Sepultura have announced that they’ll release a concept album titled Quadra in early 2020.
The band have stopped short of giving away the tracklist, but have revealed the cover art and report that the process of putting the record together has been one of the hardest projects they've ever completed.
Vocalist Derrick Green says: “The experience was like no other time in the studio. I felt the preparation was key in making the recording process go as smoothly as possible.
“We were relentless each day giving everything that we had until complete exhaustion of the mind, body, and soul. This album is a direct result of the sign of the times.
“The music is an evolution needed to push ourselves to go further than we ever have.”
Sepultura worked with producer Jens Bogren on the follow-up to 2017’s Machine Messiah, with Christiano Menezes for Darkside Books designing the Quadra cover art.
Speaking about the artwork, which is based on the number four, guitarist Andreas Kisser says: “Quadra, among other meanings, is the Portuguese word for ‘sport court’ that by definition is a ‘limited area of land, with regulatory demarcations, where according to a set of rules the game takes place.’
“We all come from different Quadras. The countries, all nations with their borders and traditions; culture, religions, laws, education and a set of rules where life takes place. Our personalities, what we believe, how we live, how we build societies and relationships, all depends on these set of rules that we grew up with. Concepts of creation, gods, death and ethics.
“Money, we are enslaved by this concept. Who's poor and who's rich, that's how we measure people and material goods. Regardless of your Quadra you need money to survive, the prime rule to play this game called life. Hence the coin.”
He adds: “The coin is forged with the senator skull, who represents the set of rules and laws we live by; the world map on his head delimiting the borders of all nations, imaginary lines separating people by concepts of race and the sacred.”
Quadra pre-order details and the first single from the album will be revealed in the near future.
