Cavalera Conspiracy
Inflikted

In 1996, the metal world witnessed one of the most painful splits in its history: Sepultura parted ways with their longtime leader, the charismatic Max Cavalera, already hard-hit by the loss of his godson Dana Wells (R.I.P.); multiple reasons led to the split and besides being an unfortunate event for heavy metal, it also marked the breaking of a blood bond between the Cavalera brothers, with Igor keeping his spot behind the drums of the Brazilian combo.

The separate paths taken by the two brothers are well-known: Max founded the excellent Soulfly, continuing down the path of Sepultura's "Roots" (but returning with the last spectacular "Dark Ages" to more old-school sounds) and delving into socially (and spiritually) engaged third-world topics; Sepultura hired Derrick Green and began a decline from the still appreciable "Against" to the latest "Dante XXI" (passing through the inconclusive "Nation" and "Roorback"), records that are examples of a now exhausted creativity and a band that has become a puppet in the hands of the Green-Kisser duo.

In 2006, Igor finally left the band after various misunderstandings and reconnected with his brother, so much so that at that year's D-Low Festival he took the stage with Soulfly to play "Roots Bloody Roots" and "Attitude," immortal classics from the Seps' discography.

Everyone expected a grand reunion of Sepultura or at least Igor joining Soulfly permanently, but no! New band, new album, new tour. With this assertive and gritty attitude, the two most famous brothers of heavy metal wanted to reimpose themselves in the metal world, to show how much power and goddamn groove they can still produce, how much energy and synergy establishes between their minds once they enter a studio to create some serious metal.

This is the outlook with which one should listen to this excellent "Inflikted"; if you are looking for experimentation and assorted novelties, eject the disc immediately! Because here you will find "only" old-style thrash metal tainted with an impressive death brutality (I've never heard Max growl like this, except for some tracks at the beginning of Seps), grafted onto the latest works of Soulfly and the filthiest, fastest hardcore possible.

Besides Max and Igor showcasing their best skills (writing sharp, granite, immediate riffs and shouting their anger the former, and pounding like a madman the latter), you'll hear Marc Rizzo (formerly of Ill Nino and now a full-time guitarist with Soulfly) being an excellent sidekick, and Joe Duplantier (already the voice and guitar of the formidable Gojira) dabbling on bass.

The title track is a wall of raw and pounding guitars, with a brutal and driving chorus and rhythm—a perfect start to the album! The first single "Sanctuary" is destined to become a classic, riding with an uncontrollable rage that becomes apocalyptic in the chorus and has a deadly hardcore anthem-like attack at the end, a devastating nuclear bomb.

Few nods to the tribal elements (typical of "Roots" and Soulfly's discography) appear, except in small doses here and there, like the introduction of "Terrorize," which quickly transforms into a fearsome thrash-core with Igor magnificently incisive and heavy. The intro of "Black Ark" is also tribal, featuring Ritche Cavalera (Max's son, already present on Soulfly records) delivering a convincing performance, a testament that good blood doesn't lie!

Massive is the term that immediately comes to mind for talking about "Ultra-Violent" (Rex Brown as a special guest, no need to mention which band he was part of, right?) which starts off cadenced and very "thick" before veering back into a thrashing "tupa-tupa" rhythm with rotten, nasty choruses. "Hex" revives and extreme the thrash-hardcore sound of the fantastic Nailbomb and hits with pleasure; the same goes for the fabulous "The Doom of All Fires," excellently driven with a butcher-like ending.

Equally killer is "Bloodbrawl," with essential yet explosive arrangements, a chorus and attitude that positively resonate with the Soulfly style, concluding with an acoustic and arpeggiated finale worthy of Sepultura's "Arise" (remember "Desperate Cry"?).

"Nevertrust" is an uncompromising hardcore piece, with filtered vocals and a wicked piece marked by political incorrectness (played with a certain rebellious flair like in Nailbomb's good times), majestic "Hearts of Darkness" with magnificent guitar work (especially in the frequent solos), a frenetic outburst at the end that seems to take you back to the early '90s when Sepultura set stages ablaze worldwide with gems like "Arise" or "Chaos A.D." (practically honored everywhere here). The album closes with yet another blasting "Must Kill," sharp and modern. Noteworthy, of course, are the bonus tracks: the beautiful "The Exorcist," a classic by Possessed excellently covered here and made even more brutal, and "In Conspiracy," which follows the album's path with an explosive chorus and drumming in the vein of the Cavalera sound.

As you've probably gathered, "Inflikted" is yet another masterpiece by Max Cavalera and the chance to hear him playing again with the legendary brother Igor, the album every Sepultura fan (aside from Soulfly records, which I adore) wanted to hear since 1996.

As Max recently stated, the true essence and spirit of Sepultura lie within Cavalera Conspiracy, and he is (once again) right! And now everyone is eagerly awaiting the other Cavalera release of the year: the upcoming Soulfly album "Conquer" scheduled for July 29th, which, judging from the videos circulating on YouTube (as the band performed a new song "Blood Fire War Hate" in Spain before the Conspiracy tour, featuring none other than David Vincent as a guest), seems to be yet another massive album.

p.s.: production is very well done and powerful, courtesy of Logan Mader, former Machine Head member and guitarist in the earliest Soulfly.

Rating: 9/10