Sepultura are breaking up after they embark on a farewell tour in 2024.
Next year marks the Brazilian metal band's 40th anniversary, and they're celebrating by heading out on an 18-month tour that's purported to be their last one ever.
The band announced the shocking news in a press conference this morning (December 8th), where they expressed gratitude for their storied, at times complicated, career, and revealed that this epic journey of closure has been in the works for two years.
Now, the band have issued a press release explaining the decision behind their split, and their plans for how they're going to bow out. See their full statement below.
"Sepultura has reached the end of the road and has chosen to depart via a conscious and planned death.
"Throughout the next 18 months we will celebrate 40 years of existence together along with our loyal fans on a farewell tour across the entire globe. It will be a celebration of the past and the present for one final time.
"After four decades filled with ups and downs, having visited 80 countries and countless different cultures, we've had the chance to become Brazil's messenger to the world and spread our colors and rhythms worldwide.
"With our latest studio album Quadra, a highlight of our career, we added an unforgettable chapter followed by the SepulQuarta experience that helped us to overcome the difficult times of the pandemic together. We will unite our forces for one final, strong farewell. And all of you can be a part of it.
"During this 40th anniversary tour, we will record 40 live tracks in 40 different cities and release a massive compilation of our best, most energetic moments on stage.
"We are happy and very grateful for everything we could witness within the past four decades. We have released great albums and played unforgettable shows, cultivated friendships, met our idols, contributed to placing Brazilian metal on the world map, and therefore feel that we can leave the music scene with a sense of duty fulfilled.
"We've always had the best fans in the world, who supported us with praise and criticism, who were demanding and intelligent, who grew together with the band and have always been loyal. Without you, none of this would have been possible. This album and this tour are for you. Dear SepulNation - we love you and always will!
"Euthanasia, the right to a dignified death. The right to choose to live free and to choose when you die!"
Today, Sepultura have revealed the European, Latin American and Brazilian legs of their farewell tour, and you can see those dates down below via their Instagram.
Sepultura have had a long and, at times, rocky history. Formed in Brazil by brothers Max and Iggor Cavalera in the early 1980s, the band would eventually break out of the South American thrash underground when they caught the ear of Roadrunner Records, who issued several of their records in the late Eighties and early 1990s that rank among the greatest in metal history.
Alas, after 1996's Roots, vocalist-guitarist-songwriter Max departed the band and was replaced by new frontman Derrick Green. His brother Iggor eventually exited in 2006, but this newly minted Sepultura lineup — with Green on the mic and lead guitarist Andreas Kisser taking over all guitar duties — have carried the band forward in the years since.
Technically, the current iteration of Sepultura — Green, Kisser, longtime bassist Paulo Jr. and drummer Eloy Casagrande — features zero original band members. Throughout the last decade, the Cavalera Bros. have united on several occasions to perform Sepultura albums from their era of the band in full.
