EP REVIEW: THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING BY SEPULTURA
Reviewed by Cecilia Pattison-Levi
Release date 24 April 2026
Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura (Derrick Green, Andreas Kisser, Paulo Jr. and Greyson Nekrutman) are calling time on the band’s 40-year career. This last Extended Player (EP), ‘The Cloud of Unknowing’, is the final record of the group in the studio as they retire and start the next chapter of their life. There is a lot to celebrate as the band has 14 records, multiple concert tours, and performances across more than 80 countries to their name. It’s an impressive feat!
The EP opens with ‘All Souls Rising’ and the song just launches for your head, as we are told of the “broken souls are suffering” before a symphonic break cuts through the heavy metal soundscape, and it sounds like a great white shark is on the way, and it breaks the tension. It’s then that the words “fist fight” are chanted as the guitar solos send riffs into the sonic realm. If you listen carefully, the symphonic melody is still there underneath, as the drums hammer home the rhythm and the electric guitar melodies swoon. There is a lot going on as two periods in time co-join in a song wanting social change.
The following song is the acoustic based ballad ‘Beyond The Dream’, and its melody is sweet as the electric guitar riff heightens the soundscape. The dark vocals are truly beautiful. “Leave it all behind”, and “begin again”, for “there’s no limitations”. It is a call to a new beginning and a new chapter of life where expectation is also left behind or changed. This is a great song, the instrumentation and production are classic and so well done. This song is worth the price of the EP – it’s terrific.
‘Sacred Books’ thunders with drums and a huge bassline straight at you like a Mac truck, as the dark vocal fry sings of “seeking truth” in “sacred books” that are a “web of lies”. But that’s religion for you! Then, a guitar solo rips and sets up an unusual refrain with a slightly discordant but beautiful piano melody, as the bassline thrums underneath. The experimentation in this song is interesting.
The EP closes out with a faint eerie melody before the bass and drums mid-temp timing bring in ‘The Place’. The guitars join in, and a grooving melody is established. It has a hypnotic timing, as the grunge-lite guitar and lyrical clean vocals take you away. Then, the dark vocal fry cuts in over the top, and the drums pound down as thoughts of “betrayal” dictate the song. But there is light in the dark, as “new life” is mentioned and hope is there. The hope is reflected in the huge guitar solo near the end, it is terrific and classic heavy metal.
These four songs are a closing statement on a career, and as ‘Beyond The Dream’ states, you never know what’s coming in life as you look out “the blurry window” and wonder “how we got this far”. For the “future is never so clear”, and pushing “beyond the dream” into reality is an amazing achievement.
So, slàinte to the members of Sepultura. I hope the next chapters of their creative lives are good to them. This EP ‘The Cloud of Unknowing’ is a fitting and panoramic musical ending.
