Soulfly
Artist: Soulfly
Label: Roadrunner Records
Time: 15 tracks/68:01
 
Max Cavalera has had it rough lately. Within a year or so, the Brazilian frontman of the innovative metal band Sepultura (very influential on Mortification's Primitive Rhythm Machine) has undergone the death of his step-son/close friend and a falling out with his band when they wanted to fire their manager shortly after that, who also happens to be his wife and the mother of the slain son! And as it often does, the emotional pain in a musician's life has led to some amazing music and intriguing lyrics.
 
This album is a catharsis, a releasing of anger, and it ain't pretty. You can just see Max raging at the world, head back, lips bared, a cry clawing its way from his throat to the sky. His wrath makes for music like an open sore...simultaneously repelling and drawing attention. This is pioneering heaviness, the ultimate rhythm machine--an extensive fusion of tribal music and metal. If you can even call this metal anymore, which most past fans of Sepultura's death/speed metal choose not to do. The lack of adherence to metal conventions hinted at on Sepultura's Roots is in full force here. Labels like metal, hardcore, and metalcore fit, but they fail to fully describe the mean grooves here that will command, conquer, and crush your speakers. The guitar tones are grindy and gritty like Korn's last album, but rainforest percussion and lengthy psychedelic jungle-mushroom hazes permeate the mix. Members of Fear Factory, Deftones, Limp Bizkit, Dub War, Cypress Hill, and House of Pain lend their vocals and experimental talents for brief moments throughout. To be honest, Max's tuneless (but understandable) shouting gets a bit tedious by the end of the album, but there's more than enough variety and musical creativity to keep one interested for the long haul. The trailblazing may frustrate many metal purists on the internet (who seem to value conformity to late '80's standards above all else), but Max certainly doesn't care. He's on a mission to create a sound that's never been heard. And he's certainly not doing himself any favors in the metal world by his repeated references to God either...which is what makes this of interest to Christian fans of the man (few and far between though they may be).
 
In the past, Sepultura has been openly critical of the corrupt Catholic church in South America but hasn't dealt with God himself. Now, however, Max peppers his album with positive mentions of God. The project is "Dedicado a' Deus" (Dedicated to God) and to the memory of friends to whom Max says, "God bless you  all--we'll see you all in a better place!!!" In "Eye for an Eye," he grunts: 
      I hit the bottom
      You don't understand
      Pain...hate...pain...
      To be born again
      Arise again
      I believe is the only way...
"Bumba" has Max exclaiming "I know 'God' - making me a way/We pray, we pray everyday...", and "Prejudice" rages:
             If dirty people are all I can see
            Then in their eyes the same dirt covers me

       Take off the blindfold, it's time to enlighten
       Come out of the wickedness, step out of the night
       One man's agony is another man's joy
       For self satisfaction we're prepared to destroy
       One man, one earth and one destiny
       To kill Satan and give God the glory...

But before you run out and claim Max to be a Christian, there are some other things to consider. It does seem that he has found his way to God in the midst of his troubles, but *which* God is unclear. After all, the album is also chock full of threats to take revenge on those who deserve it, with tons of hateful profanity to back them up. Some of the lyrics are fully harsh and exceedingly brutal when roared from Max's throat. If there's any connection to the God of the Bible, it seems to only be a shallow borrowing of Old Testament vengeance. There is no forgiveness or unconditional love to be found. Other references to earthy tribalism and judgment via karma hint at more of a mix-and-match spirituality. Many people, when faced with death and sorrow, try to put together some sort of spiritual belief to cling to as they work at making sense of life. Only God knows what Max is really putting his faith in at this point in his life.
 
Hopefully he has purged himself of all his hate and rage towards those who have wronged him and his loved ones; otherwise it's going to seriously fester and decay inside him. Pray that he is given the sight to see through the red to the Living God who bore the ultimate wrong at the hands of men, and the strength to follow His example. Only then will Max's soul truly fly....
 
By Josh Spencer