Sepultura is a thrash metal band formed in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera. It became Brazil’s biggest metal export, sent two albums gold in the U.S., and plays its final show at the Suhai Music Hall in São Paulo on November 7, 2026. Start with Arise.
The Short Version
- Formed in Belo Horizonte in 1984 by Max and Igor Cavalera.
- Start with Arise (Roadrunner, 1991), then Chaos A.D. and Roots.
- Final show: November 7, 2026, Suhai Music Hall, São Paulo.
- Texas: Houston and San Antonio in 1989, Joe’s Garage in Fort Worth, Dallas in 2024.
Who Are Sepultura?
Max and Igor Cavalera started the band in Belo Horizonte in 1984, and bassist Paulo Jr. joined late that year. The early records came out on the city’s Cogumelo label, starting with the Bestial Devastation split in 1985. The debut album, Morbid Visions, followed on Cogumelo in 1986. Andreas Kisser replaced guitarist Jairo Guedz in early 1987, and Schizophrenia, also on Cogumelo that year, was his first record with the band. The name is the Portuguese word for “grave,” and our Brazilian thrash metal guide covers where the name came from and the Cogumelo years.
Chaos A.D. and Roots both went on to be certified gold in the U.S., the band’s only two, and Texas saw it at nearly every stage.
Beneath the Remains and the First American Tour
Beneath the Remains was recorded at Nas Nuvens Studio in Rio de Janeiro from December 15 to 28, 1988, with Scott Burns producing alongside the band. Roadrunner released it on April 10, 1989, the band’s first record for the label. Michael Whelan painted the cover, titled “Nightmare in Red.”
The first shows outside Brazil came in Europe, opening for Sodom (listen). The first American date was October 31, 1989, at the Ritz in New York, opening for King Diamond. A club tour with Faith or Fear followed that November.
The opener on most of that run was a Texas band. The show log kept by Metallipromo has Corpus Christi’s Devastation opening for Sepultura and Faith or Fear from November 3 to 28, 1989, from Bayshore, New York, to Phoenix. On November 7 Sepultura and Faith or Fear were refused entry to Canada, so Devastation played Montreal without them.
Sepultura Arise: Tampa and the First U.S. Chart Entry
For the next record the band went to Burns’s home base. Arise was made at Morrisound Recording in Tampa across 1990 and 1991, produced by Sepultura and Burns. Burns also worked on Devastation’s Idolatry, recorded at the same studio in 1990. Roadrunner released Arise on March 25, 1991.
It debuted at No. 145 on the Billboard 200 and climbed to No. 119, Sepultura’s first U.S. chart entry. By 1993 it had sold about a million copies worldwide. This is the one to start with: the speed of Beneath the Remains with a heavier, cleaner Morrisound sound. It sits on our list of the best thrash metal albums for that reason.
Chaos A.D. and Sepultura Roots: The Gold Records
Chaos A.D. moved the band to Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales, with Andy Wallace producing and mixing. The acoustic “Kaiowas” was recorded live in the ruins of Chepstow Castle. Released October 11, 1993, with Epic handling North American distribution, it reached No. 32 on the Billboard 200 and went gold with the RIAA.
The tempos came down and the grooves got heavier on singles like “Refuse/Resist” and “Territory.” The record belongs in any story of groove metal, the slower, heavier style that grew out of thrash in the early 1990s.
Roots went further. Ross Robinson produced it at Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu from October to December 1995, and it came out on February 20, 1996, in Europe and March 12 in the U.S. It peaked at No. 27, the band’s highest U.S. chart position, and went gold in the U.S., the UK, France and Canada.
For Roots the band traveled to Mato Grosso to visit and record with the Xavante people. “Itsári,” Xavante for “roots,” carries a Xavante healing chant. Carlinhos Brown plays on “Ratamahatta,” and Mike Patton and Jonathan Davis sing on “Lookaway.”
The Derrick Green Era
Max Cavalera played his last show with the band at the Brixton Academy in London on December 16, 1996, and his exit was announced in January 1997. He and Igor, who has spelled his name Iggor since Dante XXI in 2006, now record and tour together as Cavalera, and in 2023 the brothers re-recorded Bestial Devastation for Nuclear Blast.
Derrick Green took over vocals in 1997. His first show was for fan club members in Brazil in February 1998, and the first public one came in Los Angeles on July 8, 1998, at the House of Blues under the name “Troops of Doom.” He has fronted the band for more than half its life.
Green sings on nine studio albums. Roadrunner released Against (1998) and Nation (2001). SPV put out Roorback (2003), Dante XXI (2006) and A-Lex (2009). Nuclear Blast released Kairos (2011), The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart (2013), Machine Messiah (2017) and Quadra (2020). Two are concept records: Dante XXI is built on Dante’s Divine Comedy, and A-Lex on A Clockwork Orange.
The later catalog deserves a fair hearing. Quadra, recorded with Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, from August 2019 and released February 7, 2020, is the Green-era record to hear first. It is a concept album too, built on the number four, with its 12 songs split into four sections of three. Go to Dante XXI next: Igor left after it in 2006, and as a concept record it works best heard in one sitting.
Sepultura Band Members, Then and Now
The lineup that plays the final show:
- Derrick Green, vocals, since 1997.
- Andreas Kisser, guitar, since early 1987.
- Paulo Jr., bass, since late 1984, the longest-serving member.
- Greyson Nekrutman, drums, since 2024.
Past members include founders Max Cavalera (vocals and guitar, to 1996) and Igor Cavalera (drums, to 2006), guitarist Jairo Guedz (to 1987), and drummers Jean Dolabella (2006 to 2011) and Eloy Casagrande (2011 to February 2024).
Sepultura
Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 1984 to 2026. Start with Arise (1991), then Chaos A.D. (1993) and Roots (1996).
The Farewell Tour and the Final Show
Sepultura announced the “Celebrating Life Through Death” farewell tour on December 8, 2023, for its 40th anniversary. The first show was March 1, 2024, at Arena Hall in Belo Horizonte, the band’s hometown. The last North American leg ran from Montclair, New Jersey, on April 29, 2026, to the Wiltern in Los Angeles on May 29, with Exodus in support.
The final show is November 7, 2026, in São Paulo. Blabbermouth reported on September 11 that it moved from the Mercado Livre Arena Pacaembu, which holds about 26,000, to the Suhai Music Hall, which holds just over 9,000; stadium tickets stay valid. Krisiun, Sacred Reich and Metal Allegiance support, and former members Jean Dolabella and Jairo Guedz are expected to appear.
Metal Allegiance includes Alex Skolnick and Chuck Billy of Testament, and Sacred Reich is the Phoenix band in our Arizona thrash guide. Kisser told Metal On Tap, in an interview Blabbermouth reported on September 11, that the band is stopping now but leaves the door open. On a reunion, he said, “Dude, I don’t rule anything out.”
Sepultura in Texas
The November 1989 tour came through Texas twice. Metallipromo’s log puts Sepultura, Faith or Fear and Devastation at the Axiom in Houston on November 23, 1989, and at the Showcase in San Antonio the next night. Devastation shared other bills with Rotting Corpse, including one at the Sun Palace in Edinburg that is in the band’s flyer archive.
Sepultura also played Joe’s Garage in Fort Worth on the Beneath the Remains tour, according to our venues page. Walt Trachsler ran sound at Joe’s through 1988 and 1989, so Rotting Corpse saw most of what came through that room. Bassist Steve Murphy put it this way:
“Sepultura was the most brutal band I had ever seen live.”
Joe’s Garage Closed 1994
A restaurant turned club on Highway 80 just west of Loop 820. It opened in 1984 and closed in 1994, Fort Worth Weekly reported, and guitarist Rick Perry told the paper that around 1989 it was “one of the top spots in the country for extreme metal.” No outside source we found dates the Sepultura show, so we don’t print one.
Joe’s Garage, Fort Worth, Friday, December 29th, with Slatch. Flyer: Rotting Corpse archive
The club’s place in the scene is covered in our pieces on the 1980s Dallas–Fort Worth metal scene and on Gammacide, who shared a Joe’s Garage bill with Rotting Corpse.
The later visits were bigger. On November 13, 2008, Sepultura performed at the Latin Grammy Awards at the Toyota Center in Houston, playing “The Girl from Ipanema” and “We’ve Lost You” from A-Lex. On the farewell tour the band played The Factory in Deep Ellum on September 30, 2024, with Obituary and Agnostic Front, its only Texas date that fall. Our Dallas metal venues guide covers the room.
Max Cavalera, speaking to the San Antonio Current before a 2022 show at the Rock Box, said you can tell when a tour reaches Texas: “Everything changes. The vibe changes. The shows get better.”
Devastation
Corpus Christi, 1986 to 1991, reunited 2008, and Sepultura’s opener across the November 1989 tour. Start with Idolatry (Combat, 1991).
Where to Hear It Live
As of November 2026, Sepultura has no Texas dates left, and the 2026 North American leg skipped the state. The band’s tour page lists two last shows, both in São Paulo: Cine Joia on Thursday, November 5, 2026 (tickets), and the Suhai Music Hall on Saturday, November 7, which is marked sold out.
For Max and Igor playing the old records, watch the Max and Iggor Cavalera Songkick calendar, which shows no 2026 dates as of this writing. Closer to home, Rotting Corpse plays the Haltom Theater in Haltom City on November 14, 2026, with Iron Jaw, and Spam’s Bar and Lounge in San Angelo on December 5. Details are on our shows page.
Start with “Progressing Insanity” (1990)
Steve Murphy, the bassist who called Sepultura the most brutal band he had seen, plays on it, cut in San Antonio in January 1990 right after the Joe’s Garage years (details on the discography and lyrics pages).
Sources
- Wikipedia: Sepultura
- Wikipedia: Beneath the Remains
- Wikipedia: Arise (Sepultura album)
- Wikipedia: Chaos A.D.
- Wikipedia: Roots (Sepultura album)
- Blabbermouth: Sepultura Downgrades Venue for Final Concert (September 11, 2026)
- Blabbermouth: Sepultura Announces Final North American Tour (January 20, 2026)
- The MetalList: Sepultura Farewell Tour North American Dates Revealed (January 20, 2026)
- Loudwire: Joe DiVita, Sepultura 2024 North American Tour Dates (June 4, 2024)
- Metallipromo: Devastation show history
- San Antonio Current: Mike McMahan, Max Cavalera Revisits Early Material for San Antonio Show (June 20, 2022)
- Sepultura: official tour page
- Wikipedia: Sepultura discography
- Wikipedia: Igor Cavalera
- Wikipedia: Quadra (album)
- Blabbermouth: Sepultura’s Roots, Soulfly’s Debut Certified Gold (November 21, 2005)
- Fort Worth Weekly: Steve Steward, Still Riveting (February 29, 2012)
- Cavalera Conspiracy: Bestial Devastation (2023)
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are Sepultura?
A thrash metal band formed in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera. It became Brazil’s biggest metal band and ends with a final show in São Paulo on November 7, 2026.
Who are the members of Sepultura?
Derrick Green (vocals), Andreas Kisser (guitar), Paulo Jr. (bass) and Greyson Nekrutman (drums). Paulo Jr. joined in late 1984 and is the longest-serving member.
When is Sepultura’s final show?
November 7, 2026, at the Suhai Music Hall in São Paulo, with Krisiun, Sacred Reich and Metal Allegiance. The band’s site lists it as sold out.
Which Sepultura album should I start with?
Arise (Roadrunner, 1991) for the thrash band at full speed. Then Chaos A.D. (1993) and Roots (1996), the two records that went gold in the U.S.
Did Sepultura play Texas?
Yes. The band played the Axiom in Houston and the Showcase in San Antonio in November 1989, Joe’s Garage in Fort Worth on the Beneath the Remains tour, and The Factory in Dallas on September 30, 2024.
