1. A - Lex I                                2. Moloko Mesto                        3. Flithy Rot                               4. We’ve lost You!

5. What I Do

6. A - Lex II

7. The Treatment

8. Metamorphosis

9. Sadistic Values

10. Forceful Bahavior

11. Conform

12. A – Lex III

13. The Experiment

14. Strike

15. Enough said

16. Ludwig Van

17. A – Lex IV

18. Paradox

Darker, faster, much more aggressive.

            “Clockwork Orange.” Sepultura’s new album is based around their influence of the book/movie written by Anthony Burgess in the 1960’s. I remember watching the movie that came out in 70’s thinking, “wow, that’s a fucked up movie!” Aside from that, I asked myself while listening to this CD, “what if someone came up to me, who had never heard of Sepultura and asks me, “What is Sepultura about?”“ What would I say? This is the second album in a row where they’ve made an album around a book. “Dante XXI” was based on Dante' s Divine Comedy and now “A-Lex”. In the past, Sepultura has gone from talking about demons and religion, to human mental conditions like insanity or hypnosis (Morbid Visions, Schizophrenia, Beneath The Remains) and the metal staple, songs about death, (Arise) to politics (Chaos AD), to tribal (Roots) and involving political processes (Against, Nation, Roorback) and now books. The simple answer is that over 25 years Sepultura has evolved and is now writing songs as adults and trying to broaden their scope and not be totally unoriginal as other bands. I could not see Sepultura writing about relationships or anything in that manner and the band is getting older to be truly angry about anything so the next logical step for the band is either to break up or to try something different, like writing an album around a pre-existing story which in itself is unique because the only time this is ever done, is around a movie that’s coming out, a soundtrack, or a concept album around a story the band made up themselves, i.e. King Diamond.

            The first three tracks sucked me in, especially the first line of “Moloko Mesto” “OH, MY BROTHERS!” backed behind a vicious guitar attack I haven’t heard from Sepultura since the Arise album. The drumming was another thing I was paying attention to. This was Jean Dolabella’s first album and I know that every Sepultura fan past and present is going to scrutinize every beat he throws down. To be honest, I believe that Dolabella has brought a fire that has been missing from Sepultura since the Nation album. It’s hard to admit because I hold Igor Cavalera in such a high esteem that Dolabella’s entry into the band was actually the best thing to happen to Sepultura in recent history. I also want to mention that for the first time, I could hear Paulo’s bass clear in the mix which I believe added to the overall ambiance to these tracks

            The music from the first three tracks got me hooked into the album, now the band and the label have been pushing “We’ve Lost You!” as their first single from this album. Sepultura has played at the Brazilian Grammy awards and they’ve made a video for the song. I must say, it’s one if not the moodiest songs the band has ever created.  It’s slow, dark, heavy and catchy which is an explosive combination.

            The second chapter of the album is a bit more methodical and slower in speed, but is still gives off this psychedelic darkness that I feel sounds like early Black Sabbath with Sepultura’s metal workings. Although the bass has been turned down in the mix, I was somewhat put off by this chapter because of that. The first chapter showcased Paulo’s bass which made me think that Sepultura has finally refined it sound to a point where they sound unstoppable that they had created “their” sound and not just Andreas Kisser’s guitar work with Derrick’s singing.

            Chapter three showcases Paulo’s bass as a stand-alone instrument and returns it to its proper role in the mix. A-Lex III is a combination of one and two, where they blend some of the aggressiveness from the first five tracks with A-Lex II although, there’s more instruments than lyrics in this chapter. But my favourite part in A-Lex III is obviously the track “Ludwig Van.” I found it odd for Sepultura to play Beethoven though, if somebody would have told me that Sepultura would be doing a Beethoven medley on one of their albums I would have told them that they were crazy. I don’t think they would have gotten away with doing this type of track if Max Cavalera was still in the band. Although, I must say, it was awesome! Very unlike Sepultura to do this, but given the main character in “A Clockwork Orange” affiliation with Ludwig Van it wouldn’t have made sense not to include something from Beethoven on this disc.

            The intro to the song “A-Lex IV” sounds like it could have been in the film and it led perfectly into the final song, “Paradox” which is a highly aggressive song worth placing at the end of the CD. It’s fast, it’s furious, it’s Sepultura.

            My final note’s on A-Lex is simply this, this is the best CD Sepultura has came out with in a very long time. Dante XXI was great but this is much better. A-Lex is darker, it’s faster, and much more aggressive. I feel that the band hit a home run with this CD.  I think everyone who listens to metal, that isn’t looking for a lot of “hooks” in songs, that isn’t on the radio, that is looking for attitude, technicality, and arrangement, would and should love this CD as much as I do. So, before buying this CD, watch the movie “A Clockwork Orange” then buy this CD.

rating: 10/10  

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