Kaiowas cut at Chepstow Castle. Paulo Jr. played on a studio album for the first time. Chaos A.D. (1993) was slower and built on groove. It opened with Refuse/Resist, which begins with the heartbeat of Max's unborn son, and held Territory and a Jello Biafra lyric, Biotech Is Godzilla. It peaked at 32 on the Billboard 200, Roadrunner's first top-40 album, and Kerrang! readers voted it best album at the magazine's first awards. In 1993 Max and Igor also started a side project, Nailbomb, with Alex Newport.

Roots

In 1995 Max watched the film At Play in the Fields of the Lord and wanted to record with an Indigenous tribe. Angela Pappiani arranged a trip to the Xavante in Mato Grosso, and the band went with the producer Ross Robinson. The rest was recorded from October to December 1995 at Indigo Ranch in Malibu, where the percussionist Carlinhos Brown guided the ensemble drumming. Roots appeared in February 1996 and reached 4 in Britain and 27 in the United States, their highest US placing. It has sold over two million copies. Roots Bloody Roots became their first UK top-40 single, and Ratamahatta followed at 23.

After Max

Max's last show with the band was at Brixton Academy in London on 16 December 1996, and his departure was announced in January 1997. The American singer Derrick Green was chosen as the new frontman, and Against appeared in October 1998. Igor left after Dante XXI in 2006, and the brothers formed Cavalera Conspiracy. Kisser and Paulo Jr. carried on with a changing line-up, and Greyson Nekrutman has played drums since 2024.

The band began a farewell tour, Celebrating Life Through Death, on 1 March 2024 in Belo Horizonte, released the EP The Cloud of Unknowing on 24 April 2026, and has a last show set for 7 November 2026 in São Paulo. Roots, Beneath the Remains and Arise are all in the Decibel Hall of Fame, which made Sepultura the first band with three albums there. Korn, Slipknot and Gojira are among the bands who have cited them as an influence.