Soulfly
Enslaved

After the moderate "Omen," Soulfly, the band led by the great Max Cavalera (ex-Sepultura), released their new album titled "Enslaved" a few weeks ago.

This album marks a solid return to Thrash for the band, almost comparable to the great Sepultura on "Arise" and "Chaos A.D.," a journey that began with the excellent "Dark Ages," continued with "Conquer," and to a lesser extent with "Omen."

The production of this album seems more overblown than usual, and in certain sections, the good Max doesn't seem like himself in front of the microphone. In rare instances, it even becomes unpleasant to listen to. However, the pumped-up production sometimes works in its favor, especially in the more Thrash-oriented tracks on the album, like "Intervention," "Gladiator," and "American Steel."

There is also a fair presence of Death Metal within the album, undoubtedly represented by "Redemption of Man By God," which features the capable singer Dez Fafara (ex-Coal Chamber, DevilDriver), making this track, together with the great Max, one of the best on the album. However, there is a slight setback with the only single released from the album, namely "World Scum." Also a Death Metal track, it starts off strong but becomes quite boring towards the end.

However, Groove Metal seems to be the most prevalent genre on the album, which turns out to be the best thing about it. It immediately grabs the listener thanks to the intense performance of the entire band in tracks like "Legions," "Treachery," "Plata O Plomo," and "Revengeance." The latter is an explosive track where the band welcomes various family members of Max to play, including the great Igor Cavalera, also formerly of Sepultura.

The rest of the album ends up being boring and "already heard." But not only that. Even the mentioned tracks seem to have been heard somewhere before, and obviously, the similarities are not set aside, as the listener wonders if the record is broken, playing the same track repeatedly while transitioning from one song to the next.

In conclusion, I find this "Enslaved" to be a minor and forgettable misstep. Decent and catchy, yet a misstep. Some tracks, of course, appear aggressive and tough, but after a while, the album tends to become tiresome. Sure, Max Cavalera is returning to the old Sepultura sounds, delivering great Thrash performances on Soulfly's albums, but he should strive to innovate before making another mistake, which could be fatal...