Live Review: Max & Iggor Cavalera, Skindred

It's a real joy to walk in and see the sheer number of people that have ventured out for tonight's historic celebration.

Neither of the Cavalera brothers have quite had this kind of pull since their '90s heyday, but the fevered mood surrounding the venue tonight stands testament to the enduring relevance of the siblings' final stand together as Sepultura.

In an odd way, Skindred are quite a fitting support for this bill. Quilombo and Prejudice were the introductions to frontman Benji Webbe's distinctive voice for a great many of us. While Soulfly's debut may have sat on the other side of the divide it always seemed like the spiritual successor to Sepultura's Roots, and Webbe's featured shrieks will forever be chiselled in the collective memory of that tumultuous period. Tonight, however, the audience seems far more concerned with the merch stand and readying themselves at the bar in preparation, meaning Skindred classics like Rat Race and Nobody don't quite connect in the way they perhaps would during a lesser occasion. Their attempt at a dubstep crossover falls even further short, but they save the best for last and the fierce grooves of set closer Warning finally grab them a bit of attention.

For a great many years the idea of seeing Max & Iggor Cavalera perform a full Sepultura set seemed little more than a wishful dream. When the announcement for the initial North American tour of Return To Roots came last year, fans Down Under became hopeful that they may receive some distant consolation for the souring reality of Sepultura's cancelled '97 Australian tour. Thus, when the Cavalera brothers walk out and finally bring this fateful moment to fruition with opener Roots Bloody Roots, the sense of giddying-excitement-tinged-with-disbelief that permeates the space is quite understandable and not a smidge unjustified in the least.

Attitude, Cut-Throat, and Ratamahatta sound every bit as powerful as the monolithic opener, and the room continues to go absolutely batshit. It's been quite some time since Max sounded like he was putting a real effort into his live vocals, but tonight he's intent on giving us a good glimpse of the Max of old. Iggor is as rhythmically divine as ever, and Marc Rizzo and Tony Campos work wonders in their fill-in positions. Andreas Kisser's shoes were always going to be the hardest to fill, but Rizzo has proved himself time and again to be a worthy successor and tonight is no exception to the rule.

Breed Apart, Straighthate, Spit; the power just keeps on coming, but its the explorative realms of live rarities like Lookaway, Itsari and Ambush that are the biggest rewards of a set like this. Jasco is the only song skipped, but given it was solely Kisser's baby it's a forgivable omission. It's a real dream to hear closers Endangered Species and Dictatorshit bring the main set home, and an encore of just Max and Iggor jamming out on the classics - a Slave New World/Territory/Orgasmatron medley and a cover Venom's of Black Metal and Motorhead's Ace Of Spades - is the icing on the cake. Rizzo and Campos return for a final reprise of Roots Bloody Roots and with this the cycle feels utterly complete.

Twenty-one years on and Roots sounds as brutally relevant and dynamic as ever! Now fingers crossed they return with Chaos AD in a couple of years...