Okay then, that last one was a bust, let's hope this is better. Suggested by self-undelcared-but-being-a-fact guitar god Plankton (watch for a review of his new album before Christmas), I had not heard of this band (oh how surprising!) but on clicking the Wiki page and seeing the album cover panicked slightly, as it looked like a Nazi or neo-Nazi symbol. But now that I've read up on the band I see it's just two Cs back to back on a red background. Still, the shock was something, I can tell you. Not that I wouldn't review an album by a neo-Nazi band if I had to, I'd just rather not if it's all the same to you.
Inflikted --- Cavalera Conspiracy --- 2008 (Roadrunner)
Recommended by Plankton
Born out of the ashes of Sepultura, Cavalera Conspiracy marks the end of a decade-long rift between brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, mostly centred around the efforts to replace the band's manager, Gloria, Max's wife. Following the tragic death of their son in a road accident, things became strained at Camp Sepultura and when Igor suggested firing Gloria Max stood up for her and quit the band. Igor continued on for another ten years then quit himself. A few months later the brothers reconciled and formed Cavalera Conspiracy. This is their debut album, with two more following it, the most recent released only this year.
The title starts off with screaming guitar and rolling drums, then explodes into a battering assault on the drumkit before Max comes in with the vocal. His voice is dark and growly but you can hear what he's singing, and he doesn't sing at twice the speed of light either. It's not the kind of singing I prefer to listen to --- too raw and ragged ---- but it's okay. The music acquires a kind of eastern tinge, perhaps to reflect the fact that this song was based on a self-harming ritual Max witnessed while in India. It's a good heavy song; “Sanctuary” brings us into the mind of a mad killer (again) with the tempo ramping up considerably as Marc Rizzo blows everyone away with extreme prejudice on the guitar before Max joins him and they trade licks.
“Terrorize” is something of a cruncher, with flashes of speed from the axemen and a hilarious lyric that gets right to the point:
”Fuck art --- let's kill! / Fuck this --- let's kill! / Fuck that --- let's kill! Fuck them --- let's kill!” but it's a little of a parody of the likes of a Slayer song, giving you the impression the Cavalera boys are trying a little too hard, while “Black ark” has a lot more about it, with an ominous, sort of held-back vocal for a few lines before it takes off. I like the idea though, and there's some stratospheric guitar work on display. I also like the line
”Whatever you are/ We're against it!” --- kind of reminds me of Anti-Nowhere League's “I hate ... people”. Cool. I wonder what “Ultra-violent” could be about? A thoughtful critique of the war in Iraq perhaps? A comment on the state of America's health system? Um, nice try. Seems like it's about the Apocalypse, with the words “dies irae” mentioned. A slow, punching, stomper with dark energy and hammering guitars, bellowed vocal and thunderous bass.
You would however expect a song titled “Hex” to be about witches and black magic, but in fact it seems to be a politically-charged accusation levelled at those in power, the idea of being held under their spell. Interesting. One of the fastest songs on the album so far, it just cannons along on the twin guitars and manic drumming, a short song, just over two minutes then we're into another short song, “The doom of all fires”, with some clever lines ---
”The song remains insane” is one I particularly like, and also the way they namecheck Igor's other project, Mixhell. It's fast, but not as breakneck as the previous track, with the lyric quite simple, repeating phrases but it works very well. One of my favourites on the album I would say. Kicks into high gear for the last minute or so and we plunge into “Bloodbrawl”, which I think may be the tale of soldiers coming back from the war and looking for something to expend their pent-up fury and testosterone on, maybe illegal cage fighting? A hard, mid-paced song with a really roared vocal from Max and a guitar assault that makes your ears bleed, perhaps appropriately.
Interestingly, of the last four tracks on the album, the titles of three are madeup words created by pushing two other words together ---”Bloodbrawl”, “Nevertrust” and “Mustkill”. There's an extended guitar passage --- not quite a solo, as Max is still bawling his vocal over it --- at the end of “Bloodbrawl”, then unaccountably it ends with a soft laidback guitar, almost acoustic, that takes us into the aforementioned “Nevertrust”, another two-minuter with a simple message: basically, never trust anybody. It barrels along, Max screaming in anger, Marc's guitar screaming in sympathy and agreement, but there's not a lot to say about it other than it's fast and heavy and angry. “Hearts of darkness”, by contrast, has a great infectious beat and seems to be an anti-war anthem with some scorching solos. Given that a famous novel was written about the Vietnam War called “Heart of darkness”, this may be referring to that. Or not. Strong song though, and it takes us towards the closer.
Again there's not much to really say lyrically about a song titled “MustKill”, and it may be another anti-war song, but it's hard to be sure. What we can be sure about is that it's the longest song on the album, just shy of six minutes, and blasts along at hyperspeed, bringing the album to a devastating and climactic conclusion.
TRACKLISTING
1. Inflikted
2. Sanctuary
3. Terrorize
4. Black ark
5. Ultra-violent
6. Hex
7. The doom of all fires
8. Bloodbrawl
9. Nevertrust
10. Hearts of darkness
11. MustKill
Not my sort of music, certainly, and my only real experience of their parent band was, I'm told, the wrong one, which I featured last year. But listening to Slayer over the past month has somewhat inured me to these ragged vocals and the faster, thrash melody to the extent that not only can I now stand it, I can even begin to enjoy some of it. This album was pretty good. Not that I'd necessarily seek out more of their work, but at least I'm not in the shower, scrubbing frantically while silently screaming “Still dirty! It won't come off!” And reading the story of the Cavalera brothers, it's always nice to see an end to a family feud, especially when they come together in the name of music and memory.