The band considered a number of producers, including avant-garde jazz composer John Zorn and Al Jourgensen of industrial metal pioneers Ministry. They ultimately chose Andy Wallace, who had previously mixed Arise. Sepultura wanted isolation, and for that Andy Wallace suggested Rockfield Studios, located in South Wales.
"Kaiowas" was recorded live among the ruins of the medieval castle of Chepstow. It was an entirely acoustic track, with Andreas Kisser and Max Cavalera on the guitars and brother-drummer Igor Cavalera and bassist Paulo Jr. handling the percussion duties. When they recorded "Kaiowas", the quartet never even considered playing the track live, because they thought it would be too difficult to recreate the drumming on stage. They changed their minds after seeing a video of the American band Neurosis: "We saw in that live video that the Neurosis guys put down their guitars and everybody started to play the drums on stage", lead guitarist Andreas remembers. "We decided to try the same thing. We rehearsed it once and it was wonderful. We haven't stopped playing the song live since.
During Chaos A.D. recording sessions, Sepultura recorded a number of covers: "The Hunt", from New Model Army, "Polícia", from Titãs, "Inhuman Nature", from the American hardcore punk band Final Conflict, and "Crucificados pelo Sistema", from Brazilian Ratos de Porão. Igor, a New Model Army fan, convinced the other band members to include "The Hunt" on the record. Paulo joked that the money of the LP would go straight to new dentures for Justin Sullivan, the toothless singer of New Model Army. The latter 3 covers would be included as B-sides and also on the compilation Blood-Rooted. "Polícia" is also included as a bonus track on the Brazilian edition of the album.
Musical style
Out of the boredom of playing the Arise songs for two years straight and concerned about the threat of musically stagnating, Sepultura pushed the envelope on Chaos A.D. The first track, "Refuse/Resist", revealed the band's new musical direction: slower, with more emphasis on groove than speed. The song starts with the heartbeat of Max's then-unborn first son, Zyon, followed by some Afro-Brazilian drumming reminiscent of Salvador, Bahia samba-reggae group Olodum. About the track's introductory guitar riff, Max acknowledged that it "could have been created by a death metal band." Chaos A.D. was their first record to utilize some lower guitar tunings. Half of the songs in the album are tuned down to D standard, except for "Kaiowas" which is in drop C# tuning.
Diversity was the key to Chaos A.D., revealed Max Cavalera. "Biotech Is Godzilla" was "pure hardcore", according to the elder Cavalera. "Nomad", with its characteristically slow riffs, was described by lead guitarist Andreas Kisser as their answer to Metallica's "Sad but True". The album also featured Sepultura's first all-acoustic incursion, "Kaiowas". "It's like a mixture of Led Zeppelin, Sonic Youth and Olodum", said Max of that particular song. Dazed & Confused magazine stated the album "signalled a move away from the Sepultura's thrash roots, focusing on slower, industrial grooves." In the book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists, author Joel McIver stated the album showed a "movement away from extreme metal to a more punk sound" with a stronger focus on "feel and groove". McIver went on to state that the album showed the first signs of the groove metal genre that Sepultura would apply by the mid-1990s. In Ian Christe's book Sound of the Beast, he credits Chaos A.D., along with American heavy metal band Pantera for developing the death metal-influenced music of groove metal that would later influence other artists in the 90s.
1. Refuse/Resist 03:19
2. Territory 04:47
3. Slave New World 02:54
4. Amen 04:27
5. Kaiowas 03:43
6. Propaganda 03:32
Side B:
7. Biotech Is Godzilla 01:52
8. Nomad 04:58
9. We Who Are Not as Others 03:42
10. Manifest 04:46
11. The Hunt (New Model Army cover) 03:59
12. Clenched Fist 04:57
• Andreas Kisser : Guitars (lead, 12-string acoustic), viola caipira
• Paulo Jr. : Bass, floor tom
• Igor Cavalera : Drums, percussion.
"The Hunt" originally performed by New Model Army.
Recorded at Rockfield Studios, S. Wales, England.
"Kaiowas" recorded at Chepstow Castle, S. Wales, England.
Mixed at The Wool Hall Recording Studios, Bath, England.
Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York, NY.
Chaos A.D. means Chaos Anno Domini.
Kaiowas is inspired by a Brazilian Indian tribe called Kaiowas who lived in the rain forest.
The original version included a hidden bonus at the end of Clenched Fist in the form of laughter outtakes from We Who Are Not as Others, increasing the length of track 12 to 8:01.
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