It’s got to the point where a new Sepultura album comes out and I’m almost in tears, immediately having to go to The Metal Archives to remind myself who’s in the band and what their last five albums even were. And it comes back, slowly but surely, as I spend a few minutes every few years just in awe of everything that’s transpired with this band, reminding myself that I’ve always been one of the staunch defenders of the faith as the Brazilian thrash legends enter into their millionth year as a going concern. So it goes with Quadra, man, even though I’m immediately exhausted looking at the 51-minute runtime: Derrick Green-era Sepultura albums just do not have the emotional ups and downs needed to make anything over 40 minutes fully compelling. But, shit, here we go, another Sep record, and things start off promising enough with “Isolation”, a song that thrashes hard and fast like the best German or, sure, Brazilian thrash bands. “Means To An End” calls back to the parts of “Roots Bloody Roots” that didn’t suck (alright, it’s just that one riff) and it works, the band locking into a groove hard here, Eloy Casagrande reminding us all that, hey, he’s been manning the kit for the band for eight damn years now. 

The band loosely divided this album into four parts, and the first part is rounded out with “Last Time”, and I’m digging it, a heavy grooving thrasher that both races and plods at Sep-appropriate speeds. A good opening thrashing trio of tunes, the next three dive deeper into the percussion and rhythmic elements that Sepultura have become known for but still maintain their heaviness; although a bit of Sepulfatigue kicks in around here, make no mistake, this is a heavy album. “Side three”, as it were, gets back to thrashing, although with some slightly different elements, mainly in the cool guitar work; instrumental “The Pentagram” kills it. The final trio of tunes gets a bit quieter and melodic, and, man, I’m tired, but Sepultura have managed to craft what ends up being a pretty epic release, especially when you break it down and listen to it in these four parts.