Besides filming new videos and celebrating yet another successful SOULFLY release, the band's legendary frontman and guitarist Max Cavalera is reportedly currently busy writing and recording the music for ESPN's World Cup 2014 coverage (with producer John Gray and his son, Zyon Cavalera, slamming on the drums) as well. Good for him. ‘Bloodshed’, then, comes off SOULFLY's ninth studio album ‘Savages’, the first to feature Cavalera's son Zyon on drums, was released in September/October 2013 on Nuclear Blast Records. Visit Metal Hammer here and listen to the full record before ordering it from here (Nuclear Blast store), from iTunes or from Amazon. ‘Savages’, produced, engineered and mixed by renowned sound guru Terry Date and covered with art created by Paul Stottler, sold 4,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position number 84 on The Billboard Top 200:
“Recording ‘Savages’ was an amazing experience for me. I was so excited to work with Terry Date, whom I consider to be one of the best producers of all time. He has done some great records and we have been in contact for awhile since he mixed three SOULFLY albums in the past. My teammates were awesome. Marc [Rizzo, lead guitar] did some crazy guitar noises and we did a ‘Mars Part Two’ at the end of ‘El Comegente’ – it’s very LED ZEPPELIN influenced and Marc kicked some ass on it. I wrote ‘El Comegente’ with Tony Campos [bass]. It’s in Portuguese and Spanish and it’s about Vargas - a Venezuelan cannibal from the '80s. He is the Hannibal Lecter of the Andes. Crazy shit! I worked for the first time on a full album with my son, Zyon. Before recording the album I first worked closely at home with him in preproduction, and it was great to spend weeks on the songs with Zyon, shaping the sound of the record. Zyon did a great job and he hits really hard just like his uncle Iggor [Cavalera, THE CAVALERA CONSPIRACY]- it was amazing recording with my son. A whole record! A dream come true for a father whose life is dedicated to metal. ‘Savages’ is a celebration of all that,” [explained Max Cavalera]
“[‘Savages’ is] a fitting set of bookends for a collection of songs that Cavalera [Max] describes as being “about the human condition right now”, adding “we have the internet and we’re working on missions to Mars, but we are still decapitating each other and blowing up marathons.” ‘Savages’ is pure, hawkish malevolence through and through… ‘Savages’ is meant to be taken as both a warning and a rebel yell, and Cavalera and company connect on both levels, offering up an audio invoice for our past transgressions and a shot of adrenaline for the war ahead,” [wrote James Christopher Monger, AllMusic – more here]
SOULFLY was formed in 1997 by former SEPULTURA guitarist and frontman Max Cavalera. With Roy Mayorga on drums, Jackson Bandeira on second guitar and Marcello D. Rapp on bass, Cavalera recorded SOULFLY's self-titled album. Released by Roadrunner Records in 1998, the record was produced by Ross Robinson and had featured guest appearances by Chino Moreno (DEFTONES), Christian Olde Wolbers (FEAR FACTORY) and Eric Bobo (CYPRESS HILL). ‘Soulfly’, the album, debuted at number 79 on the Billboard Top 200 and was certified gold in 2005. SOULFLY's second album, ‘Primitive’, followed in 2000, reaching number 32 on the Billboard Top 200, despite much criticism voiced in opposition by Cavalera's fans. In 2002, the group released ‘3’, on which Bradley Torreano, AllMusic, commented: “This is the sound of a brilliant musician trying to find his place in a metal scene that he has jumped so far ahead of that he’s spinning his tires trying to get back with the pack.” A completely new lineup was recruited by Cavalera for the recording of the album ‘Prophecy’ which featured drummer Joe Nunez, guitarist Marc Rizzo formerly and two bassists David Ellefson (MEGADETH) and Bobby Burns. ‘Prophecy’ was released in 2004 and had peaked at number 82 on the Billboard Top 200. SOULFLY's next album entitled ‘Dark Ages’, issued in 2005, was described by AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier as being “damned close to perfection”. Sixth full-length, ‘Conquer’, which followed in 2008, debuted at number 66 on the U.S. albums chart, with 2010's ‘Omen’ nearly matching its predecessors success, landing position 73, while conquering the Greek Albums Chart at number 1:
“ ‘Omen’ is like thrash metal comfort food, showing us that sometimes what we really want is a heaping plate of good, old-fashioned, unbridled aggression. In a world where bands like MASTODON are pushing metal into increasingly esoteric directions, it takes an old pro like Cavalera, someone who’s made a career out of blending experimental grooves with meat-headed brutality, to make something that can be both simple and compelling,” [commented the Greek taste Gregory Heaney, AllMusic – more here]
Recorded in late 2011 in Tallcat Studios in Phoenix, Arizona and produced by Zeuss and Max Cavalera, 2012's ‘Enslaved’ was the first SOULFLY album to feature Tony Campos (ASESINO) on bass alongside drummer David Kinkade (ex-BROKNAGAR). ‘Enslaved’, featuring guest appearances by DEVILDRIVER's Dez Fafara and CATTLE DECAPITATION's Travis Ryan, broke onto U.S. charts at number 82, selling nearly 6,000 copies in its first week of U.S. sales, and had entered the Canadian Albums Chart at number 83. SOULFLY's eight studio album, issued through Roadrunner Records, was described as “simple, punishing, and brutally effective” by Gregory Heaney, AllMusic (more here:)
SOULFLY features: Max Cavalera - vocals and rhythm guitar, Marc Rizzo - lead guitar, Tony Campos - bass and Zyon Cavalera – drums
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