Soulfly Album: “Primitive [Bonus Tracks]”

Wow What A record! This is a moving, emotional and dare I say spirutual Cd. I have always been a fan of Sepultura and continueto support both bands in their musical quests. That said Primitive is an amazing cd. Max and his tribe tear it up on this cd without one bad song on the whole disc. Now I love Max's voice as much as the next guy but it sometimes can get repeative. But here's the beauty of this disc Max brings in new singers to duet with him adding a much needed variety to this album. Some surprizes are Corey Taylor ( Slipknot) on Jumpdaf**kup showing off alot better vocals then his current bands disc. Max also get a stunning performance out of Sean Leannon on Son's Song. Hearing Max and Sean combine vocals on a song about lost fathers is truly a lasting experience. All the songs carry different moods and tones and this is just 100 % better than the 1st disc. Plus the disc comes with two live tracks Eye for Eye and Tribe. One interesting industrial track Solfire and a reworking of the greatet instrumental ever Soulfly. By the way their is a straight rap song on this record but it is done to mourn the loss of friends and continues the highly regarded merger of rap and metal in the vein of Anthrax/Public Enemy. Their is also some lovely R&B singing on the Chrous of the last song. A true masterpiece plus the digipack is cheaper than the regular cd.

First off, I'm not one of those guys who's like "oMg!1 mAx sOlD oWt wIf sOuLfLy && hE wEnT aLl mAlLxCoRe!11!! Waaaahhhh!!111one". Just thought I'd put that out, because bands should undergo change and people should stop being selfish.

Anyways, you really don't want this album. There's some decent tracks, like "Back To The Primitive", but the whole thing sounds like a mess, especially with the numerous number of guest vocalists ruining things up. One or two guest appearances is OK, but if you have like 8 of them, that's asking for too much. Also, if you really hate nu-metal with a passion (which I dislike most of it), you WILL hate this album. The tribal drumming is great, though. Also, there is repetition in quite a few of the tracks, like "Back To The Primitive", where Max says "Back to the primitive, f*ck all your *insert phrase here*" about 16 times. Haha. Just had to point this out.

If you want a good Soulfly album, check out "Prophecy" or "Dark Ages". If you want a better band, called Sepultura, check out "Beneath The Remains", "Arise", "Chaos A.D." and "Roots". Buy this one used, along with all the Sepultura albums with Derrick Green.

Soulfly is back with another installment of the brazilian style version of metal. High expectations were the norm when compaired to the debut. Fortunately, you won't be disapointed in this release either. Max's usage of persussion and melodic latin influenced rhythms are unique as well as innovative. Couple those pulsating beats with low end, hauntingly deep bass lines and you will have an intense mix of aggro potency. The cd takes you on a journey through the mind of the oppressed as well as the victorious. Through max's growling, throaty lyrics, the listener is enveloped into a mixture of sonic noise until the music shifts into a lighter, flowing latin plain. Some of the songs contain a pop feel to them as well except for the painful crys of the guitar. The listener is bombarded with unpredictable noise from all directions. This cd requires more than one listen before completely comprehending the complexity and diversity within the realm of heavy metal. If you bought the first cd, you will not be unhappy with this cd.

The current onslaught of angry rap-metal bands, while purporting to be 'innovative' when the rap-rock combination has actually existed for close to twenty years, also have another problem: there's no melody to speak of. Slipknot has come the closest to integrating melody and raprock, but no one has been able to take the ultimately narrow genre to a new level until now.

The latest cd by Max Cavalera's outfit Soulfly combines, memorable hooks, native Brazilian percussion and instrumentation, guest vocalists and musicians, as well as ferocious guitarwork and vocals comprising Primitive, one of the best metal albums I've heard in the past couple years. 'Back To The Primitive', 'Mulambo', and 'Terrorist' are all strong examples of Cavalera's musical experiments succeeding, buy the real standouts are the six-minute instrumental 'Soulfly II' and 'Fly High', the latter song being a perfect combination of Cavalera's rage and Asha Rabouin's uplifting vocals in the chorus.

Lyrically, it's not great at times, with Cavalera ranting in very cliched terms, but perhaps his surprisingly strongest lyrics are in 'Terrorist'. A duet with Slayer's Tom Araya, the song is about the subversive qualities of rock music and the cathartic experience it can evoke. During the song Araya and Cavalera trade some of their older lyrics, Araya quoting Slayer's 'Criminally Insane', Cavalera quoting Sepultura's 'Inner Self', using the lyrics as examples of channeled anger while creating a new, intense sound.

Primitive is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but at times it soars. Max Cavalera's effort is admirable, even though his lyrics leave something to be desired. With all the corn biscuit bands out there churning out the same old frat-boy mosh-mush, it's heartening to know there's someone in the new metal genre willing to take a chance and put out hard music with real soul.

This is a solid metal album. Great catchy tunes and riffs. Awesome vocals from the great one Max Cavalera. Great guest vocals from the king Corey Taylor of Slipknot and the legendary Tom Araya from Slayer. It even has John Lennon's son singing in it..........A Must Buy!!!!!