After losing the plot a bit on the last 2 Soulfly albums Prophecy and Dark Ages, main man Max Cavalera appears to have his mojo back. His obsession with world music and incorporating diverse sounds into Soulfly was admirable, but he couldn’t really pull it off and it tended to smother rather than complement the songs. Conquer sees Max return to his Sepultura sound of fast, thrashy, head banging loudness.
Max Cavalera has said he had been heavily influenced by Bolt Thrower, Napalm Death and Slayer, and it’s pretty friggin’ obvious. It’s definitely the heaviest album he’s released since Roots when he was with Sepultura. I mean, some of the songs on Conquer are just plain brutal!
Conquer comes out swinging with open Blood, Fire, War Hate and it’s angry as hell. Actually, a lot of the songs are pretty angry, especially the crunching riffage of Paranoia and the twisted metal of Doom. There are still some world music elements on Conquer, but they’re much more subdued – this is very much a frenzied metal album.
It’s bloody fantastic to see Max Cavalera back in thrash mode where he’s best. Soulflys output has not been as consistent as Max-era Sepultura, but Conquer is a welcome return to form.
