It's hard to believe that Sepultura have existed for two entire decades already. It seems like only yesterday that the boys from Brazil took the world by storm and ultimately managed their final breakthrough with the magnificent Chaos A.D album, which made them one of the biggest and fastest selling bands from their country, internationally. Of course Sepultura also had their fair share of bad luck and trouble, not in the least the split with their original vocalist Max but somehow they always managed to stay ahead of the competition and always gave it their utmost best. More than a reason enough to commemorate their 20 years in music with a special double DVD.
Well, in theory that sounds great. After all, it has been a while since the band's last live release (Under A Pale Grey Sky, which was recorded in 1996, but got released in 2002) and even longer since an official video release. With the amount of stuff you can fit in a DVD these days, I was more or less expecting to spend my entire afternoon with nothing but Sepultura. I even dug up my sister's old Brazilian soccer shirt to get in the right mood (not that it fitted...but that is entirely another story). It's a shame to say thus, that the experience was rather disappointing, not to mention very short-lived.
Let me get one thing straight though - the concert which was taped for DVD is absolutely great. It has a decent (but not brilliant) sound, looks good and the band is in an absolutely top shape. The setlist consists of nothing but highlights, vocalist Derrick Green actually managed to surprise me with the amount of charisma and energy he has on display and the crowd (and certain special guests, most of whom I had absolutely no clue who they were) make the gig seem like one huge party. But why on earth does it only last for a measly 78 minutes?! For a band with a history like Sepultura it is nothing short of a crime to play and record a gig that doesn't even break the 90 minute mark! Good show, but way too short!
Not to worry. We still have nearly two discs worth of extras after all! Right? Wrong! Whoever put together this package and had the guts to spread it out over two separate DVDs should be tortured horribly. The extras consist of only a handful of features, some which are hardly even worth mentioning. It is all very nice and well to put a scrolling biography (in two languages) and a picture gallery on a DVD, but if I wanted to read something and watch static pictures I would have bought a book instead (or simply browsed the Internet for a bit). Furthermore there is a slightly boring making of clip and a moderately interesting interview with Derrick Green (who comes across as a very sincere, honest and extremely nice person). The set is complimented by three additional live songs and three video clips, which really are the only features worth viewing aside from the main concert. And that is basically it. Definitely not worth using two discs for.
You have to wonder who designed this DVD release and what the hell they were thinking in the first place while doing it. Surely Sepultura's 20th anniversary could have been celebrated in a slightly more spectacular fashion than what is on offer here? How about old archived videos or video material? What about a decent retrospective documentary with Andreas Kisser or Igor Cavallera taking us through the history of the band themselves? What about recording a slightly longer concert in the first place?! I'm really sorry to say this, but this DVD is one for the diehard fans only. Everyone else can safely pass on Live In Sao Paolo and spend their 25 Euros on something different instead.