Album Review: Savages by Soulfly

Savages was never an album that was even briefly considered for a review. Max Cavalera's status as a metal god cannot be debated, but that status was mostly won on the strengths of past accomplishments with Sepultura. The two Cavalera Conspiracy albums were promising, but Soulfly has never been that appealing. The early albums seemed to be primarily experiments with whatever obscure musical instruments and trends Cavalera had discovered in his treks around the globe and less interested on being, well, compelling metal albums. It was as if Roots had been so focused on the tribal drumming that the guitars were left out of the mix.

Minds can be changed though, and the greatest compliment Savages can be given is that it prompted such a change. It doesn't stand with Chaos A.D. or behind Beneath the Remains, it will take a few listens before it even becomes clear if this is on the level of the two Cavalera Conspiracy discs, but it is rather brutal, and is enough of a reminder of those great previous works to keep people interested.

In addition to the personal criticisms already levied against Soulfly, another I've seen brought up about the group and Max in general is the degree of nepotism in the Cavalera camp as of late. Sepultura obviously started out in part as a family affair with brother Igor on drums and Max on vocals and rhythm guitars, and Cavalera Conspiracy was founded based on the reunion of those brothers. But Soulfly now includes Max's son Zyon on drums and recent tour packages have seen his other sons Igor and Richie bringing their bands out with them, even going as far as to bill some of the legs as the "Maximum Cavalera" tour. Personally, it is hard to deny that these moves come off as alternatively a bit frustrating and frankly lame. Soulfly still gets enough exposure that bringing other bands looking for a break could help them a lot, and being the son of Max Cavalera is already going to give you a leg up in terms of connections. But all of that pales in comparison to how they sound musically. Lody Kong and Incite, the other two siblings' bands, are as of yet unfamiliar, but in terms of Soulfly and Zyon's role in it, people don't have much to complain about. The kid, if we can still call him that, is a more than capable drummer. There are also hints of the tribal percussion that became the selling point of Roots, although these are minimal, kept mostly to a few bongos and other similar sounding instruments. What there is in terms of alternative percussion is welcome though, because although the brutality of Savages is welcome, the mix can occasionally come off as a bit too muddy, a complaint often levied against some of Terry Date's metal work (the debut album for the Deftones, Adrenaline, comes to mind). Max's lyrics are also definitely not what they used to be. The most memorable political statement on the disc seems to be the track "Ayatollah of Rock 'N' Rolla" and yes, you did sadly read that correctly. Thankfully, when Max sticks to recalling horror movie imagery or typical metal brutality his delivery is still as acidic as ever. The snarl remains distinctive, and his guitar work along with that of Marc Rizzo make this an appropriately mean spirited, but musically accomplished affair.

It cannot be guaranteed that all minds will be changed upon listening to Savages. After eight albums it would be stupid to think that people won't be set in their ways. But at least one person is thinking differently afterwards, and that's enough evidence to suggest that this album is worth a try.