It's hard to think of a more underrated album than Sepultura's Schizophrenia, a vital classic in the band's history yet swallowed up by both the rawer Morbid Visions preceding it and the ensuing thrashpocalypse of Beneath the Remains. Praise be to the Cavalera brothers, then, whose latest project sees them re-recording their early output and giving them a fresh take with a "modern production"! And as something of a sceptical friend to the post-Max Sepultura albums, not to mention a critic of Max's output with Soulfly and Cavalera Conspiracy, it feels like a re-examination of Schizophrenia is all too overdue for this reviewer, who has been intending to write up the original for a long, long, long time now. Replacing the original was never on the table and it's good to see that Max Cavalera hasn't tried to challenge Andreas Kisser and co for actual ownership; instead, we have something called a revisitation, a celebration, of the landmark releases. They will always exist, in their raw intensity, a snapshot of a time when extreme metal was being born screaming into a world that never appreciated it. These re-recordings exist alongside that, perhaps not the first version of these songs that diehards will reach for but available to entice new souls into the pit, and a worthy tribute in and of themselves for a history few others, if any, will bother to mark.

Let's be clear - if this re-recorded Schizophrenia and the versions of Morbid Visions and Bestial Devastation that came out last year were to replace the originals on streaming and other services, your reviewer would be amongst the first to call bullshit. Yet the band, consisting of Cavaleras Max and I(g)gor alongside guests Travis Stone (Noisem, Pig Destroyer) on guitars and Igor Amadeus Cavalera (Max's son, also of Go Ahead and Die) on bass have been more respectful of both material and fans here, avoiding the pitfall of anything too shiny and plastic in terms of production in favour of something very much in keeping with the spirit of 1987. Even the intro piece from the original album has been re-recorded, a strange burst of ambience with a deranged voice atop, leading you into a world of stunning metallic riffage that is much more in your face than the original. Ah, The Past Reborn The Storms / From The Past Comes the Storms! One of the most underrated and aggressive Sepulturan thrash pieces and you can see how well the Cavaleras' vision has worked, the new version a direct attack more in keeping with the Cavalera Conspiracy days, the latter still existing as a piece of exuberant thrash history. There's even a similar echo effect on the vocals of the newer piece, a direct link back through time.

And really that's the story of this album, a lovingly recreated assault on the neck muscles built around the same material that destroyed nearly 40 years ago. The original was a stunningly well-written record, technical thrash metal with a raw edge, and you can hear the razor-sharp intentions of, say, The Wall from the go, a six-minute rhythm guitar workout that never ceases to work those neck muscles. Escape to the Void sounds just as vital with that classic intro lead guitar, soon leading into a riff-a-thon that heralded the oncoming Beneath the Remains with just slightly more rabid aggression coming through audibly on the re-recording. Max Cavalera is 54 and has never sounded younger, however many "return to form" recordings he has participated in, and of course his brother is a much better drummer now than he was in his youth. It's hard to see how if you like classic Sepultura, you wouldn't enjoy this! The same goes but tenfold for prog-tinged epic Inquisition Symphony, a seven-minute thrash instrumental (and still one of the greatest pieces of instrumental metal ever, from someone who usually hates the concept) that takes in everything from acoustic strums to ripping gallops to proggy melodic frills.

As before, the latter half of the album often gets forgotten thanks to how dominating the first half is, but Screams Behind the Shadows and Septic Schizo are as powerful a one-two combo here as the originals were, intense, muscular, and aggressive thrash attacks with plenty of riff changes and tempo shifts to keep your ears peeled back. Instrumental interlude The Abyss and R.I.P. (Rest in Pain) are a great way to end the album, the former being revamped from the original acoustic spot to a much more effect-laden gaze into, well, the abyss! And the latter is amongst the most revitalised pieces present, losing the murkiness of the original but keeping its power and memorability. It feels like nitpicking afterwards to complain that we didn't get Troops of Doom to end the album, yet it would have been a repetition from last year's Morbid Visions re-recording. Instead, the band gifted us an entirely new song, written specially to fit in with this Schizophrenia re-recording, named Nightmares of Delirium. And of course, it's incredibly good, more than proving the Cavaleras still have the right lead in their proverbial pencils - fast, violent, and yes, up to the standard set by the original material.

Even if you just view it as a bonus track rather than an essential part of the album, it more than works, and is the cherry on the cake to make this re-recording worthy in its own right. Some will still have issues, of course, preferring the original come what may, and that's fine, the original is right there. Of course, some will find the re-recording itself lacking enough polish and it's not hard to see a future generation demanding yet another re-recording with more of a typical Nuclear Blast sound! Kudos to the Cavaleras for resisting that, preferring something spiritually in keeping with the original's style, and even ensuring that Eliran Kantor's reimagining of the cover art is cleverly done and befitting a classic. Where next? Surely not Beneath the Remains? Instead, perhaps the time has finally come for a Cavalera/Kisser/Paolo Xisto reunion, now that the Derrick Green-fronted version of the band has decided to retire...?