A lot of metal fans may dislike Soulfly, but everyone knows that they sell albums rather well and have some die-hard fans, whether they are all just Sepultura fan-boys is still yet to be confirmed.

But I’m one of those rare few semi-elitist metal fans who does not detest Soulfly; I enjoyed Prophesy and Dark Ages. Dark Ages was a surprisingly good album, a lot of fans even credited it was the band’s best release. Thankfully King Cavalera has somehow bettered himself. Max is one of those musical wonders. He has his fingers in more pies than a multi-limbed baker, managing to create an album this enjoyable and grand while touring and recording with Cavalera Conspiracy is beyond most people.

Conquer starts off sounding like a tribal version of a Dimmu Borgir song introduction, but then the distinctive voice appears, chanting the overly friendly lyrics of ‘Blood, Fire, War, Hate’. The first two tracks (Blood, fire… and Unleash) have guest appearances from David Vincent of Throwdown, giving the songs a bit more groove (Throwdown, potential touring partners?).

As I said before, I enjoy Prophecy, it’s a fairly solid album, but my only major gripe with it was that it seemed a tad 2-D, but Max has ironed out this musical crease, Conquer is much broader sounding and a great deal more satisfying effort. Soulfly have always been one of those bands who write the same material for years, but have still kept it interesting. The band (or just Max) has maintained their lyrical content, emphasizing the futileness and terror of war, while still creating riffs and beats that you could happily slay a city to, this is something that should never change.

And as with any Soulfly album, there are some pretty dire track titles, and the 2008 champion is……..Warmageddon! (Remind anyone of 1998’s winner, Karmageddon?). All the tracks are fairly solid, it doesn’t take long at all to get into the album. Although by the third listen you may want to skip the highly repetitive sound of ‘Paranoia’.
This could well be Soulfly’s greatest effort, although I’m sure some Dark Ages’ fans will say otherwise. Well done Max, you’ve pleased us again, now, where is my Sepultura reunion?

Stand out tracks: Unleash, Doom and For Those About to Rot.