Soulfly

Conquer
(Roadrunner)

I’ve had the pleasure of listening to Max Cavalera make music since 1991, when I first heard Sepultura, his first band. The charismatic singer-guitarist led his quartet out of Sao Paulo and defined the concept of Brazilian metal for the majority of the world, down to his novel, Portuguese-accented, guttural vocals. Almost two decades, one band and many years living in Arizona later have done little to alter the angry-teenager sound and perspective of Cavalera’s now-old-fashioned-sounding metal. This will be reassuring to some, and honestly, to me, to some degree, because it ain’t broke.



Then again, there are times when I wish that irmão would grow up a little. His idea of changing it up, on a song like “Unleash,” leads to little more than ripping off Pantera. Is that worth your time in 2008? Plus, Max and his brother made a record earlier this year as The Cavalera Conspiracy that was even more metal than this. The choice is yours.

c. 2008 LEO Weekly