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Sevas Tra

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Sevas Tra
Studio album by
Otep
ReleasedJune 18, 2002
RecordedOctober 2001[1]
Studio
Genre
Length61:06
LabelCapitol
ProducerTerry Date
Otep chronology
Jihad
(2001) 		Sevas Tra
(2002) 		House of Secrets
(2004)
Singles from Sevas Tra
  1. "Blood Pigs"
    Released: 2002
  2. "Possession"
    Released: 2002

Sevas Tra is the debut studio album by the nu metal band Otep, released in 2002. The album name, when read backwards, reads as "art saves".[3] It debuted at number 145 on the Billboard 200.[4]

Music and lyrics

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The album is a nu metal[5] album that features strong elements of death metal,[6][7] as well as elements of groove metal, funk metal, alternative metal, rap metal, grindcore and hip-hop.[3][7] The album's song "Jonestown Tea" features elements of spoken word.[7] The vocals consist of growling,[3][6] screaming[3][6] and rapping.[8] The growling on the album is one example of the album's elements of grindcore and death metal.[6][7] Also, the album has guitar riffs heard in the death metal genre. The album has been compared to Cannibal Corpse, Metallica, Skinlab and Slipknot.[6][5] Allmusic described the album as "heavier than Slipknot".[3] The album's lyrical topics include organized religion and abuse.[7] The band's vocalist Otep Shamaya said that the album Sevas Tra "is a story about life's struggles and what you do to overcome them, or what you do to be swallowed by them."[9] The album's song "Jonestown Tea" is about child sexual abuse and is also believed to be about Otep Shamaya being sexually abused by her father.[9][10] The song was used by a teenager who, along with her sister, was sexually abused by their father, to inform her mother about her father's sexual abuse.[10] Otep Shamaya spoke about the song "Jonestown Tea" saying

I wanted to do something dramatic for the record. At one of our rehearsals, management was there and some people from a label scouting us, and we just started (to improvise) ... By the end of the song, which was about 13 or 14 minutes later, people's jaws were on the floor. I'd kind of gone off into this other place and didn't really realize what had occurred. Something remarkable had taken place. Once we'd gone through that and everyone was like, 'Where did that come from? I decided that this was something important that I wanted to express and communicate on the record.[10]

Otep Shamaya called organized religion "a lie".[7] Many people have mistaken the song "Menocide" to be against men. Otep Shamaya said that it isn't hateful towards men and that it goes against women abuse, including violence against women.[11]

Release

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Sevas Tra was released on June 18, 2002 by Capitol Records. the first 75,000 copies of the album were available as a limited edition tri-fold digipak.[12] A month after its release, the album had sold 15,000 copies in the United States.[13]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Blender[14]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal5/10[15]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[16]

The album received mixed reviews. Allmusic gave the album a 4 out of 5 stars rating writing "Sevas Tra is a record that raises the high watermark for goth metal."[3] CMJ gave the album an extremely positive review.[6]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by M. Bistany, J. McGuire, R. Patterson and Otep Shamaya, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Tortured" 1:39
2."Blood Pigs" 4:03
3."T.R.I.C." (reworked from the Jihad version of "T.R.I.C.")Bistany, W. Marsh, McGuire, Patterson, Shamaya3:05
4."My Confession" 5:31
5."Sacrilege" (reworked from the Jihad version of "The Lord Is My Weapon") 4:09
6."Battle Ready" 4:21
7."Emtee" 3:58
8."Possession" (reworked from the Jihad version of "Possession")Bistany, Marsh, McGuire, Patterson, Shamaya4:54
9."Thots" (pronounced "Thoughts") 4:09
10."Fillthee" (reworked from the Jihad version of "Fillthee")D. Aguilera, Bistany, Marsh, McGuire, Patterson, Shamaya3:36
11."Menocide" 4:51
12."Jonestown Tea" 9:47
13."Brother" (Hidden Track) 7:03
Japan Bonus Track[17]
No.TitleLength
13."Battle Ready" (DJ Higher Mix)4:20
14."Brother"7:03

Personnel

[edit]
Main personnel
Additional personnel
  • Producer: Terry Date
  • Engineers: Terry Date, Martin Feveyear
  • Assistant engineers: Dave Fisher, Anthony Kilhoffer, Floyd Reitsman
  • Mixing: Terry Date
  • Mastering: Ted Jensen
  • Digital editing: Martin Feveyear
  • A&R: Ron Laffitte
  • Art direction: P.R. Brown, Wendy Dougan
  • Jacket design: P.R. Brown
  • Booklet design: Wendy Dougan
  • Photography: P.R. Brown

Charts

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Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
2002 UK 86[18]
The Billboard 200 145

References

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  1. ^ "OTEP". 2003-08-03. Archived from the original on 2003-08-03. Retrieved 2022-05-21.
  2. ^ "Sevas Tra by Otep". AllMusic.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Sevas Tra - Otep". Allmusic.
  4. ^ "Otep – Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "OTEP". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 102. 2002. p. 19. ISSN 1074-6978.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "LOUD ROCK". CMJ New Music Report. 71 (766): 19. June 10, 2002. ISSN 0890-0795.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Kaufman, Gil (August 16, 2002). "Otep Challenges Corey Taylor, Jonathan Davis To Poetry Slam". MTV. Archived from the original on March 26, 2015.
  8. ^ Niccum, Jon (August 16, 2002). "Otep adjusts to being sole female artist on Ozzfest". Lawrence.com.
  9. ^ a b "Jonestown Tea by Otep". Songfacts.
  10. ^ a b c "Florida Teenager Uses OTEP Song To Inform Mother Of Sexual Abuse At Hands Of Father". Blabbermouth. January 15, 2006.
  11. ^ Harrell, Jeff (April 4, 2013). "From Otep, with rage". Southern Bend Tribune.
  12. ^ Inc, CMJ Network (2002-06-03). CMJ New Music Report. CMJ Network, Inc. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ Sludge, Metal. "Sludge Scans For June & July 2002 | Metal Sludge". Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  14. ^ Kemp, Rob (August 2002). "The Guide: New Releases". Blender. Vol. 1, no. 8. p. 120 – via Internet Archive.
  15. ^ Popoff, Martin; Perri, David (2011). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 4: The '00s. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 373. ISBN 9781-926592-20-6.
  16. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). "Otep". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 6 (4th ed.). MUZE. p. 351. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
  17. ^ "Otep – Sevas Tra". Discogs. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  18. ^ Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK: The O - Ozric Tentacles". zobbel.de. Tobias Zywietz. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
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