Cavalera Conspiracy - Inflikted

Let’s face it – Sepultura just wasn’t the same band after the singer Max Cavalera left in 1996, right after the now-classic Roots. I’m not one to say the present-day Sepultura with Derek Green isn’t any good at all, but it’s just not the same thing anymore. And with Max’s brother Igor – sorry, Iggor – now gone too, there seems to be very little left of what Sepultura once was. So, when it was announced, that after twelve years, the brothers had finally reunited and were working on new material, it was a dream covered with ice cream made of pure awesome come true for an untold number of metalheads around the world. But was it actually a dream worth dreaming in the first place?

Yes. Yes it bloody well was. The Cavaleras weren’t in speaking terms for over ten years – and it shows. A decade’s worth of pain caused by a deep rift between close brothers is finally set free on Inflikted (released 24th March 2008): the title track kicks the album off with ball-bustingly barbaric force and anger, and from there on, the pace never lets up. The style on Inflikted falls somewhere between and around Sepultura’s Arise and Chaos AD, incorporating also a lot of the sound present on Max’s own Soulfly. The ethnic elements that were so prominent in making Sepultura and Soulfly sound distinct are, surprisingly, cut almost completely, showing up for just a couple of very tiny cameos in a couple of songs. Instead, Inflikted concentrates on delivering some of the most merciless thrash metal on the planet. An angrier-than-ever Max barks and roars apocalyptic propaganda like no tomorrow, Iggor thrashes away with deadly precision and Marc Rizzo’s ultra-thick riffs and grooves tear the air apart. Especially Marc Rizzo deserves a special mention, as he's really managed to conjure up some truly kick-ass stuff with his impeccably accurate and inventive riff- and solohand.

Sounds a bit too much of a good thing? Of course, no record is without its blemishes. Many of Max’s lyrics STILL show traces of English not being his first language. Seriously, what else can you do with gems like Nevertrust’s ”Nevertrust – the emo kids / nevertrust – the fucking pigs” or Hex’s ”Like a hex, like a hex / mass hypnosis will equal death / like a hex, a fucking trap / buffalo soldiers high on crack” but raise an eyebrow or two? Also, variety has been discarded for an all-out, permanent rampage mode, which might put off some listeners and make it more difficult to appreciate the amount of quality and heart present in this thing. In the end, however, the good things overweigh the very minor flaws in such a way that there’s no doubt we’re talking about one of the best metal records of the decade.

Yes, one of the best metal records of the decade. Cavalera Conspiracy doesn’t reinvent the wheel, no, quite on the contrary actually. Inflikted goes back to the principles of thrash and groove metal, showing only a bare minimum of external influences, but this possible drawback has been transformed into a strength. It’s an absolutely brutal piece of true-to-its-roots thrash metal, a crushing, relentless ride to the very end, that more than makes up for its straightforwardness with pure ferocity and the sheer excitement of finally having two of the best metal musicians in the world together again. Killer tracks like the incomparable Inflikted or the murderous The Doom of All Fires are evidence enough that the Cavalera brothers are back, and I hope they will be around for a long, long time to come.

9,5 / 10