Dark Ages

Dark Ages was a drop in the dark in 2005. Noone really noticed it, despite being released right after 2004's Prophecy, which garnered a lot of attention at the time. Both albums are quite heavy, but of the two, Dark Ages is a little better. Stylistically Soulfly go very heavy here, and yes they still include lots of tribal beats and stoned heavied-up world music influences. As much as that became a little tired in the late 90s, on the mid-00s Dark Ages it works really well, adds heart and soul and spice, and allows the listener to recoup what is otherwise an aggressive and demanding album.

It's uncertain as to why some albums land heavy and some evaporate almost instantly; Dark Ages deserved more than it got. some of the songs like Babylon, I and I, and Innerspirit are very Soulfly, some songs like Frontlines and Carved Inside sound like outtakes from a slightly tighter version of Arise, and even the songs which fall between all these pillars always have a little something to make them interesting. The riffs, beats, tempo shifts, and lead guitar melodies are all slightly sour, slightly experimental, and all the more intriguing for it. Even the more typical metal moments of linked-in guitars and double bass drumming are a little offbeat, mixed in with guitar effect loops, and strange sampled noises.

Maybe that's the problem with Dark Ages- it simply doesn't resolve one way or another. It's as heavy as classic Seps in places, full of unusual noises and weird riffs, brimming with catchy nu-metal inspired drum rhythms inspired by fusion, Latin music genres, and even bits of jazz. I really, really enjoy this mix of peak nu-metal, and the 00s return of early 90s death metal, but it's not an easy turn of musical events to latch onto. If you're willing to give Dark Ages a spin at high volume and combine it with another activity such as writing a school paper, browsing the web, or reading a magazine, it'll all congeal inside your head. It just needs the breathing room, to manifest on a more subconscious level.

Carved Inside is the first 'hit' from Dark Ages, and was pushed on various music television outlets at the time, and has a rad, very metal video to go along with the heavy thrash vibe. Nunez' drumming is always on point, and Rizzo's lead guitar embellishments are full of unusual scales and a lot of frantic arpeggiation, which, let's face it, is always awesome in metal.

Carved inside, carved outside
Feel your soul glow in the sky
Let your soul now, move the world now
Feel your soul now, let your soul fly

Arise Again has a slow start but gets very fast very quick, and even has a nightclub-worthy stomp rhythm for the verses. If Max Cavalera had come up with this kind of stuff in the late 90s and early 00s, it would have made an excellent transition between his group and solo career. Rizzo's soloing in Arise Again is really noteworthy, as are Burns' big sweeping bass slides. really, everything you want from both Sepultura and Soulfly is here. Molotov is full of chaotic punk righteousness, and rabid shouted Portuguese lyrics, and here comes Frontlines the second 'hit' from Dark Ages, all aggressive skank beats, and clearly bellowed indignation, gang backing vocals, and again with the unexpectedly shreddy lead guitar work. Even if it's overtly a catchy and obvious single, it's my favourite song on Dark Ages, just because the band is having an absolute riot pushing the Soulfly formula as fast as it can go, and letting everything hang out hard as fuck. If there's one song from Dark Ages to put on your play-list rotation, it's Frontlines. It's Soulfly's Master Of Puppets.

Corrosion Creeps is right out of Schizophrenia-era Sepultura and showcases Nunez's double bass chops. It doesn't stick with that thrashy-death vibe, and soon the New Model Army influences creep in, with a chorus worthy of Dynamo '96. I can't overemphasise how much of an upgrade Rizzo is on typical metal lead guitar playing, always up to speed, always a weird scale, then gone in a heartbeat back to the core riff of the song at hand. Being Soulfly of course there's time for a haunting ethnic instrument coda... taking all the metal rage in a weird ambient direction. I love the refusal to be an easy listen, but it may be more than what most people want from a Soulfly release.

The March is a really aggressive industrial track, industrial Soulfly, full of artificial drums, industrial hammering, and hissing unpleasant samples. Fuel the Hate is another Master Of Puppets, WWII number, full of double bass pounding and some Slayer-esque aggro-riffing, and nihilistic lyrics. Unlike Slayer, even a mediocre Rizzo solo is above average, so even though this track is as standard metal as it gets on Dark Ages, it's not boring, and the last third of the song is more like a Canvas Solaris quiet moment, with lots of gentle guitar-violin on display. Staystrong is the closest to traditional Soulfly on Dark Ages, and you'll have to take that for what it is.

Dark Ages ends with, of all things, a Steve Morse-reminiscent instrumental. It works somehow. Nothing on this album is really meant to work together, and unless you're willing to give it some effort, Dark Ages will probably flow past you. If you're willing to meet it on its own quixotic, fuzzy, unexpected terms, it's a really good album, and unfairly dismissed in the Soulfly catalogue.

When it comes to Max Cavalera, I admittedly don't really know much about his music outside of those three absolutely wicked thrash albums that are Schizophrenia, Beneath the Remains, and Arise. I guess you can say I truly fear to tread outside of my little happy place formed by those records, but by some strange twist of things - I ended up listening to Soulfly. I've had the "pleasure" of dancing around in my tribal getup while "jumpin' da fuck up" and yelling about oppression and Babylon and, umm, "Armmagideon"? I don't think that's how it was pronounced, but I'll let 'em have it. Anyway, this is the only Soulfly I've heard and I'm not exactly impressed, rather, disappointed. There is some potential here found in some unique song ideas, groovy riffs, and a fearsome dose of aggression, but it is sadly wasted.

At first I wanted to just blindly hate on this as shitty robbb flynnny styled mallcore, but it has a serious advantage over music in that vein - there's actually a good amount of experimentation and musical exploration. This makes it, sometimes, an actually interesting listen. In addition, there's some thrash in here. Granted, you have to dig around for a good bit to find it, but there are some thrashy solos and some aggressive riffs here and there. So at least this record avoids being completely banal and grating. Some parts of the album, like the few decent riffs scattered about such as in "I and I", "Innerspirit", "Bleak", and a few others. There's also a few clean, relaxing, borderline reggae sections on the album and they are the best parts of the album. "I and I" has a really beautiful part like this included, and that part in addition to the decent riffs make it the best song on the album.

However, not every song can boast some neat experimentation and some cool riffs. In fact, this entire album, barring that song, shoots itself in the fucking foot like you wouldn't believe. All of the unique clean sections and aggressive solos are covered in empty attempts to sound tough, awkward, purposefully out-of-tune leads, weird tribal elements, and some annoying rapped sections. It really rubs me raw because some parts of these songs are actually badass, like "Carved Inside", whose totally badass riffs make you want to punch someone in the face, then he starts up his weird vocal bits that make you want to punch Max in the face. Even then, Max isn't the prime offender - it's that fucking horrendous lead guitarist with his horrible atonal wanking as an excuse for soloing. Everything this band is doing on this album just doesn't jive quite well, and the presence of the out-of-key leads accompanied by all of this tough-guy bullcrap really makes for an experience that gets old fast.

So really, it all boils down to a few good ideas pulled off in an absolutely obnoxious and overly simplified manner. The riffs, the maybe 3 good ones, are pretty awesome, but the songs utterly lack any amount of focus or direction to make them work. The lyrics are like the equivalent of a 5th grader who is tired of getting bullied who's pissed and has a serious urge to push down some kids on the playground, and honestly the weak musical approach combined with these lyrics make the whole thing laughable. That said, this isn't completely atrocious, only mostly. The few neat musical parts make this tolerable at times, but you need only check out "Babylon" to see why it is, for the most part, a huge waste of ideas and time. Max, we already arose, we don't need to do it again.