Soulfly

Well, they’ve got Cradle of Filth now, and Soulfly’s putting out half-decent records; who knows, maybe Roadrunner will become a kick-ass metal label again. Ha, but seriously folks, this new one from Soulfly (their fourth), is surprisingly metallic and listenable, a concept that kind of gets lost on Max and his revolving door of backup dudes sometimes. Hell, the first five songs are non-stop thrash onslaughts, a great way to get the album started. I still just have to shrug my shoulders at the world music and tribal elements in Soulfly; it just does nothing for me. But hey, the guy’s doing something different, and he’s doing it with an obvious passion, so kudos to him. The real highlight here, oddly enough, comes in the form of his (their? This has turned into a solo project, more or less) cover of Helmet’s "In The Meantime.” For a song that was crushingly heavy in the first place, it’s amazing that Max and the boys have made it that much heavier. Awesome. And as a cool side note, the one and only Dave Ellefson (ex-Megadeth) plays bass on a handful of tunes here.