{"id":94713,"date":"2022-08-05T00:00:43","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T23:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=94713"},"modified":"2022-08-05T17:45:10","modified_gmt":"2022-08-05T16:45:10","slug":"album-review-soulfly-totem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-soulfly-totem\/","title":{"rendered":"SOULFLY – Totem (2022) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SOULFLY
Totem<\/strong><\/span>
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\nNuclear Blast (2022)<\/span>
Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Isn\u2019t it strange how one can return to a band many years later and re-new your friendship? Soulfly stirred me back in 1998 with their self-titled debut full-length, but there was little in the way of love on my part. The late 90s experienced a peculiar and less rewarding shift in terms of heavy metal variances, almost heralded by the release of Sepultura\u2019s 1996 Roots<\/em> opus. Since then though, but excluding that Soulfly platter, my interest waned to the point of being completely out of touch with subsequent releases from both bands, and yet here I am in 2022 enjoying this 12th Soulfly outing, constructed by Max Cavalera (vocals and guitar), Mike Leon (bass) and company Zyon Cavalera (drums), <\/p>\n

Totem<\/em> begins in rather aggressive fashion with \u2018Superstition\u2019 which has a Roots<\/em>-meets-Slayer<\/a> hostility, particularly in the speedy riffage and percussion, although as one would expect with Soulfly the barks of Max Cavalera and general groove variations bring excessive amounts of muscular belligerence. Even so, it\u2019s a great way to herald the arrival of this new work and thankfully the savagery continues, streaked with the scorching lead work which very much takes this into a groove \/ thrash spectrum and, dare I say it, flirting with some of Sepultura\u2019s classic work.<\/p>\n

\u2018Scouring The Vile\u2019 is a full-on thrash assault; raw, scalding and atmospheric in its scowls, and again there are nods to Sepultura\u2019s greatest moments, particularly Arise<\/em> (1991). Meanwhile, \u2018Filth Upon Filth\u2019 offers a mid-tempo approach but it remains raw, yet melancholic in its guitar work as darkly furious riffs emerge and in great waves of chunky destruction.<\/p>\n

\u2018Rot In Pain\u2019 is about as Slayer-ised as it gets musically, and within that assault there\u2019s a menacing delivery and lethal antagonism I\u2019ve not heard for some time from Soulfly. Max remains a leader of his realm; a furious soul barking orders to his troops amidst a blitzkrieg of hailing bullets and tribal warfare.<\/p>\n

The immense chugging \u2018The Damage Done\u2019 is a primitive construction of angst and mood. \u201cIn the ruins of the world I see a reflection,\u201d<\/em> rants Max. \u201cDarkened shades of what the earth used to be,\u201d<\/em> he continues within that heaving monstrosity of riffage. It\u2019s a standout track but then again there\u2019s hardly a duff tune within this 40-minute charge.<\/p>\n

The title track pays homage again to the ancestral grinding of Roots<\/em>, where the guitar tone is groove-laden yet abrasive as the bass rampages in equal measure. \u201cWe only save ourselves, While others live in hell, You can’t see what greed is, You mock the ancient ones,\u201d<\/em> Max yells amongst a flailing lead and juggernaut groove, while on \u2018Spirit Animal\u2019 he reflects, \u201cWe are one of many, Born to face life’s tragedy, Never alone or forgotten, We know you are always watching\u201d<\/em> through a battering ram of scathing guitar work which we weren\u2019t prepared for after the instrumental respite that was \u2018Soulfly XII\u2019. \u2018Spirit Animal\u2019 is an epic outburst that broods and grinds, holding back its fury until ready to burst as thrashing chugs are overtaken by hardcore sentiments, the track coming together as a frustrated vent to sign off an album I didn\u2019t expect to be so provoked and punished by.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re still missing Sepultura\u2019s classic brand of death thrash, as well as the variances offered by Roots<\/em>, then let Totem<\/em> be your guide through the minefield and may it serve you well.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SOULFLYTotem Nuclear Blast (2022)Rating: 8.5\/10 Isn\u2019t it strange how one can return to a band many years later and re-new your friendship? Soulfly stirred me back in 1998 with their self-titled debut full-length, but there was little in the way of love on my part. The late 90s experienced a peculiar and less rewarding shift […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,261],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-soulfly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94715,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94713\/revisions\/94715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}