Sepultura / Psycore

Nottingham Rock City

November 28 1998


Psycore. Ableedinggain. Now I don't know what's happening, but they seem to be on every tour these days, and for me, they just so fail to inspire me. Ok, I'm still kind of reeling from having seen System of a Down open for the last two nights, and I shouldn't compare the bands, but fuck it, I'm tired and I will. System play half an hour and it seems like two minutes, Psycore seem like an eternity. System songs sound different, Pycore don't. System excite, Psycore exist. Serj is truly a great frontman, charismatic and in control. Markus is boring. I don't get Psycore, and to be honest, in comparison with the reaction System received, neither did the crowd. Ok, an unfair way to review a band, but I question exactly how someone so uninspiring actually gets on these tours. Money? What label are they on? Ah, V2 - Virgin = cash. How about we get a decent band on next time. Psycore have had their chances. They failed the test for me.

Although I've seen them, in part, for the last two nights, this was essentially the first time for Sepultura to really be themselves. They play longer, and the crowd is here solely for them. And it has to be said that the crowd is easily as big as the one that turned up for Soulfly earlier in the year. Which is as it should be, because to be honest, Derrick fits the band easily. He has the vocal power of Max, and although there are times where there is missing guitar (something Andreas alluded to earlier in the evening in the interview), it gives more a focal point in watching the guy. Plus he does guitar anyway on some tracks, and is learning more older stuff. They kick off with the Motorheadesqe Against and Choke from the new album. And from there on in it's just a blast through faves from many of the albums. Troops of Doom, Beneath The Remains, Arise, We Who Are Not As Others, Biotech Is Godzilla, Hatred Inside, and more. I can't remember it all. Tracks such as Rumours and Old Earth from the new album show how the new Sepultura is developing, and it's developing very nicely thankyou.

The cries of "Derrick, Derrick" that went up a few times throughout the course of the evening seem to show that people are accepting the guy, at least in the live situation. Or maybe they're just shit scared of the man. The cover of the Bad Brains Gene Machine / Don't Bother Me, is nice, even if I'm not convinced by the inclusion of it on the Choke Single, and as they pound out Refuse Resist, Territory and finish with Roots Bloody Roots, it's complete. They're back, and they're competing on more than an equal footing with Soulfly.

Some people may not deal with it and accept it. Well, it's a shame if that's the case. It has always been a band. Max is one person. One element. Too me, if you can't give the rest of the guys a chance, then how much of a fan of the band were you in the first place. But I can understand it in the way that System without Serj would seem strange to me. But that's cos I've listened to them from the demo. I didn't do that with Sepultura. Maybe all the fans mourning the departure of Max did. But let's be honest, I doubt it. Most like me, joined the "tribe" from either Arise or Beneath The Remains onwards. Time to accept the new breed.

Live pic courtesy of Graham from Intoxicated. Again. Common name regarding piccie this issue!