Soulfly – Totem Review

Soulfly is aware of when to push and pull its punches for the most impact, but that influence is nonetheless one to be reckoned with...

Released by: Nuclear Blast Records

Release Dated: August 5th, 2022

Genre: Extreme Metal

Links: https://www.soulfly.com/

 

Line Up:

Max Cavalera | Vocals & Guitar
Zyon Cavalera | Drums
Mike Leon | Bass Guitar

 

Tracklist:

Superstition
Scouring The Vile
Filth Upon Filth
Rot In Pain
The Damage Done
Totem
Ancestors
Ecstasy Of Gold
Soulfly XII
Spirit Anim

 

 

Soulfly has proven to be more than max Cavalera’s post-Sepultura numetal project. Cavalera brings his love for the underground to Soulfly’s penchant for regular Brazilian tunes and excessive voltage Heavy Metal. Heavier and meaner than ever, Soulfly continues to push ahead with their 12th album Totem. Along with his son Zion and bassist Mike Leon, Max imbues the contemporary Soulfly album with the catchy rhythms and hard-hitting brutality that makes the band’s modern touches so convenient to listen to. While no longer precisely revolutionary, Totem’s showcases what he loves about Metal as nicely as his native culture.

Opening with “Superstition” demonstrates that Max is not too ancient to Rock. The haunting, resonant percussive intro stays in line with their style, however, the meat of the song consists of a lethal assault of hard, roaring rhythm. The savage Sepultura base shines as brilliant as Soulfly. “Scouring the Vile” lights all the proper torches, the whole lot from the introductory guitar solo and battle-hardened chugs to the jackhammer blast beats retains real verve.

By the way, Soulfly manages the three-to-four transition on “Filth Upon Filth” so naturally due to the fact, that these riffs are multi-faceted in their challenging groove/thrash edge. Zion using cymbal trip hyperlinks this tune with “Ecstasy of Gold,” which conjures up these basic Killer mid-tempo breakdowns and the Cavalera Proto-metalcore stomps earlier than the tremolo riffs take over. It’s handy to think about Max taking part in the song’s last war riff and saying, as he frequently does, “this is killer,” and it is! This imaginative and prescient heavy song channels that primal intuition to bob your head and run in circles to aggressive music.

Speaking of primal instinct, a great deal of this vibe here comes from Max showing his son the innovative manner that led to classics like “Chaos”. Despite this, deeper cuts like “Rot in Pain” control to do extra than rehash Sepultura cloth from the ’90s. The song’s chug intro sounds like old-school demise metal, however, offers up a bouncy riff straight out of Roots. The bulk of the tune casts a wider net, spanning the excessive and infectious ends of the spectrum. Therein lies the key to Max’s genius. He’s good at Death-Metal and Nu-metal, so why not do both on the same track?

Beyond his preceding work with Conspiracy, Cavalera has delivered a first-rate album full of displaying pristine Hardcore Metal to Dirty Death-Metal. This would explain why a tune like “Ancestors” achieves an attraction past its mid-tempo rhythms. Soulfly is aware of when to push and pull its punches for the most impact, but that influence is nonetheless one to be reckoned with.

 

Written by: Shadow Editor

Rating  8/10

 

 

About Author

 
Categories
Album Reviews
EXTREME’S UNMATCHED MUSICAL MASTERY AND ELECTRIFYING STAGE PRESENCE: A DEFINING FORCE IN ROCK HISTORY LIVE AT MARS MUSIC HALL, HUNTSVILLE, AL
EXTREME’S UNMATCHED MUSICAL MASTERY AND ELECTRIFYING STAGE PRESENCE: A DEFINING FORCE IN ROCK HISTORY LIVE AT MARS MUSIC HALL, HUNTSVILLE, AL

EXTREME’S UNMATCHED MUSICAL MASTERY AND ELECTRIFYING STAGE PRESENCE: A DEFINING FORCE IN ROCK HISTORY LIVE AT MARS MUSIC HALL, HUNTSVILLE, AL

Photo Credit: Myglobalmind

Imminence - The Black

Satch/Vai Tour Simply Sensational in Front of Sold Out Symphony Hall in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday, March 27th, 2024

Deicide – Banished By Sin Review

Battlecreek – Maze Of The Mind Review

Following a four-decade hiatus, Dan Lilker will reunite with Anthrax for their forthcoming tour across the United States and South America

RELATED BY

G-TQ58R0YWZE