3

Soulfly 3 puts all that right. There are occasional guests--Ill Nino's Cristian Machado adds soft(er) vocals to "One", and Asha Rabouin lends sweetness to the otherwise manic "Tree Of Pain"--but, with Max now producing, this is all about Cavalera and his roots. "Brasil" features a rap/chant over a pulverising bass, the track "Soulfly III" sees guitars mellifluously intertwining over a tribal clatter, while "Zumbi" grows from a cacophony of shakers and tin-cans into a hypnotic flood of percussion, before mutating into a wash of wind-chimes and mellow guitar, more like Idaho or Codeine than Sepultura. It's fascinating throughout, and often crushingly heavy. The opening "Downstroy" has Max at his most punishing until it collapses into a disconcerting information-overload of disembodied chatter and wild clatterings. Both "Enterfaith" and LOTM are utterly remorseless, as are "Call To Arms" and "Four Elements", which follow the respectful one-minute silence of "9-11-01". All in all, 3 is imaginative, resourceful and savage--Soulfly's best by a long chalk. --Dominic Wills