Roadrunner Records
2005
Dark Ages (Explicit)
About This Album
There's not much to be said about Dark Ages that hasn't been said about Max Cavalera's several other masterworks to date. Whether you're talking about his masterworks with Sepultura (Chaos A.D. and Roots) or Soulfly (Soulfly and Prophecy), or even his one-off Nailbomb album (Point Blank), the praise often seems the same: bloody-meat raw production, subtly dynamic songwriting, the obligatory ethnic experimentation, an in-your-face delivery, varyingly passionate conception, and a ceaseless emphasis on rage and revolution. Sure, his Soulfly catalog has its share of miscues -- namely Primitive and III, which were both spotty -- but for the most part, Cavalera rarely ceases to deliver fascinating music, even at this distant point practically 20 years into his career. Dark Ages is no exception in this regard. The 15-song album never does hit a lull. It arcs slightly, kicking off with a punch to the face and peaking with "Molotov," "Frontlines," and "Innerspirit" before drifting into edgier waters of experimentation that ultimately recede with the album closer, the ten-minute instrumental "Soulfly V." Some would say that Dark Ages is one of the least "Brazilian" of Cavalera's Soulfly albums to date (an unfair metric that pointlessly gets dragged out every time he releases a new album), and sure, it certainly does seem more straightforwardly metal than some of his previous albums.
Track List (try tracks 2,3,6 and 7)

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