Soulfly
Dark Ages

There have been many unfortunate events for Max Cavalera in recent years: the deaths of his stepson Dana Wells and son Graziano, as well as that of friend Dimebag Darrell and nephew Moses. See it this way, but these tragic events have given us back a Max Cavalera angrier, more furious, and hurt than ever.
A year after the beautiful "Prophecy", the new "Dark Ages" is released, which, compared to its predecessor, has darker, gloomier, more dark sounds (as can be understood from the title). Supported by two geniuses like guitarist Marc Rizzo and drummer Joe Nunez, the album is, at the same time, the most brutal and the most experimental of Max Cavalera and company.

Let's analyze the tracks: "Babylon" falls within the Soulfly style, "Innerspirit" is more "polished." Ferocious are "Fuel The Hate" and "Frontlines" (also with some hardcore influences), while "Corrosion Creeps" is a mix between pure nu-metal and heavier solos. "Molotov" is swift and fierce, while "I And I" and "Arise Again" unleash a raging metallic power never before heard from Soulfly. "Riotstarter" is quite industrial, "Staystrong" (my favorite track on the CD) takes us back to the Sepultura, the old Sepultura of Max (from the golden days of "Arise" and "Roots"), although there is, of course, some trace of modernity. Then we reach the closing "Soulfly V"; the calm after the storm, as Giacomo Leopardi said, since the atmosphere of the track is very peaceful.
As mentioned before, this is the hardest album of Soulfly, and in my opinion, it resulted in an excellent CD, perhaps even better than "Prophecy" (but the first "Soulfly" remains untouchable). It couldn't have been otherwise, with Max and company in such extraordinary form.

It is difficult for a band to reach the peak, and it is even more arduous to maintain certain levels: if Soulfly continues on this path, then they will never have these kinds of problems.