Cavalera Conspiracy- Inflikted

Genre metal Publisher Roadrunner Records External Links Cavalera Conspiracy Website

Cavalera Conspiracy! Max and Igor together again, at long last! Anyone who gives half a crap about metal knows about their longstanding estrangement, but perhaps not everyone knows of the reconciliation and subsequent recording of an album - and here it is. The brothers are back together again.

I won't waste any time getting to the point: it's good. It's really good, in fact, even if Max speaks better English now and has lost the lyrical primacy of someone using very fundamental language to express themselves. It's good even though Andreas isn't there, because Max and Igor alone are able to recreate the almost-but-not-quite-out-of-sync drums and rhythm guitar that characterized their sound previously. No, it doesn't have the jugular-ripping solos, but guitarist Mark Rizzo's work ain't too shabby, either.

Basically, this album is exactly what you expected it to be - not quite Sepultura, but pretty damn close - and definitely more dynamic and creative than anything either of the Cavaleras have done separately. The snarling, spitting growl still defines Max's voice, unbelievably (but with someone who's endured what he has, it's possible that the embittered timbre couldn't be erased if he tried) and Igor's chops are still chock-full of tribal rhythms and double-bass mastery. The songs on Inflikted are perhaps more melodic than what they've collaborated on before, but that's not to the detriment of their power. They've refined themselves over the decades while managing to retain the raw, gutsy anger and aggressiveness that has made them metal icons. If only Metallica were so lucky.