"Dark ages" CD by Soulfly

by Sonja Angerer (July 2005) "I need a rest from all this spirituality". That's how mastermind Max Cavalera explains the moderate style changes for the fifth album. Because "Dark ages" is clearly less world music influenced than "Prophecy". Which becomes most clearly in "Babylon", a hoarse killer in best Sepultura-tradition, or "Arise again" with its distorted intro and the long, fast guitar wizardry in the middle part. In "I and I", with its fat double bass, not quite a ballad, you see, it shows off a new element: clear, melodic melody in best 80s-tradition, however not always easy to define behind the drum blasts. Definitely not suitable for fragile minds is "The march", a picturesque war scenario including machine gun barrage and hand grenades elements. Hit qualities could be seen in "Riotstarter": the track seems like a metallic and yet humorous description for Prodigy's "Firestarter", drum-machine explicitly included but with Soulfly typical strange percussions in the intro. Still catchy as hell!