Good and ripping Brazilian thrash! If you ever research this album, say on metal-archives, you'll find countless mention of the "riff-tornados" contained within this early thrash/death beastie. And those other internerds are right: the riffs dominate, without a doubt. What strikes me about the early (read: good) period of Sepultura, is how much they anticipated the direction death metal would soon take. Sure, they were a thrash band, but the execution was more brutal than your typical thrashfest, in both riffing and vox. It's akin to the deathier bits on Reign in Blood, I guess, but it still feels heavier (blasphemy?), and to my ear, a bit closer to early Possessed and Death. The instrumental track "Inquisition Symphony" is amazing in that its by far the longest thing here, and even without any of Max's barked vocals, it simply plows onward without becoming boring. In fact, this is probably one of the best "riff-tornados" in all of thrash: it simply never lets up, thrashing and sawing from section to section, riff after riff, into riff-tornado history. Ah, the riff-tornado. Such a stupid expression reserved for an awesome creation.
I'm not a Sepultura diehard by any means -- my first exposure came through Chaos AD back when it came out, and I hated it then, and still dislike it now. And Roots may be a classic to some, but it ain't my bag, that's for sure. But the early 'thrash' period contains some stellar albums: Arise is one of the best thrash albums I've ever heard, Beneath the Remains is also very strong though I'm somewhat less familiar with it, and Schizophrenia belongs right alongside those seminal works. The sound isn't as pristine or as refined as they'd get later, but its a welcome trade-off for energy and brilliant riffing. Highly recommended.
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