REVIEW: SEPULTURA, DUBLIN ACADEMY, AUGUST 10TH

Posted on by Oran


Overdrive are huge Sepultura fans and always have been. Their 30th anniversary legacy is a triumphant one that has seen the band slay audiences all over the planet and tonight they have their eyes locked on Dublin.

Sepultura-12

Having just ruptured the landscape of Derbyshire at the 2015 Bloodstock Festival last weekend, Overdrive are thrilled to see them back in Ireland again so soon, especially after last year’s knockout show. Overdrive sent Shaun Martin down to bring back the buzz from a fantastic night’s metal.

The doors have no sooner opened, when Oxford based death-grinders Black Skies Burn , hit the stage. As they launch into their set and fire up the embers for tonight’s headliners, Black Skies Burn take a shot at cringe-worthy 90’s pop act East 17, whose disastrous show a few weeks back in this very venue, has clearly been the butt of some backstage banter where about 20 people turned up; “We are officially bigger than East 17!!” A dedication to Irish metallers everywhere, labelled “The Heineken Manoeuvre” is a big hit also. With a strong stage presence and the ability to write a crushing riff  here and there, Black Skies Burn, clearly seem to be just getting into the stride of things before their time is up! 3.5

The movement in the crowd is starting to gain momentum as Ireland’s Warpath get in gear. There’s a tech hiccup with the vocal department, but that’s the only thing that went wrong all night. It’s a brilliant show, as they parade teasers from their upcoming EP, and pay respects to playing with the giants that are headlining. Vocalist Darren Keogh paces the stage like a demented caged animal and empties his lungs with enough power to shake mountains. Warpath are one of the highlight bands that are leading the charge for Irish metal and should not be missed live. Tonight they put on a powerful performance that has clearly won over the audience. Fantastic stuff indeed! 4.5/5

As Warpath makes way, Sepultura rip up the crowd with an old opener, ‘Troops of Doom’. There will be a few fans here that will not be so up-to-date with the old stuff, however the diehards will were creaming their denim jeans as Andreas and the lads dusted it off . The monster front-man, that is Derrick Greene, towers above mostly everyone else as they go through the back catalogue of classical Sepultura memories from the band’s 30 year history. Undeniable gems like ‘Innerself’, from the ‘Beneath the Remains” album from 1989 get an airing, much to the joy of the packed Academy.

Sepultura-11

Guitarist Andreas Kisser takes note of the multitude of Brazilian fans at the show and as they launch into ‘Constricted in Life’, the chaos on the main floor reaches a level of berzerkness, that is rarely seen these days. ‘Choke’ is up next and creates a sea of banging heads that would bring tears to the eyes of even the most cynical metal head!

Sepultura-5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For their 30th anniversary, the band wrote a dedication for those with Sepultura tattoos, called ‘Sepultura Under My Skin’ and as they smash it out across the Dublin Academy, fists and arms punch the air with approval. The crowd tonight are lapping up every bit of the bands set list, and as Derrick counts in the likes of ‘Territory’ and ‘Policia’ to a now sweat-dripping mass of crazy motherfuckers, Sepultura push them right over the edge with ‘Refuse/Resist’, before a grand total of five encores bring the band out to finish the job with ‘Biotech is Godzilla, a reggae into before ‘Ratamahatta’ and the chest pounding  anthem that is ‘Roots’.

Sepultura-16

As the crowd file out of the Academy under a dark Monday night sky, the chatter amongst the punters only confirms my conclusion that Sepultura, regardless of the current line up or not, took the Academy on a journey though their thirty history, but managed to do so with as much passion, blood, sweat and tears as they did back when they were just spotty teenagers. A truly fantastic band and a performance for the history books. 4/5

Words – Shaun Martin

Photography –  AM Photo Star © 2015

PHOTO GALLERY -SEPULTURA – DUBLIN ACADEMY, MONDAY AUGUST 10TH 2015

 

 

Sepultura-15 Sepultura-14 Sepultura-13 Sepultura-10 Sepultura-9 Sepultura-8 Sepultura-7 Sepultura-6 Sepultura-5 Sepultura-4 Sepultura-3 Sepultura-2 Sepultura-1