Roots
Max Cavalera is someone all music fans but especially metalheads should revere for his 'don't give a fuck' attitude, his longevity, willingness to take the hard decisions, his productivity and confidence to take, sometimes glaringly uncool, artistic chances. That he has reunited with his brother and erstwhile Sepultura colleague, Igor for a now third record as the Cavalera Conspiracy shouldn't surprise anyone. Nor should its mixed levels of quality, either. Pandemonium continues the band's focus on their primal roots: death and thrash metal with a little of the Brazilian rhythm first captured back in their Sepultura days. All played by seasoned musicians including Soulfly's Marc Rizzo and Nate Newton of Converge rattling the bass notes.
Pandemonium immediately harks back to the golden age of the Roadrunner records roster of the early nineties with a clinical edge a la Fear Factory mixed with the dissonance and frenetic speed of the Cavalera's former band prior to Roots. The opening trio of tracks Babylonian Pandemonium, Kamakazee and Scum are all grizzled, clipped riffs and groove orientated drums unmistakably the work of Max and Igor but in a way that feels more focused and uncomplicated than most of Max's work in Soulfly.
This essential, vital template is bashed out time and again across the ten tracks with varying levels of thrash and groove added to vary the attack. Rizzo's lead playing, it should be said, perfectly complements the songwriting and shows the level of understanding he has built with Max playing in Soulfly. In particular, Cramunhao is sparked into life via his fingers and the straightforward, crackling metal riff that he slices through although having said that he does wank all over Insurrection to lesser effect before it dissolves into block smashing riffs.
Elsewhere, Max's voice sounds like Oscar the Grouch with a steadily worsening cold so there's not a lot of clarity and generally the lyrics fit percussively rather than delivering some 'message'. Over time, the production and songwriting churn up the track listing into homogeneity meaning that there are moments within songs rather than entire tracks that prick your ears. Apex Predator is forgettable, as is I, Barbarian despite that Tom G Warrior noise Max coughs up at the beginning but as the song Not Losing the Edge would attest these moments are in the minority.
Pandemonium is on the whole a rough and hard edged effort from metal veterans in their forties. That in of itself is noteworthy, that the record is, at times, an evocative and exciting record is even better. Despite lacking the killer instinct of their work in Sepultura the brothers Cavalera have delivered a late career winner here.