### The Cavalera Conspiracy: Inflikted

#### 20/02/08 || Euthanatos

When Igor Cavalera left Sepultura, first I thought how ridiculous it was that the other faggots were carrying on without him. Second, I immediately knew (granted, like everybody else) that it would be a matter of time before him and his brother got together again. I expected him to join Soulfly, however, and did not foresee a new project starting. Naturally, my reaction was “this has the potential to be really awesome or a huge pile of shit”. With Max’s tribal tendencies and Igor’s recent fling with electronic music, the latter seemed more likely. On the other hand, Soulfly’s “The Dark Ages” probably saw Max’s best songwriting in decades.

When it was rumored that Marc Rizzo was the other guitar player I thought, “oh hey, that makes sense”, but when Joe Duplantier, from Gojira, was revealed as the bass player, I couldn’t help but thinking..Wait a minute…

So a shitty video was released in the Internet, as it always happens, and the song, “Inflikted” was just terrible. Then the album cover was released. And I was quick on the trigger; “it’s a huge pile of steaming dog shit!”.

But something happened. A song from the album leaked. And it was good. It was really good. My mind was boggling. I didn’t recognize this world I was in anymore. Everything seemed strange and alien.

And then I got the album. Dismiss me as a prejudiced and biased ignorant motherfucker. The album is actually metal and it actually sounds good. On a “goodness” level, I’d rank it behind Sepultura’s classics, of course, but better than anything Soulfly ever released and CERTAINLY, CERTAINLY A LOT BETTER than anything Sepultura ever did without Max.

The sound here is a lot closer to Soulfly’s “Dark Ages”, even though it still manages to be different, and I guess this is what surprises me the most. It doesn’t really relate to anything done before by the Cavalera brothers, yet their signature styles are blatantly evident. Max’s terrible lyrics and immediately recognizable growl is here and Igor actually seems to have regained some fire, some passion for the drums and is playing better than he has in many, many years. And he’s a damn good drummer when he’s into it. Rizzo shreds as usual, he’s a very talented, insanely technical guitar player and has a great taste for solos, riffs and tone alike. Joe Duplantier can’t really be felt that much during this record, the bass sound is disappointingly low.

I love the speedy “Sanctuary”, the old-school sounding “Terrorize” , the extremely gritty “Ultra-Violent”, the ridiculously fast “Hex”...Hell, even the title-track, so awful in that video, actually sounds pretty good on the album!

I, probably like most, was ready to dismiss this as garbage and proof the Cavalera brothers simply didn’t care anymore for metal and were heading in other directions, finally exploring all the gay-ass music they’ve come to love over the years. I was wrong, the only influence here is thrash, death metal and hardcore and the outcome is a beauty. If you don’t believe me, listen to “The Doom Of All Fires”. He makes a reference to “Apocalyptic Raids”! “Apocalyptic Raids”! Max Cavalera! In this day and age! Can you believe that?

I bow my head, gentlemen.

The cover: Now this is something that still remains ridiculous! Ha!

8,5 huge middle fingers to current Sepultura out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2008
- Label: Roadrunner Records
- Website: www.cavaleraconspiracy.com
- Band
- Max Cavalera: vocals, guitars
- Marc Rizzo: guitars
- Joe Duplantier: bass
- Igor Cavalera: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Inflikted
- 02. Sanctuary
- 03. Terrorize
- 04. Dark Ark
- 05. Ultra-Violent
- 06. Hex
- 07. The Doom Of All Fires
- 08. Bloodbrawl
- 09. Nevertrust
- 10. Hearts of Darkness
- 11. Must Kill