Cavalera in Omaha: Oct. 23, 2023

I never know quite what to call the band made up of Max and Iggor Cavalera in which they have re-recorded classic Sepultura material.  Some sources refer to them as Cavalera Conspiracy, but I was under the belief that was a different entity.  Cavalera?  Cavalera Brothers?  I have no idea.  I just know that their re-recordings have been fantastic and they are even better live.

So, in October of last year (and that is how far behind I am), they hit The Waiting Room in Omaha with the Morbid Devastation tour in which they were performing their renditions of the Morbid Visions and Bestial Devastation releases in their entirety.  They were joined on tour by disgraced surgical practitioners Exhumed and some band called Incite that I had never heard of before.  Since I was blown away by Cavalera's concert the year before, I decided to go.

Well, the less said about Incite the better.  Actually, let's see.  It's like if someone decided Vulgar-era Pantera was too high-brow in their lyrics and too complicated musically and decided to form a band.  That's good enough.

Exhumed was up next and this was at least the second time I have seen them.  Their gore-soaked, grinding brand of chaos was a welcome change from the paint-by-numbers groove from Incite.  They brought their usual sickening visuals to the stage as well.  Exhumed always puts on a damn good show.

That brought Cavalera to the stage.  I was somewhat concerned about what the Morbid Visions and Bestial Devastation re-recordings would sound like.  Part of the charm of those releases was how raw and desperate they sounded.  The band members were much younger and not as proficient on their instruments and were just making primal noise.  Somehow, the band managed to recapture that.  It obviously sounded much more rehearsed and professional, but the spirit of the releases was accomplished.  Which is to say they sound evil as fuck.  Live, they were even better.  The Cavalera brothers have somehow managed to reverse time and perform with the energy of people 30 years younger.  Cavalera continues to impress me live.

Recently, the band re-recorded Schizophrenia.  If they go on tour in support of it, I may have to check them out a third time.  The question is whether they will eventually re-record Chaos A.D. and Roots.