Live music review: Cavalera Conspiracy played Chaos A.D. in full at Come & Take It Live
I’ve seen a lot of bands do the whole “playing the seminal album” thing over the years. For a long time, the gold standard was Roger Waters doing Dark Side of the Moon—an experience that was incredible both visually and sonically. Despite being a much smaller affair, the Cavalera brothers gave that experience a run for its money, performing their masterpiece Chaos A.D. at Come and Take It Live on Friday, October 17. If you’re a Sepultura fan, this was probably the closest, tightest, and most raw celebration of that album you’re ever going to get.
I’m not going to deep dive into the backstory, but here’s the gist: Max and Iggor Cavalera are brothers. They used to be in Sepultura together. Sepultura is still active, although supposedly winding down toward “retirement” (lol, okay). Max quit back in the ’90s and started Soulfly, while the rest of the band kept going. Conventional wisdom says the early records—the ones made when Max and the guys were together—remain the high-water mark. Eventually, Iggor quit too, and now he and Max tour and record under the Cavalera Conspiracy banner. Sometimes they make new music, sometimes they pay tribute to their own legacy by performing fan-favorite records. Now that you’ve got the Cliff’s Notes on Brazilian heavy metal family drama, back to the show.
Herakleion and Flesh Hoarder opened the night, but I missed them because I was eating chicken wings at Copperhead Club. I rolled in as Fear Factory hit the stage. Despite being a karaoke band at this point, “Dino Factory”—with founding member Dino Cazares being the only original left—sounded better than they had any right to.
The band he’s put together, including Italian vocalist Milo Silvestro, nailed the mechanical menace that made Demanufacture a genre-defining record. Silvestro can howl—he actually sounded stronger than original singer Burton C. Bell, never losing steam while powering through classics like “Martyr” and “Shock.” Hats off to them for showcasing a record about the rise of the machines while we’re all currently living in techno-hell.
It was shoulder-to-shoulder, every metalhead with an AARP card in their pocket ready to scream along—basically, a full-blown Gathering of the Old Heads. The performance of Chaos A.D. was stunning. From the body hanging above the stage to the video projections flashing political statements about propaganda, corrupt cops, and dictators, everything was carefully thought out. The lights, the pacing, the atmosphere—it all worked.
The Cavalera brothers play their best when they’re together. I don’t know if it’s that same “I need you” energy Eddie and Alex Van Halen had, or Dimebag and Vinnie Abbott, but when the brothers lock in, the chemistry’s undeniable. Ripping through “Refuse/Resist” and “Slave New World,” it was all gas. Whoever took on the job of playing Andreas Kisser’s frantic, frankly odd leads from the record nailed every squall and slide, filling in the chaos without missing a step.
And shout out to Iggor Cavalera—the guy is still an absolute monster behind the kit. He doesn’t get enough respect these days considering he’s not at the forefront of the drumming world; those who know, know. But overall, the guy invented half the stylistic notes most modern drummers utilize today.
As a kid who grew up obsessively listening to this record—and the reason I stopped taking Metallica seriously—this show delivered on every front. The band looked like they were having the time of their lives, feeding off the sold-out crowd’s energy, even dropping in a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Symptom of the Universe.” If you missed it, that’s a shame, because as far as metal shows go, this was one of the best I’ve seen in years.
All photos by Justin Clark
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