SOULFLY

Conquer

Roadrunner Records/ CD

Max Cavalera is definitely on the right way, continuing victorious march. Just a few months ago - together with his brother on sensational „Inflikted” – he showed us how to create energetic and powerful classic thrash metal. And when some of those who tried to survive didn’t manage to collect all the teeth from the floor after the confrontation with such merderous strikes like "The Doom of All Fires", "MustKill" or "Sanctuary", legendary Brazilian serves sixth, full-lenght album signed with SOULFLY logo.

Once again all those who follow Cavalera’s career since the memorable "Beneath The Remains" and "Arise" may feel the full satisfaction. Although "Conquer" is not only a repetition of tricks taken from old SEPULTURA’s closet. But I must admit that the musical spirit of the group leader’s past is quite strongly present.

Cavalera himself said in interviews that during the creation of new stuff he was strongly inspired by such old fashioned bands like: NAPALM DEATH, BOLT THROWER or SLAYER. And frankly speaking it’s possible to find those influences. "Conquer" is by far the most aggressive and brutal stuff in SOULFLY’s discography. Everything here is a tribute to the good old days of thrash dominance. Starting with apocalyptic introduction to "Blood Fire War Hate" - with a guest growl appearance by David Vincent of Morbid Angel - we have to deal with controlled eruption of musical anger. The rapid series of fast riffs backed by Joe Nunez’ machine gun drummming and Cavalera’s haunted vocals spread the sonic destruction. Someone here is really pissed off and wants to scream it out straight in our faces.
Coming up next "Unleash" - more groovy than the opener, with tribal-folk elements - and "Paranoia" with ultracatchy riffs show that the positive impression which appeared during listening to track number one is not only accidental. Additional flavour added to that stuff is a production. The final sound was worked out in the band’s bassist studio and then perfected under the watchful eye of Andy Sneap – the guy, which is responsible for the sound of such a killers like: TESTAMENT, EXODUS and NEVERMORE’s latest albums. But if anyone expects a crystal selective sound, may be really surprised. SOULFLY is much more rugged and primitive in a positive sense of that word. 

Primal power and strength of this stuff is quite evident during the confrontation with a "Warmageddon". When the track starts old SEPULTURA fans will immediately feel at home. The same with „Enemy Ghost", where thrashin’ riffs connect with high-speed attacks in the tradition of extreme metal scene heroes. In "Rough" Max strains his voice as if it was supposed to be the last song recorded in his life. You can feel a real determination here. We have also an almost teenagers’ aggression in "Fall of the Cycophants," where a phrase "destroy this f *** ing place" sounds like a motto of socially degenrated generation. This track is also a display of Marc Rizzo’s skills, whose solo shines bright in a peaceful middle section. "Doom" begins like a song taken from TERRORIZER’s debut. Old school with an almost grind core riffs speeding up during the chorus where Max encourages all the maniacs "scream motherf *** er!" It’s such a sweet music to the ears of old metalheads. However they may be a little bit confused during the reaggae coda. Maybe SOULFLY is not a bridge between metal and world music, but certainly all those folk elements make the whole stuff more interesting.

"For Those About To Rot" is not just a game of words in the title but also another manifesto of musical nonconformists. "Touching The Void" is a seven minutes long doom anthem. Instrumental "Soulfly VI" - with surprising rock atmosphere - closes the album, which is emerging by far as the most arogant band’s album to date. So the proud title seems to be really relevant to the songs.

10/12