Live Review: Sepultura and 700s Diehards for One Last Riot at Helsinki’s Tavastia Klubi

Sepultura arrived at Helsinki’s Tavastia Klubi directly after performing on the main stage at Germany’s Wacken Open Air just one day earlier. The contrast between the two shows could hardly have been greater. At Wacken, the band performed in front of approximately 50,000 people—some lifelong fans, others simply curious to see them. In Helsinki, however, they faced a sold-out crowd of just 700 devoted supporters. By all accounts, both performances were a success, although vocalist Derrick Green took a moment to tell the Helsinki audience just how much he appreciated the intimacy of the evening.

Standing in the second row, it was easy to understand why.

The audience seemed to have only two settings: near-electric and near-riotous. Despite repeated announcements prohibiting stage diving, it became a regular occurrence throughout the night. The staff at Tavastia Klubi appeared understandably tense at times, yet they handled the situation well.

Derrick Green, guitarist Andreas Kisser and the rest of Sepultura looked completely at ease, clearly feeding off the audience’s energy. Although even Green occasionally seemed pleasantly surprised by the sheer intensity of the crowd. At one point, he simply asked whether they wanted more. The thunderous response that followed left absolutely no room for doubt. If he had been offering the audience candy, they probably would have taken his arm off—and judging by his smile, he loved every second of it.

Some reviews, including that published by Helsingin Sanomat, have chosen to focus on the long-running comparisons between Sepultura and the Cavalera brothers’ projects. Max and Igor Cavalera were, of course, the band’s original frontman/guitarist and drummer, and the tensions surrounding their departure in 1996 have been well-documented over the years.

None of that mattered inside Tavastia Klubi.

The audience hadn’t come to revisit old controversies. They had come to celebrate one of heavy metal’s greatest live bands.

From the crushing opening notes of “Inner Self”—a live staple ever since Beneath the Remains—to the closing assault of “Roots Bloody Roots,” the crowd remained completely locked into the performance. Much of that foundation came from bassist Paulo Jr., who has been with Sepultura since 1985, alongside the phenomenal 23-year-old drummer Greyson Nekrutman, whose precision and energy drove every song forward.

The audience clearly connected with the lyrics just as deeply as the riffs. Many had grown up with these songs, yet nothing about the evening felt nostalgic. Nostalgia suggests revisiting emotions that belong to the past. These songs, however, remain just as relevant today.

When Green roared “We’re not slaves; we’re free” during “Slave New World,” the words felt aimed just as much at today’s tyrants as they did when Chaos A.D. was originally released more than three decades ago.

Classics such as “Desperate Cry,” “Dead Embryonic Cells,” “Arise,” “Territory” and “Refuse/Resist” delivered exactly the combination of crushing grooves and political urgency that has defined Sepultura for generations. Meanwhile, Green-era staples including “Kairos,” “Attitude” and “Choke” demonstrated just how firmly the vocalist has established himself within the band’s legacy after nearly three decades behind the microphone.

Material from the new EP “The Cloud of Unknowing” added another dimension to the set. Rather than feeling like obligatory new songs, they proved that a band currently on its farewell tour still has something meaningful to say. Their commentary on tyranny, manipulation and xenophobia may now carry a more reflective tone, but in an increasingly superficial world, Sepultura’s honesty and authenticity continue to resonate just as powerfully as ever.

From the early classic “Escape to the Void,” through the legendary Cavalera-era material, on to the tribal rhythms of “Ratamahatta” and “Kaiowas,” and finally into the band’s later catalogue, the performance never lost momentum.

This wasn’t simply a great concert.

It was a reminder of why Sepultura has remained one of heavy metal’s most influential and uncompromising bands for more than four decades.

As the farewell tour continues, performances like this make one thing abundantly clear: Sepultura may be saying goodbye, but they are doing so entirely on their own terms—and with every ounce of intensity that made them legends in the first place.

Setlist:

1. Inner Self
2. All Souls Rising
3. Desperate Cry
4. Kairos
5. Means to an End
6. Attitude
7. Against
8. Choke
9. The Place
10. Escape to the Void
11. Kaiowas (Percussion jam)
12. Dead Embryonic Cells
13. Slave New World
14. Beyond the Dream
15. Territory
16. Refuse/Resist
17. Arise
18. Ratamahatta
19. Roots Bloody Roots