You would be forgiven if you became confused by the notion of Sepultura recording a ballad, but if vocalist Derrick Green's dreams come true, that's exactly what we'll get next. That's according to a chat recently with Green and his bud Toby Morse, of famed hardcore band H20, on Morse's podcast One Life One Chance, which also featured special guest, Parkway Drive vocalist Winston McCall. You can listen to the complete episode just below.
"I'm still working on it, man," Green said. Sepultura's last studio LP was 2020's Quadra, and as for him possibly crooning on record, Green—who has been a member of Sepultura since 1996—made the point that, "The band are artists, and for artists to expand and to grow, you need to evolve and step outside of the box. And that is super important. It's scary. But I think people believe in that step when you do it, when you believe in it."
Of course, metal and hard rock ballads are nothing new, and the earliest examples come from high profile acts like Black Sabbath and Aerosmith. Naturally, one can't completely have this conversation without mentioning what Metallica have done either, which actually came up in conversation, with the trio citing "One" as an example (although better examples are "The Unforgiven" and "Nothing Else Matters" from The Black Album).
Morse also noted the creative exploration on Parkway Drive's 2015 LP, Ire, saying "I love when bands do change it up and do change their style" and added that "Bands get stuck in that touring cycle like, We're going to tour for two years or a year. Then we make a record. Then we do a single. You start making the shit over and over — it gets boring. You're the same band over and over."
For what it is worth, evolution is important for a band—especially if they want to stay in the game as long as bands like Sepultura and H20. That said, Sepultura? A ballad? I don't know about that. Personally, if they were to branch out, so to speak, I'd rather see them do something with a psychedelic feel, or something with a slow, stoner rock drone. Because, to Morse's point about doing the same shit over and over, wouldn't a ballad be some pretty low hanging, predictable fruit? Possibly.
Until then, we'll just have to wait and see what Sepultura have in store for us on their next LP. In the meantime, Sepultura will head out on the road this spring on a double headliner bill with Kreator, plus Death Angel and Spiritworld in tow as support. You can check those dates out just below and get tickets here.
5/12 – Harrisburg, PA
5/13 – Worcester, MA
5/14 – Niagara Falls, NY
5/15 – Silver Springs, MD
5/17 – McKees Rocks, PA
5/18 – Charlotte, NC
5/19 – Atlanta, GA
5/22 – Dallas, TX
5/23 – San Antonio, TX
5/25 – Phoenix, AZ
5/26 – San Diego, CA
5/27 – Los Angeles, CA
5/28 – San Francisco, CA
5/30 – Seattle, WA
5/31 – Vancouver, BC
6/2 – Salt Lake City, UT
6/3 – Denver, CO
6/5 – Minneapolis, MN
6/6 – Chicago, IL
6/8 – Toronto, ON
6/9 – Montreal, QC
6/10 – New York, NY
