Father Geek here with a special editoral from our Sao Paulo Editor Coffin Joe Jr. I'm not really sure who, or what put the burr under Joe's saddle, but its sure got him bucking up a storm.

As you are all aware we normally don't do stories on pop music news, not because we don't want to, but because we're just too busy covering movie stuff. Well you probably have noticed we're covering Manga and other Comicbook news now in addition to the world film market. Harry's and my personal interest extend to ALL of pop culture... and beyond, sooooo when Joe sent me this today, on one of my son-in-law LOBO's favorite bands I decided to go ahead and post it. Harry and I have talked about covering music for a long time now, since the beginnings of the site. There won't be alot of coverage of this area at present, but keep your eyes peeled... it will "pop" up from time to time... and eventually... who knows...

Here's Joe's report...

AN OPEN LETTER TO VEJA MAGAZINE

From Coffin Joe Jr.

I want to take a minute of your time to talk about an issue that has come up this last week over here in Brazil regarding the legendary heavy metal outfit Sepultura. You see this band has been around for a few years now, they are a respected and cherished act all over the globe, from the U.S. to Indonesia. Sepultura became known for its brilliant musical skill, political lyrics and rabid fan base. It was all going well until 1997, when vocalist Max Cavalera and the rest of the band parted ways. Max went on to a new band that he created, Soulfly, and the remaining members got a new lead singer, American Derrick Green, who replaced Max. I´m not going to talk about the problems that eventually resulted in the split, there are different versions from each camp, a lot of unsolved issues and a general feeling of unease about the whole affair. Soulfly has released two records to great commercial success in the U.S., they did extensive touring, shot a couple of videos and got a lot ! of promotion from their record label, Roadrunner Records (Slipknot, Spineshank, Glassjaw). Roadrunner has also been Sepultura´s record label for a long time, but since Max´s departure from the band, things haven´t quite been the same as far as the treatment the band receives from the company.

"Against", Sepultura´s first record without Max, had one single released, didn´t get any proper videos, and the support from the label seemed to be a lot less enthusiastic, compared to Soulfly or other acts from the company. At the time "Against" was released, in 1998, it got some glowing reviews, including a five K review from English rock magazine Kerrang, one of the most respected music mags in the world. Sepultura didn´t go with the current trend of nu-metal outfits, and released an album that was pure aggression, without compromises or stupid gimmicks. It was just great music. Like always, the band went for something new and different, not repeating themselves or trying to emulate what worked before, for them or anyone else. Earlier this year, in late March to be more precise, the band released their latest effort, "Nation", a challenging, bold new direction for the group. A concept album, "Nation" hit the charts in a number of countries: Australia, Germany, England, U.S., Brazil, etc. I don´t know many bands that sell records all over the world like Sepultura, or have the kind of fan base that they have. Worlwide touring followed, with shows in the U.S., Europe, and an amazing performance in front of 200.000 people, earlier this year during the massive "Rock in Rio" festival. The crowd went nuts for the band, in a truly memorable evening. How many bands achieve this kind of longevity and success, and keep their integrity in the process?

Despite all that, Roadrunner Records didn´t seem to care that much. Unlike Soulfly, who got a cool video for their first single "Bleed" and later another video for the song "Back to the Primitive", Sepultura did not get a video for any of the songs on either "Against" or "Nation". The band repeatedly voiced their frustration with the label´s behavior towards them and the complete lack of interest showed by the suits at Roadrunner. If I were to point fingers, a few morons should be singled out: Monte Conner, one of the geniuses at Roadrunner, and most of the idiots in the marketing department. After 13 years (?!), Roadrunner loses one the band´s that helped establish them as one of the premier labels for metal bands, paving the way for acts like Fear Factory, Slipknot and others.

Why did I take all this time talking about this? It´s really simple. One of the most popular magazines here in Brazil, called "VEJA", which is like the equivalent of "Newsweek" or "Time" for our territory, ran an article stating that Roadrunner dropped Sepultura because of disappointing sales of their last two records. Other so called journalists also ran similar stories (like the FUCKING ASSHOLES at www.blabbermouth.net). Well these people just don´t check the facts. The contract was terminated and both parties mutually parted ways, and that´s it.

If you look at track records I stick to Sepultura, because this isn´t the first time Roadrunner fucks a band in the ass over and over. Just ask the guys of the punk outfit Amen, who suffered a lot in the hands of the label, before jumping to Virgin Records through producer Ross Robinson´s I AM imprint. It´s really sad that a few idiots feel the need to write complete and total crap to make headlines. I´m simply stunned by the fact that a magazine that has a reputation to uphold and has been around for so long, just cranks out garbage like the article on Sepultura. After years of hard work and perseverance, it´s just a shame that a great band has to put up with such things.

Very pissed off, Coffin Joe Jr. says: bye.

P.S.: LONG LIVE THE MIGHTY SEPULTURA