Sepultura + In Flames

Portsmouth Pyramids - March 2006

Image courtesy of Sepultura.com
Written by Kid 73

“Look at that kid, he’s only about 8. I want my son to come along to this sort of stuff when he’s that age”, said my mate Lewis pointing to a kid dressed in an oversized black tee shirt, standing against the back wall. “Dude”, I say, “he’s a wallflower. If he’s not in the front moshing with the rest - he’s no son of mine!” Sepultura are blasting out track after track from new album ‘Dante XXI’. Temporarily devoid of long-time drummer Igor, his replacement for the tour Roy Mayogora (ex Soulfly) manages a worthy keystone for their performance. With founder Max leaving to concentrate on Soulfly, Derrik Green is on frontman duties. As loud as ever, they thunder through an almost flawless performance, all the way to the brutal finale ‘Roots (bloody roots)’. The whole crowd are going nuts – hardcore stylee. Even the concrete floor is moving! Derrik puts in a great performance. I know some purists say it’s not Sepultura without Max, but hey, get over it! Enter In Flames, exit ¼ of the crowd. The Swedes have a glitzy light show, a more styled appearance and a massive drum kit. Sadly they don’t even manage to shadow the intensity and, for want of a better word, ‘brutality’ of Sepultura. They sound almost pop by comparison. After 30 minutes we down our pints and head for the door.