Soulfly – Ritual

Joshua Bulleid
Reviews
Max Cavalera and Soulfly and seemed to hit a bit of a rough patch following the back-to-back release of 2005's outstanding Dark Ages (2005). None of the records released between then and now were particularly poor. Even the least of them, 2013's Savages, was perfectly serviceable, and some (i.e. 2012's Enslaved and 2008's Conquer) even flirted with the band's upper echelons. Yet there was a certain feeling that the band had fallen into a bit of a rut. Now, with Killer Be Killed (2014) and his recent return-to-form with Cavalera Conspiracy's Psychosis (2017) under his belt, Max appears to be experiencing a late-career resurgence, and Ritual—his eleventh full-length release under the Soulfly banner—only continues that upward trajectory.

Connecting the Dots – Mastodon

Karlo Doroc
Connecting the Dots
Welcome to Connecting the Dots, the column where we give a brief rundown on a central band along with a host of other projects their members, both past and present, have been involved in. Today we’ll be focusing on progressive sludge powerhouse Mastodon and the myriad of projects they’ve been involved with.

Cavalera Conspiracy – Psychosis

Joshua Bulleid
Reviews
Psychosis has come out during a period when it seems the Cavalera name is more visible and relevant to the metal world than it has been in a long time. The iconic Max Cavalera appeared to have hit his post-Sepultura peak with the back-to-back release of Dark Ages (2005) and Inflikted (2008)—the later of which saw him reuniting with estranged brother Igor and the establishment of the Cavalera Conspiracy. From there, however, it seemed Cavalera senior was content to churn out a steady flow of serviceable yet largely unremarkable Soulfly records, while each of Cavalera Conspiracy’s subsequent releases—though certainly each embedded with their own distinct personality—failed to excite in the same manner as their masterful debut. Yet, beginning with 2014’s superb supergroup collaboration, Killer Be Killed, Max’s career looks to be, once again, on the upswing, and Psychosis only further supports such speculation.

Body Count – Bloodlust

Bill Fetty
Reviews
First of all, let’s be real. It’s difficult being black in America (and everywhere else in the world but especially so in the US). Being black in metal and being widely accepted by that audience is even more di... Read More...

Hey! Listen to Desaster!

Heavy Blog
Listen To This!
I think there’s something worth admitting: there’s a thrash formula, and I’d say a good majority of bands in the genre stick to that formula pretty ardently. Only recently in metal have bands tried to play against the grain and do things differently than Megadeth or Slayer have done. Now, formulaic thrash isn’t a bad thing, in my opinion, as long as it’s done with some hint of originality.