Archangel

On their tenth album, Soulfly forgo past nu-metal and tribal beats, delivering a bludgeoning metal album split between death, thrash, and groove. They do whip some curveballs, though. Guest growlers Todd Jones of Nails and Matt Young of King Parrot add grindcore violence to “Sodomites” and “Live Life Hard!,” respectively. “Soulfly X” works in sitar, flamenco guitar, and Armenian duduk, while those Middle Eastern motifs complement the biblical bent of “Bethlehem’s Blood.” They even race through a 10-second cover of Napalm Death’s “You Suffer.”

Suffice it to say, SOULFLY is hardly the same band it started out being. Over the course of its existence as Max Cavalera's primary base of operations, we've seen SOULFLY drift from a post-SEPULTURA, "Roots" minded style of groove metal with tribal percussion and occasional hip hop that no longer ap...

A review of Archangel by Soulfly, available August 14th worldwide via Nuclear Blast.