Soulfly - Conquer

An outstanding CD with all the Soulfly elements you'd expect, plus great musicianship and songwriting. There are also some new styles, sounds and experiments, which also hit the mark.

It's been a busy year for Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera. He reunited with his brother Iggor, they formed Cavalera Conspiracy, released a CD and did some touring. At the same time, Max was also working on the new Soulfly CD. People will always associate him with his original band Sepultura, but Cavalera's body of work with Soulfly is nearly identical to his Sepultura tenure. He was with Sepultura for a dozen years, and now has been in Soulfly for nearly the same length of time. While he was with Sepultura they released six studio albums, and now Soulfly has matched that.

Cavalera likes to travel the world to get inspiration for his songs, and for Conquer he journeyed to Egypt. In addition to Soulfly's thrashy guitars and tribal rhythms, there are Middle Eastern sounds utilized on the album. It's a furious and intense release, with dark and angry songs. But Soulfly also manages to infuse melody and groove, and this batch of songs is really memorable.

Cavalera is a peerless frontman and excellent vocalist, and his prowess is on full display. But guitarist Marc Rizzo is just as important to Soulfly's sound, and his creative riffs, fills and solos drive the music. Their rhythm section of Bobby Burns (bass) and Joe Nunez (drums) is also rock solid and provides a really strong foundation.

Soulfly albums almost always have guests, and this is no exception. Throwdown vocalist Dave Peters appears on "Unleashed," and legendary Morbid Angel vocalist David Vincent collaborates with Max on "Blood Fire War Hate." It's a potent track, and one of the highlights of the CD. Another interesting track is "Touching The Void." It's a 7 minute epic of doom and sludge heavily influenced by Black Sabbath. It ends with an outro by French dub artist Fedaya Pacha, which is a real trip.