The story of how one of the greatest and most iconic (metal) bands broke up at their peak, and then 20 years later the remnants of which are still grinding out an existence on the club scene, remains largely untold.
There is some interesting insight - particularly the frank discussion between Andreas and Jean before he quits. Great music obviously, but alas the majority of which is performed by the current shadow version.
This is the film of Sepultura's history told from one point of view. It is therefore poorer for it. What was required was an independent eye getting to the bottom of what happened in 1996 when, during a personal crisis for then frontman Max Cavalera, his band ended up performing without him at their most important gig to date. That would form the centrepiece of one of the more interesting music documentaries; this film doesn't even reference it.
Furthermore, there are other details omitted. I don't recall any reference to Max and Gloria being married - particularly when you consider Andreas saying on numerous occasions that "Max would travel on his own bus". There is no reference to the fact his stepson died shortly before he left the band, we're just told that "he quit". It isn't even made clear that when they tried to carry on as a 3-piece Andreas would have been singing. These are important facts to the overall picture of what was going on at that time.
Another lost part of the film is the appointment of Derrick Green. There is a lot of talk of how the record company didn't like him but that he was the right fit for the band. What would have been great here would be some footage of him auditioning versus some of the other candidates. This is something Some Kind of Monster absolutely nails. It is even more important in my mind when you consider what Phil Demmel did to reignite Machine Head (and with whom they arguably put out their best material), and yet Andreas's Sepultura chose DG over him.
The irony is, in the quest to continue the band, to keep the lights on and pay the bills they ultimately missed a much bigger payday later. Obviously no one was to know music would self-destruct and 20 years later, but for a couple of exceptions, nostalgia would be the only thing making people millions anymore. Almost every major band has either put or kept their differences aside for the money and a peak line-up Sepultura would have been no less a draw. There is a whole documentary to be made about that and it would be far more interesting that this one.
You can't necessarily begrudge them - the decisions *may* have been made in good faith (this film leaves us wondering) and they may not care.
But ultimately, you're left feeling sad that 20 years on, the band is still clinging on to its history, has gone backwards, and hasn't and never will produce anything close to what it did at its mid-nineties peak again.
