At times taking itself a little too seriously, Soulfly’s ‘Archangel’ is a devastatingly thrashing, albeit mildly comical, venture.
Marking 18 years together, thrash icons Soulfly have certainly been through the musical mill and still remain on top despite it all. The solid rock at its nucleus, Max Cavalera, emerges quite surprisingly as the one factor letting down their tenth opus ‘Archangel’, throwing his iconic weight behind adventurous production techniques that fall short of their epic expectations.
The fast-paced rage of ‘We Sold Our Souls To Metal’ opens, with Cavalera throwing in a casual “come on punk, make my day.” Max’s son and drummer Zyon takes crucial centre stage throughout the gargantuan title track, framed by somewhat misplaced discursive sound bites. ‘Sodomites’ opens on otherworldly production on Cavalera’s vocals forming a feral character, however, let down by a playful backing riff.
While each Soulfly venture includes a contagious chant of the track title, ‘Archangel’’s offering is somewhat cheesy, with ‘Ishtar Rising’ descending into a playful repetition. As if the vocal contribution couldn’t get much more laughable, ‘Live Life Hard!’ bursts forth with deafeningly high pitched alterations, luckily salvaged by impressive fretwork and a driven beat.
A beautiful electric solo on ‘Shamash’ pushes aside the preceding comic factor and the unexpected regal horn backing of ‘Bethlehem’s Blood’, reinstating the thrash vibrancy they ave become synonymous with over their career. No matter how far they step away from what they do best, the crucial saving grace is their ability to return back to home soil.
The classic colossal thrash of ‘Titans’ draws a fairly humorous comparison with a scene from Disney’s Hercules, while the unrelenting ‘Deceiver’ draws the concept back down to earth with a face-melter, before abruptly closing on a meandering improv for ‘Mother Of Dragons’.
All chuckle-inducing vocal effects aside, ‘Archangel’ is an instrumental gem, producing their thrash credentials with as much fervour as ever. To survive to the point of 10 records is a feat in itself, and Soulfly will doubtless continue well past 2015, yet ‘Archangel’ crucially lets itself down standing alongside the likes of ‘Primitive’.
3/5
’Archangel’ by Soulfly is out now on Nuclear Blast.
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Words by Ali Cooper (@AliZombie_)
