Chaos A.D.: who is hanging upside down on Sepultura's cover?
A body wrapped in white cloth hangs head down from a tangle of cables and machinery. Below it, hands reach up out of the gears. Look closer and the walls have faces.
In the middle, a human shape wrapped in white cloth and bound with cords hangs head down from a mass of cables, pipes and circuit boards. Behind it runs a blue brick wall, and the longer you look, the more you find carved into it: screaming faces, spiral shells, fossils. Below the body opens a dark hole like a giant eye. On both sides, small pale hands reach up out of the machinery, as if the whole building were full of people trying to get out.
Painted to order
The painting is by the American artist Michael Whelan, best known for his science fiction and fantasy book covers, and it is called Cacophony. Whelan dates it to 1992. It was his third Sepultura cover, after Beneath the Remains and Arise, but with one big difference. For those two the band picked paintings that already existed. For Chaos A.D. they commissioned a new one, built around the album title.
A body bag full of wires
Max Cavalera later explained that the band gave Whelan the concept and he came back with an upside down body bag with electronics running through it. What Max loved most were the details, the little hands and faces hidden in the machinery. He has also said he was proud to have worked with Whelan and to have added some ideas of his own. Later the cover came seventh when Roadrunner staff around the world voted for the ten greatest covers in the label's history.
Thrash metal in a Welsh valley
The music was made a long way from Brazil. Producer Andy Wallace, who had mixed Arise, suggested Rockfield Studios in rural Wales so the band could work in isolation. The acoustic Kaiowas was recorded in the ruins of Chepstow Castle. The line-up was Max Cavalera on vocals and guitar, Andreas Kisser on lead guitar, Paulo Jr. on bass and Igor Cavalera on drums.
Chaos A.D. came out on Roadrunner in the autumn of 1993. With its tribal drums and angry, political lyrics, it is hard to imagine a better match for that tangled, claustrophobic cover.
About the poster
This is the Chaos A.D. sleeve printed as a large 55 × 75 cm (22 × 30 in) portrait poster, from 2023. It is an original magazine insert, never hung, with no staple holes, folded three times as issued. The sheet is double-sided, with Deep Purple "Burn" on the back.
Browse all original Sepultura posters.
Quick answers
Who painted the Sepultura Chaos A.D. cover?
Michael Whelan. The painting is called Cacophony and was made for the album, his third cover for Sepultura after Beneath the Remains and Arise.
What is on the Chaos A.D. cover?
A body wrapped in white cloth hanging upside down from machinery, with hands and faces hidden in the machines and the wall behind. Max Cavalera described it as an upside down body bag with electronics running through it.
Where was Chaos A.D. recorded?
At Rockfield Studios in Wales, with producer Andy Wallace. The track Kaiowas was recorded at Chepstow Castle.
How big is the poster?
55 × 75 cm (about 22 × 30 inches), portrait. It is a separate insert, so it has no staple holes, and it is folded three times as issued.
What is on the other side?
Deep Purple "Burn". The sheet is double-sided, so you choose which cover goes on the wall.