BMG releases Sepulnation: The Studio Albums 1998-2009, a five CD or eight vinyl boxset from Brazilian Extreme Metal band Sepultura – featuring 'Against', 'Nation', 'Roorback', 'Dante XXI', and 'A-Lex'. The Roorback album also features the rare 'Revolusongs' EP (available for the first time digitally) which celebrates their influences with covers of songs by the likes of Devo Exodus, U2, Massive Attack and Public Enemy. Despite arguably being Brazil’s biggest music export, when original frontman and founder member Max Cavalera left in 1996 after the influential and popular Roots album, it could have signalled the end for the band. However, when Punk and Hardcore veteran Derrick Green took over, the band steered the ship with a new conviction which more than satisfied their fanbase...

Track Lists -

AGAINST: 'Against', 'Choke', 'Rumors', 'Old Earth', 'Floaters in Mud', 'Boycott', 'Tribus', 'Common Bonds', 'F.O.E.', 'Reza', 'Unconscious', 'Kamaitachi', 'Drowned Out', 'Hatred Aside', and 'T3rcermillennium'.

NATION: 'Sepulnation', 'Revolt', 'Border Wars', 'One Man Army', 'Vox Populi', 'The Ways of Faith', 'Uma Cura', 'Who Must Die?', 'Saga', 'Tribe to a Nation', 'Politricks', 'Human Cause', 'Reject', 'Water', and 'Valtio'.

ROORBACK: 'Come Back Alive', 'Godless', 'Apes of God', 'More of the Same', 'Urge', 'Corrupted', 'As It Is', 'Mind War', 'Leech', 'The Rift', 'Bottomed Out', 'Activist', and 'Outro'. (REVOLUSONGS: Messiah, Angel, Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos, Mongoloid, 'Mountain Song', 'Bullet the Blue Sky', and 'Piranha').

DANTE XXI: 'Lost (Intro)', 'Dark Wood of Error', 'Convicted in Life', 'City of Dis', 'False', Fighting On, Limbo (Intro), Ostia, Buried Words, Nuclear Seven, Repeating the Horror, 'Eunoe (Intro)', 'Crown and Miter', 'Premium Mobile (Intro)', and 'Still Flame'.

A-LEX: 'A-Lex I', 'Moloko Mesto', 'Filthy Rot', 'We’ve Lost You!', 'What I do!', 'A-Lex II', 'The Treatment', 'Metamorphosis', 'Sadistic Values', 'Forceful Behavior', 'Conform', 'A-Lex III', 'The Experiment', 'Strike', 'Enough Said', 'Ludwig Van', 'A-Lex IV', and 'Paradox'.

My opinion is well and truly split here, as I’ve never really followed the progress of Sepultura across the years. I did purchase the seminal Roots album at the time of its release, purely to see what the hype was all about. Roots, I discovered had a curious effect on people. At the time I knew of at least a couple of individuals who weren’t really into Metal and yet loved Sepultura. Always having been into Rock and Metal, I’ve found my own tastes have become heavier over time and yet I’ve never really bonded with the Sepultura sound. Newcomers to the band may well still test the water with Roots, as that release still stands-out as their most successful. And yet there doesn’t seem to be a ‘next generation’ split between the Max Cavalera and Green eras, in the manner some long-standing bands are split by fans who prefer the early or more recent material.

So, being one of the uninitiated here, I have no real knowledge and experience to compare the two periods, and can only base opinion on this release. I prefer Against and Nation to those albums that followed. For me, they are more tribal and yet melodic. It helps that the tracks are generally fairly short, and they are sometimes linked quite smoothly. Of course, Nation produced the rallying cry which has remained through the years: ‘One nation, Sepulnation’. I received the CD set, which is well-presented in the same manner as the Green Day and Dire Straits collections, with individual cardboard sleeves containing the original cover artwork and presented as a boxset. This is the ideal place to start for individuals wishing to follow the continuity of the band after Roots.

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Ty Power