Liberated Magazine

Cavalera Conspiracy headlined a show at Ferris Wheelers in Dallas, Tx on October 18th, 2025 with support from Fear Factory and Herakleion on their Chaos A.D. Tour! 

The thrumming of a heart beat announces the return of the Cavalera brothers to their most volatile recording, the carnage-driven, adrenaline-fueled onslaught that is only known as CHAOS A.D.. Just over thirty years ago Max and Iggor Cavalera took the world by storm when they released their fifth studio album upon the masses, a record that has stood the test of time through the decades. Though the years have passed, CHAOS A.D. is as timeless and relevant as the day it was released. While wars are waged around the globe, violence is witnessed in the streets, hate and disparity are rampant in our everyday lives, albums like CHAOS A.D. are what bind us together, being a prospect of light in an otherwise bleak and corrupt world.

Songs like Refuse/Resist, Territory, Slave New World and Propaganda have been heralded as anthems for the underdogs, and to witness these tracks brought back to life is nothing short of a blessing. CHAOS A.D. is still regarded as one of the most influential recordings of the 90’s, garnering them Gold Record status and a benchmark in the halls of heavy metal history.

Max shouts out a rallying cry, “Tanks on the streets, confronting police, bleeding the plebs!” And Iggor thunders through the drum intro to Territory like an Apache Helicopter. Silence means death! Stand on your feet! Cavalera will be bombarding the states, decimating every stage they encounter as if they were a warzone.

Review and photos by Crystal Chism

For my first time at this venue, I was pretty excited to check this out. The line wrapped around the block still as the opening band started playing at 6:30pm, a newly formed metal band out of New Orleans named Herakleion. People piled into this small venue set up in the backyard of a barbecue joint, equipped with a lit-up but inoperable ferris wheel. The first band set the energy: non-stop thrashing on a pop-up stage. I knew I was getting to be a part of something special. The smell of barbecue lingered in the air. Fans were trading conversation over music.

In between the opening act and Fear Factory, KISS played on the intercom as participants still filed in, chatting, grabbing drinks and feeling out the space. By the time Fear Factory hit the stage, the venue had almost filled up but people were still making their way into this unique experience. Fear Factory took us back to 1994, opening the set with their song “Demanufacture” and including hits such as “Replica,” “Shock,” and “Edgecrusher.” Pit participation and chaos were in full force, and this quaint barbecue venue and its maximum capacity of 1,200 people seemed to be experiencing its first taste of crowd surfers and what thrash metal intensity brings.

Mid-set, Dino had to give a lesson to security on how to handle crowd surfers, as they were pushing people back into the pit instead of helping them over the barricades. By then, bodies were shoulder-to-shoulder with an active pit in the middle of this small gravel-and-sand dance floor, a tangible reminder of just how physical and immersive this night had become. People were sweating, hair matted, voices raw from shouting along, yet the energy only climbed higher with each song.

Anticipation grew as Cavalera set up for their show. The air practically hummed with the sound of drums and guitars being tuned, staff moving things about and setting up, and fans jostling in place as the first notes teased from backstage. Finally, the moment arrived, and the crowd went wild. Participation never waned through the entire set, which featured most of the Sepultura album Chaos A.D. and a tribute to Black Sabbath’s “Symptom of the Universe.” Max Cavalera has shared that the Tony Iommi riff in that song is his all-time favorite, and the band’s heartfelt nod to Black Sabbath, Ozzy, and Ace Frehley under the gorgeous October sky added a touch of reverence to the chaos. Fists punched the air, shouts rang out, and every song seemed to carry both history and rebellion.

Toward the end, Cavalera challenged the crowd: “If you want more of the real Sepultura, you’re going to have to scream.” As the screams rose, “Territory,” a fan favorite, seemed to conclude the set. For a moment, it felt like the night was over, but the crowd kept pushing, chanting for more, refusing to let the experience end. Cavalera returned with Chaos B.C., a techno remix of “Refuse/Resist,” giving the night its explosive, unexpected close and reminding everyone that the energy of a thrash show doesn’t stay neatly inside album notes or stage boundaries.

Walking away, boots full of gravel and ears ringing, it hit me what this night had really been about. It was more than music — it was a space to release what society insists we bottle up, to resist the narratives fed to us and refuse the manipulation that tries to control us. In that backyard, surrounded by sweat, riffs, and bodies moving as one, it felt like we were collectively rejecting the noise of propaganda, reclaiming our own voice, and letting our true, unfiltered selves out through the power of thrash metal. Every shout, every surge into the pit, every fist in the air was a refusal to be passive, a refusal to swallow the lies, a communal purge of frustration and resistance, all under the glow of a silent, broken ferris wheel.

Setlist:

• Refuse/Resist
• Slave New World
• Nomad
• Amen
• We Who Are Not as Others
• Biotech is Godzilla
• Manifest
• The Hunt (New Model Army cover)
• Propaganda
• Kaiowas
• Symptom of the Universe (Black Sabbath cover)
• Territory