Against

When vocalist/guitarist Max Cavalera left Sepultura over a managerial dispute in late 1996, it was unthinkable that the band could continue, let alone prosper, without its leader. That worry was put to rest with <i>Against</i>, the first album to feature replacement vocalist Derrick Green. A Cleveland native and veteran singer of the underground punk band Outface, Green matched Cavalera for passion and commitment. Though most of <i>Against</i> was written before he joined, Green comes off not as a last-minute addition but as a leader on songs like “Choke,” “Boycott," and “Unconscious.” While the music is more dissonant and hostile than it had been on past albums—perhaps owing to the stress of losing Cavalera—the band continues the pursuit of tribal rhythms it started with <i>Roots</i>. “Kamaitachi”—a roiling merger of metallic percussion and amplified ferocity—features the contributions of the Japanese taiko group Kodo. It was the band’s way of showing that it wouldn't stop mining pan-global music cultures for new forms of rhythmic intensity.