a mammoth release and probably this what they call a game changer. sepultura's "chaos a.d." saw a pretty strong progression of the sound the band developed on each of their preceding records. after "arise" was a huge success the band had all the freedom they wanted to record their fifth full length. the four-piece chose to work on "chaos a.d." in isolation and booked rockfield studios in south wales on the recommendation of producer andy wallace.
"arise" already emphasised the new groove element in the sound of sepultura and "chaos a.d." took this to the next level. next to pantera they became leaders of a new artificial genre called groove metal. the cavaleras, kisser and paulo jr. more and more left their classic thrash metal path and incorporated more hardcore punk, the already mentioned groove and of course the tribal instruments and percussions. "chaos a.d." became a big surprise box with so many ideas somehow linked together and making it sound as if made from one piece.
hardcore influenced stuff like "biotech is godzilla" greets songs like the hypnotic industrial mantra "we who are not as others", the lovely new model army cover "the hunt" or the instrumental "kaiowas". the latter song was recorded in the ruins of the chepstow castle. because there was no roof even some seagulls can be heard. i can't imagine that they got permissions to record music in the monumental protected ruins back then. anybody knows something?
the re-press is made from the first european pressing this time under the name of the mother label roadrunner records. the colour-way of the vinyl is a clear blue with light green splatter. the splatter pattern looks a bit odd. unusual tiny dots instead of streaks, looks cool anyway. someone at rhino really spent some thoughts on matching the vinyl colours to the cover artworks of the records. another great re-issue in this overall great box set. five down, one to go. rhino records. 2017.
