Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 188
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Posted:
Tue Mar 30, 2004 1:16 am
Soulfly - Prophecy
When Max Cavalera parted ways with Sepultura in 1997 to form Soulfly, the direction of both acts were clearly moving away from each other with the release of every new album. Sepultura have been releasing some strong and consistently progressive forward thinking albums over the years (In particular 2003’s Roorback), while Soulfly have kept it safe and, quite frankly, have been regurgitating the same formula with every new release.
Obviously Cavalera has decided it was time to change his game plan, and with Soulfly’s fourth effort (Prophecy) he’s returned back to the heaviness of the Sepultura glory days, yet still maintaining a distinctly experimental feel with touches of reggae, soul and jazz being thrown into the mix. And it doesn’t stop with the music either. The groups line up have been given an overhaul too, with new members in ex-Ill Nino/Coretez guitarist Marc Rizzo, ex-Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson playing on five tracks, and ex-Primer 55 bassist Bobby Burns playing on the rest of the album. Drummer Joe Nunez and Cavalera are the only remaining members from the original line up.
Even though press releases have been claiming that Cavalera has rediscovered his metallic roots on Prophecy, nothing can prepare you for the brilliance of the title track. Cavalera sounds re-energized with the new line up, and the track itself sounds genuinely as heavy as his days back in Sepultura.
It doesn’t stop there either. ‘Living Sacrifice’ is as equally as heavy, but allows some atmospheric interludes to highlight the aggressiveness, while ‘Execution Style’ and ‘Defeat U’ confirm the return to form Soulfly.
‘Mars’ seems to maintain the heavier momentum, but soon changes mid way through with some acoustic flamenco guitar from Rizzo, while ‘I Believe’ curbs the typical Soulfly aggression through the verses with some soul inspired vocals.
‘Moses’ on the other hand is straight out reggae, with some Cavalera screaming from time to time, and in turn highlights Cavalera’s fascination with Bob Marley.
‘Born Again Anarchist’ mixes eclectic percussion with tribal metal ferocity, while ‘Porrada’ is akin to the albums opening numbers.
The cover of Helmet’s ‘In The Meantime’ is well done (If a little overdone of late), but the albums closing tracks don’t match the intensity of the start.
The instrumental ‘Soulfly IV’ sounds merely like a mellow jam session piece (Interesting, but not great), while ‘Wings’ (With Asha Rabouin on lead vocals) sounds completely out of place with its R’N’B/soul direction (Not to mention the final big band ending piece).
For the most part, Cavalera seems to be heading back into the right direction (Back into metal), but what is also obvious is the collaboration with Dave Grohl on Probot (‘Red War’) and the injection of new blood into the group has paid off big time. Soulfly still doesn’t come close to matching Sepultura in the consistency stakes, but Prophecy gets closer than Soulfly have ever come before.
PAUZED
Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 188
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Posted:
Tue Mar 30, 2004 1:17 am
thanx blistering.com
PAUZED
Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 188
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Posted:
Tue Mar 30, 2004 1:40 pm
go & get this, it is kick ass! max is rippen on this disc. he got all new blood on this album and it shows, whick is a good thing. some really kick ass sounds in it, like some bob marley shit, alot of sepultra feel to it also. just go get it and you will see what i mean.
