Released: April 24, 2026
Sepultura had already announced its farewell before these songs existed. The tour was underway, Eloy Casagrande had left, and Greyson Nekrutman had taken over the drums. Andreas Kisser later said Nekrutman’s arrival gave him the energy to write again. The Cloud of Unknowing came from that renewed chemistry, and its four songs chase ideas that were still fresh in the room. That leaves the real question: what does Sepultura choose to say with only sixteen minutes left?
On “All Souls Rising,” Nekrutman drives the opening through rapid bursts while Kisser works a compact, sawing riff and Derrick Green barks the words in clipped phrases. About half a minute in, the guitars and drums vanish, leaving Renato Zanuto’s staccato orchestration exposed before the riff resumes. That brief reset keeps a song inspired by the Haitian Revolution from running on one attack throughout. Green’s call for unity is surrounded by sharp changes, and even Kisser’s short solo sounds agitated as it cuts across the main groove.
Stanley Soares gives the EP a dense, immediate sound while leaving useful space around the instruments. Kisser’s guitar has a thick, central presence, Green stays close to the front, and Nekrutman’s snare and cymbal accents remain clear when the arrangements get crowded. Most often, Paulo Jr.’s bass locks tightly to the low guitar. On “The Place,” it becomes easier to follow, giving the subdued opening a firm pulse before the tempo and distortion increase. The rhythm section never treats a groove as a place to park. Nekrutman keeps nudging the songs with quick fills, abrupt stops, and changes in feel.
“Beyond the Dream” is Sepultura’s long-delayed ballad. Clean, lightly picked guitar replaces the attack, and Green sings in a low, unforced register that follows the shape of Kisser’s arpeggios. Co-written with Sérgio Britto and Tony Bellotto of Titãs, the chorus repeats “leave it all behind” until the line starts sounding like something the band is telling itself. Kisser’s long solo stretches wide, patient notes across the final section, giving the song room to breathe without calling for Green’s familiar roar.
“Sacred Books” uses less than three minutes to combine a slow, syncopated riff with brief piano figures from Zanuto. Green reduces the lyric to one repeated thought about seeking truth in texts built on lies, while long instrumental passages make the accusation more severe each time it returns. The piano brings an uneasy, jazz-tinted colour, and Nekrutman responds with small rhythmic details instead of simply thickening the main beat. The piano keeps breaking up the riff’s blunt repetition, leaving the arrangement unsettled until the end.
“The Place” begins with Paulo’s bass exposed beneath a progressive passage that draws on Nekrutman’s jazz background. Green enters close to a spoken delivery, following the story of an immigrant asking for a home and basic dignity. The words gradually turn toward betrayal by people who once shared the same struggle. Green moves from restraint to a full-throated attack, the drums accelerate, and Kisser’s guitar shifts from dissonant details to hard, fast riffing. The switch makes the lyric’s anger audible in the music.
So what does Sepultura say with sixteen minutes left? The band uses them to keep creating. Orchestration cuts into a revolt song, Green gets a full ballad, piano disrupts a slow thrash riff, and the final lyric demands dignity for immigrants. Sepultura had more musical ideas than time. That is the point of this farewell. The band stops by choice, after one last session that still found new uses for its riffs, rhythms, and voices.
Written by Rob Joncas for DeadNoteMedia.
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