For over three decades the pioneering Brazilian thrash band has never been afraid to address political issues.
For example, one of Sepultura’s more political albums, 1993’s Chaos A.D. features “Refuse/Resist.” a hard-hitting anti-police anthem and “Territory” which references the conflict between Israel and Palestine, which sadly remains relevant.
They recently released their fifteenth studio album Quadra, an ambitious concept album broken into four parts. Several tunes address a variety of social issues such as climate change, political corruption and corporate greed.
One of the album’s highlights is “Means To An End.” Lyrics such as “A fear of a foreign invader. Delusions that are killing the truth.
A desperate way to gain the faith. Emotions controlling the will.
It will make no difference, it’s the era we live. Each side bare witness to lies” highlights how the government and media use fear and propaganda to preserve the status quo.
The companion video complements the song’s powerful message. Guitarist Andreas Kisser made the following statement about both the tune and video, “It is a very powerful and complex theme that inspired director Otavio Juliano and Luciana Ferraz to make an amazing visual interpretation of the song. It shows the human greed with no limits, the arrogance and the ignorance of ourselves, we think we can do it all without knowledge, without respect. Judas and his treason, defying death in a chess game, saving money for who’s knows what and how much is enough?”
The song also holds out hope that “A day will come, it’s on the way. The terror will come to an end.”