40 years – what an anniversary for the Brazilian metal icons SEPULTURA. At the same time, it’s a farewell tour ‘40 Years Farewell Tour – Celebrating Life Through Death‘. A perfect reason to go on a world tour. With 15 albums to their name (the latest long player ‘Quadra‘ was released in 2020), the band has enough material to put on a great show.

The first band in the four-pack of the tour is JESUS PIECE. The metalcore five piece from Philadelphia kicks things off with a bang. There is a small circle pit right from the start. Unfortunately, their performance takes place in front of a very sparse crowd and many empty seats. It’s simply too early, and they suffer from the trend of filling concert evenings with more acts. More value for money – in itself great. But when the first band goes on stage at 6:20 PM, many normal people are still between work, home, and the concert venue. The audience doesn’t quite ignite, which could be due to the thin crowd, the poor sound, and the subpar light show. It wasn’t due to the musicians’ effort.

OBITUARY has it much better as the second act of the evening. The hall is already better filled. Sound is better – light is better. The audience starts to get into it. Furthermore, Obituary has the advantage of a 40-year band history and consequently a larger following. The range of ages present is varied. Musically, it’s a shift to classic death metal. After the first five songs, the first serious moshpits form, deserving of the name. The first crowd surfer of the evening is spotted.

JINJER returns to the metalcore sound and genre. The sound, unfortunately, is not better, the bass booms too much and gets muddled. However, the hall is now really full, properly. Tatiana Shmayluk has the crowd immediately under control, who enthusiastically follows her. The entire floor is united in collective headbanging. The partly quite progressive set of material is gratefully received. The Ukrainian four-piece does not disappoint. Great lighting adds to the overall effect.

SEPULTURA. Bam – the house is boiling over. There is no holding back. The crowd gets what it expects. You can see the band’s enjoyment in playing, as they sweep and dash across the stage. Especially Derek Green (vocals) and Andreas Kisser (guitar). You wouldn’t notice at all that drummer Greyson Nekrutman joined the band spontaneously as a replacement for Eloy Casagrande. Non-stop crowd-surfing begins, and a considerable moshpit in front of the stage gets going. Great animations on the video screens in the background of the stage and on the stage itself provide the visual finishing touch. The madness starts for real when they announce and play songs from the late 80s. Old School Thrash Metal, for example from the album Schizophrenia. After over 2 hours, this spectacle should remain in the memory of all fans. It must. Who knows if they will ever be seen on stage again…