When Sepultura announced their dissolution, I don’t think anyone really expected anything other than posthumous releases from the band. As such, the announcement of The Cloud Of Unknowing, a final four-track EP, came as a surprise. Packaged as a vinyl / CD set, it offers four completely new pieces and it is very much a final gift for the faithful who have travelled alongside the band over the course of their forty-year journey.
It has not always been easy, either for the band or for the fans. At times, it felt like every action would be met with resistance by a small but vocal community who, had they had their way, would have seen Sepultura shackled to their turbulent past in perpetuity – a situation only exacerbated by the arrival of social media. Sepultura, however, continued their forward momentum with a steely-eyed determination that rewarded fans with a truly remarkable run of albums. We’ll take the classic status of Chaos A.D., Arise, and Beneath The Remains as a given, and we’ll cheerily nod to the controversial Roots as we fly by, but more credit really should be given to the likes of Nation, Dante XXI, and the entire run from Kairos through to Quadra. There are excellent albums here, with Machine Messiah standing out in particular as a diverse metal masterpiece, and yet there remained those who would dismiss it because of who was (and who wasn’t) on the record.
Still, while the band’s final stand feels like a massive loss to those who have been there for the duration, it is heartening to see Sepultura go out on their own terms, defiant to the last, and off the back of a hugely successful world tour that has seen them play to packed venues and in front of rabid crowds. They deserve this victory lap, and I hope that it reminds Sepultura that, for all the naysayers, they were loved by many and changed the lives of more than a few.
As if to dispel any lingering doubt as to the band’s ongoing creative momentum, The Cloud Of Unknowing opens with the splenetic, multifaceted All Souls Rising. Initially a propulsive, old-school blast of kinetic thrash, it rages convincingly, only for the band to throw in deftly arranged strings and a serrated Kisser solo. It emerges as a refreshingly different piece of music that somehow bridges the worlds of Chaos A.D., Dante XXI, and Quadra. Not that the Seps are strangers to strings – the cathartic wonder of Valtio and the chills-inducing grandeur of False both showed how the band could augment their sound, and they have lost none of that skill here. It is an immense opening song and, frankly, worth the price of admission alone.
The second track takes a very different tack. Titled Beyond A Dream, it harks back to the wider sonic palette of the still unsurpassed Machine Messiah, employing both clean guitars and vocals. Finding a kernel of hope within the sadness felt at this enduring band’s last stand, Derrick sings “leave it all behind, you begin again, there’s no expectations”, paving the way for a truly epic solo that reminds us just what an underappreciated talent Andreas Kisser truly is.
Keeping things varied, Sacred Books barely scrapes three minutes and yet it finds Sepultura exploring an incredibly varied palette that includes jazz-influenced piano and syncopated, post-hardcore rhythms. Honestly, were you to tell the uninitiated that this was the debut work of an aspiring act, you would be believed, such is the absolute delight Sepultura take in defying expectations on this EP.
It ends with the lengthy, progressive metal of The Place. A track that moves between different facets of rock and metal with a sure-footedness that only makes the band’s departure all the more tragic, it is one final nod to the diversity of latter-day Sepultura, and it is truly magnificent. It makes for an emotional farewell and the band really couldn’t have pitched it better than they do here.
The Cloud Of Unknowing is a genuine and heartfelt gift from a band who have never engaged in half measures. Where so many would have been tempted to lean on their laurels and simply hammer out a handful of songs amounting to little more than a best of, Sepultura took the harder road, delivering a condensed exploration of their most outré elements.
Frankly, there is far more to unpack here than should be possible in a seventeen-minute EP, but what is without a doubt is that it is utterly essential for anyone who considers themselves a fan of the band. Beautifully played, packaged, and recorded, The Cloud Of Unknowing is a mini-masterpiece and a very special farewell from Sepultura. 10/10
