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Morbid Visions/Bestial Devastation

Sepultura - Morbid Visions/Bestial Devastation Audio CD

A fair review of the Sepultura "Morbid Visions/Bestial Devastation" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Sepultura reviews here, or go back to the Sepultura tabs.

Band: Sepultura
Title: Morbid Visions/Bestial Devastation
Rating:

Release Date: 1998-01-27
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Morbid Visions 2: Mayhem 3: Troops of Doom 4: War 5: Crucifixion 6: Show Me the Wrath 7: Funeral Rites 8: Empire of the Damned 9: Curse 10: Bestial Devastation 11: Antichrist 12: Necromancer 13: Warriors of Death 14: Necromancer [demo version] 15: Anticop [live]

Early death metal masterpiece
" That band was Sepultura, and the record remains a milestone of brutality as well as one of the benchmark releases in early death metal. It's been nearly 23 years since the sultry summer of '86, when four teenage outcast death metalheads from Brazil booked seven days of time at a backwards studio in Belo Horizonte, and emerged with their debut LP "Morbid Visions. It in fact may be one of the first true death metal LPs to ever be released; sure you had Possessed from the year before (whom these young longhairs seemed to idolize), but along with Repulsion, Death, and Bathory, Sepultura were one of the few to take the sound to new, unforeseen extremes for '86. Listen to any of the album's eight tracks and you hear elements that would turn up in countless recordings since: namely, downtuned guitars, (near) blastbeats, and particularly, Max Cavalera's evil growling vocal emissions.

That's in fact one of the things I will never understand about criticisms of Sepultura's early work (even from Don Kaye, who contributed the liner notes to the '97 reissue) -- that the supposedly "bad" production ruins the sound. I think the bad (better stated: extremely raw) 16-track production is one of the things that MAKES this record what it is. I for one happen to love death metal that is raw, unpolished and ugly -- the way it was meant to be. In fact, to these ears, Igor Cavalera may have one of the all-time SICKEST drum sounds ever on "Morbid Visions. " And you have to remember that the band hailed from an extremely impoverished corner of the world; they were clearly working with what they had. Thus, the inherent grimness and ugliness of the music is evident for the duration of this 33 minute opus.

And let it be said that original lead guitarist Jairo T. (who would depart after the release of this album) deserves his place in Sepultura's early history as a key innovator of their sound. (The band's 1987 follow-up "Schizophrenia" and subsequent releases were good but in my opinion, the band would never again recapture the sinister atmosphere found on this album. )

All in all, classic stuff here. "Morbid Visions" deserves its place in history, along with other recordings from the same era like "the Seven Churches," "Horrified" and "Scream Bloody Gore," as pioneering works that shaped the face of death metal for years to come. Highly recommended.

A must have to any thrash metal fan!!!
Their primitive sound and the production delivers a thrash/black metal with attitude. Agree with other reviewers, the early Sepultura was very influenced by Slayer, Bathory and Celtic Frost. I prefer the raw and primitive sound of this album for this type of music is welcome. .

Sepultura's roots!
This album is actually a combination of Sepultura's first ep and first record. "Morbid Visions/Bestial Devastation" is where it all began for Sepultura. Sepultura almost didn't get discovered in fact. A record promoter (I don't know his name) was listening to a large hand full of demos from Brazilian metal bands and according to him almost all of them were really lack luster and run-the-mill. At least until he heard Sepultura's EP "Bestial Devastation" and something caught his eye. Thank the metal gods he didn't pass this band up. Sepultura would be band that would forever influence the world of heavy metal and have one of the most loyal fan bases for the next 10 years.

Granted "Morbid Visions/Bestial Devastation" is far from Sepultura's best, however it was the beginning of something great. Moreover, the tracks "Troops of Doom" and "Necromancer" are Sep classics. Although the album heavily took from a Celtic Frost record, plus it is very easy to hear a huge Slayer influence in the record as well. But one has to over look this because the band members were only 18 years old at the time of the album recording. They also had a hard time speaking and writing English as well. They wrote their own music but used a lot of Celtic Frost's lyrics. "Morbid Visions" is by far the most death metal sounding record that Sepultura has recorded. Max's growls and Igor's fast paced drumbeats are quintessential death metal sound. Although there is also strong thrash feel as well. Max has stated that Slayer's early materia was very influential to Sepultura at that time. Now I won't go so far as stating that Sepultura invented death metal but this is a very early recording of that style of music. There were not too many bands to my knowledge that sounded like Sepultura at that time. In fact "Morbid Visions" and especially their second album "Schizophrenia" showed some the first combinations of death and thrash metal.

This album is Sepultura's roots, it laid the ground work for what was to be one of the heaviest, and intense metal bands to ever come. It wouldn't be for at least another 5 or 6 years until with the help of Andres Kisser, Max and the boys would create that true signature Sepultura sound we all know and love in the blazing release of "Arise". I think that is what make most of Sepultura's albums so good is that one can hear their sound evolving with each album they produce. "Morbid Visions/Bestial Devastation" will forever be Sepultura's roots.
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The root of all evil!
Sure, production is lousy, but so what, this is an unadulterated rollercoaster through Hell!

While all the songs are good, my favorites are Necromancer, Troops of Doom (which sounds alot like the Slayer song "the Antichrist), and Morbid Visions. Whats there to say about this that hasnt been said about Show No Mercy and Kill Em' All? This is rough, no frills pure thrash metal thats kicks you in the face as soon as you press play.

If your a Max-era Sepultura fan, this is a must, but if your new to Sepultura, I suggest Arise instead.

for hardcore Sepultura completists only
but when you compare this album to Schizophrenia, or Beneath The Remains, you can definitely tell that Morbid Visions was merely just an album made by a bunch of rebellious Brazilian kids on a tight budget. not that this is a horrible album, because it isn't. the sound quality of the recordings are below average, and back in '86 they were pretty much just emulating their influences - Venom, Slayer, Celtic Frost - especially since they barely spoke any English. its somewhat amusing when you compare this album to say Roots for example. it sounds like 2 completely different bands. although they actually still play one or two songs from this album in their live set - Necromancer and Troops Of Doom. . . the bottom line is, if you enjoy generic non-American mid 80's death metal, then you might enjoy this. but for the hardcore Sepultura fanatics and completists this album can only be appreciated for its historical and nostalgic qualities.

You can see a complete list of all Sepultura discography, or go back to the Sepultura tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.