Sorry, without Max (and Igor), it’s not Sepultura.

One of my favorite bands in their (sub)genre. Fast, dissonant yet melodic. Technical, with a groove, thrash, moody; like Prego, it’s in there. Max’s growl wasn’t death cookie monster but yet due to his accent had a different sound.

When “Arise” came out, I was working college radio. Roadrunner Records did a huge promotion of it. I recall getting some video of a live show in Barcelona, a nice-sized pewter pin that replicated the “Beneath the Remains” album cover, a vinyl picture disc of “Arise”. Even that summer I took my leather biker jacket and got the “tribal S” airbrushed onto the shoulder. Yeah, I liked ’em.

But then, Max left. Just not the same.