The Tribal drumming, the disorientating build of Indigenous Inquisition and then an "ugh" and quicker than you can say "Um, dois, três, quatro" we're back into the maelstrom of Max Cavalera's Soulfly. Storm The Gates and Nihilist both bludgeon, bringing an intensity that is scary even for a Soulfly record.
Perhaps it's the addition of Max's son Zyon on drums or the fact that Cavalera is once again exploring his Brazilian heritage and embracing tribal percussion of the other band he founded, but that's not the half of it as Chama is one of the heaviest albums I've heard this year, an absolute monolith of noise and aggression. Every song feels like getting hit by a truck, this isn't just groove metal it's an audio demolition that begins on Storm The Gates and ends with the title track, never letting up for more than a few seconds from creating a claustrophobic, intense atmosphere. Well unless you count the moments of psychedelia on Soulfly XIII.
Max has brought in a host of percussion players for this album, one that is packed with guests, showing the respect his name commands. Along with lead guitarist Mike DeLeon, producer/engineer Arthur Rizk and Michael Amott (Arch Enemy) take extra lead guitars. Max's other son Igor Amadeus plays some bass and Fear Factory's Dino Cazares makes his mark on the industrial crush of No Pain = No Power, where Ben Cook (No Warning) and Gabe Franco (Unto Others) take the Burton C Bell role on vocals.
There are few albums that can be called punishing and that's Chama in a nutshell, not just the heaviest albums Soulfly have released in a while, but one of the heaviest this year. 9/10
Human Fortress - Stronghold (Massacre Records)
Human Fortress play melodic metal, well they actually play epic battle metal according to them on Stronghold but this is pretty melodic heavy metal. It's their eighth album and their first without keyboardist Dirk Liehm, so it has led to an album that is largely more guitar driven than they've had before.
This takes them into both both heavier and sometimes sleazier realms, from the chest beating Stronghold, through the Teutonic swagger of The End Of The World, while there's a lot of melody on Mesh Of Lies. The Abyss Of Our Souls and Under The Gun both have some synths but very much live in the 80's sleaze metal style of Skid Row.
Now because they've lost a keyboardist but that doesn't mean they've got rid of some of the piano/synths, as the ballad Pain, is driven by piano, They also use them audibly on the dramatic Death Calls My Name and at the beginning chunky of the Road To Nowhere. It's the guitars that do most of the heavy lifting here adapting them into a heavier riffier sound than perhaps fans would be used to.
Human Fortress now do have another keyboard player but Stronghold is a guitar album, taking from both the German and American scenes of the 80's, they've packed it with riffs ready for the banging of the head. 7/10
Jet Jaguar - Severance (Steamhammer / SPV)
Mexican heavy metal now with newcomers Jet Jaguar, after surviving a difficult lockdown in their country and a serious traffic collision while on tour with Anvil, this foursome are a band who thrive in adversity. Their second album is brimming with talent, passion and resilience as they want to rock and rock hard, as their debut came in 2020 they perhaps felt that it was perhaps overshadowed with the pandemic as by the time they came to tour it, it would have been a few years old.
So with Severance they have composed a selection of tracks that have been built for touring, from the defiant Eternal Light they kick off with all the speed/classic metal sounds you could want, then it's into the blistering NWOTHM territory on Mach 10 where their guitarist and composer Ariyuki Saddler duels with himself for some sick solo sections. Raiden Lozenthall and Jorge ”Bori” Ramirez find themselves in the high speed grooves as rhythm guitarist and bassist respectively.
Raiden is a new addition to the band on rhythm guitar but also on vocals and he's got a sprawling style that skyscrapes but also adds grit and growls to track such as the apocalyptic Anthropocene which has some progressive drumming from Jimmy Lozano, the rabid title track and the political Fool's Paradise which takes aim at the USA's Orange Overlord.
This trad heavy metal band add some new wrinkles to their sound with album two, bringing prog as I've mentioned and some thrash/groove on Evil Within as well. The change on vocals has been a massive tick for these Mexican metallers as Severance, packs in plenty of heavy metal and insane guitar prowess (check out the EVH-style guitar heroics on Call Of The Fight). Highly recommend for heavy metal shred heads. 8/10
Solar Sons - Altitude (Argonauta Records)
Six albums in and Dundee trio Solar Sons still crank out the riffs with the enthusiasm of album one but the experience of album six. Over the years they've been manipulating their style to what it is today as classic heavy metal fuses with stoner/doom.
Does this make them the UK's answer to Grand Magus? Well you'd think so when you play Shooting Star, as Rory Lee's voice is quite similar to JB's as they add influences from both Soundgarden and Iron Maiden on Head First. His bass playing is just as powerful as his voice, leading the gallops and grooves, locking in with drummer Pete Garrow as Danny Lee breaks out the riffage and scorching solos.
Altitude has an urgency to it, even on the two longer numbers towards the end of the album, there's an intense delivery that doesn't hang about as they celebrate music on this album. No big political notions, no existential explorations, just the joy of jumping into the studio or going out on the road to play music. For those minutes, hours, days (this record was tracked in just 8), you're lost in music and nothing else's matters.
Thankfully the music here is great, if you like Grand Magus, Green Lung, Orange Goblin (tribute paid on O.G.) and obviously Sabbath too then Solar Sons should be next on your playlist. 8/10
There are few albums that can be called punishing and that's Chama in a nutshell, not just the heaviest albums Soulfly have released in a while, but one of the heaviest this year. 9/10
Human Fortress - Stronghold (Massacre Records)
Human Fortress play melodic metal, well they actually play epic battle metal according to them on Stronghold but this is pretty melodic heavy metal. It's their eighth album and their first without keyboardist Dirk Liehm, so it has led to an album that is largely more guitar driven than they've had before.
This takes them into both both heavier and sometimes sleazier realms, from the chest beating Stronghold, through the Teutonic swagger of The End Of The World, while there's a lot of melody on Mesh Of Lies. The Abyss Of Our Souls and Under The Gun both have some synths but very much live in the 80's sleaze metal style of Skid Row.
Now because they've lost a keyboardist but that doesn't mean they've got rid of some of the piano/synths, as the ballad Pain, is driven by piano, They also use them audibly on the dramatic Death Calls My Name and at the beginning chunky of the Road To Nowhere. It's the guitars that do most of the heavy lifting here adapting them into a heavier riffier sound than perhaps fans would be used to.
Human Fortress now do have another keyboard player but Stronghold is a guitar album, taking from both the German and American scenes of the 80's, they've packed it with riffs ready for the banging of the head. 7/10
Jet Jaguar - Severance (Steamhammer / SPV)
Mexican heavy metal now with newcomers Jet Jaguar, after surviving a difficult lockdown in their country and a serious traffic collision while on tour with Anvil, this foursome are a band who thrive in adversity. Their second album is brimming with talent, passion and resilience as they want to rock and rock hard, as their debut came in 2020 they perhaps felt that it was perhaps overshadowed with the pandemic as by the time they came to tour it, it would have been a few years old.
So with Severance they have composed a selection of tracks that have been built for touring, from the defiant Eternal Light they kick off with all the speed/classic metal sounds you could want, then it's into the blistering NWOTHM territory on Mach 10 where their guitarist and composer Ariyuki Saddler duels with himself for some sick solo sections. Raiden Lozenthall and Jorge ”Bori” Ramirez find themselves in the high speed grooves as rhythm guitarist and bassist respectively.
Raiden is a new addition to the band on rhythm guitar but also on vocals and he's got a sprawling style that skyscrapes but also adds grit and growls to track such as the apocalyptic Anthropocene which has some progressive drumming from Jimmy Lozano, the rabid title track and the political Fool's Paradise which takes aim at the USA's Orange Overlord.
This trad heavy metal band add some new wrinkles to their sound with album two, bringing prog as I've mentioned and some thrash/groove on Evil Within as well. The change on vocals has been a massive tick for these Mexican metallers as Severance, packs in plenty of heavy metal and insane guitar prowess (check out the EVH-style guitar heroics on Call Of The Fight). Highly recommend for heavy metal shred heads. 8/10
Solar Sons - Altitude (Argonauta Records)
Six albums in and Dundee trio Solar Sons still crank out the riffs with the enthusiasm of album one but the experience of album six. Over the years they've been manipulating their style to what it is today as classic heavy metal fuses with stoner/doom.
Does this make them the UK's answer to Grand Magus? Well you'd think so when you play Shooting Star, as Rory Lee's voice is quite similar to JB's as they add influences from both Soundgarden and Iron Maiden on Head First. His bass playing is just as powerful as his voice, leading the gallops and grooves, locking in with drummer Pete Garrow as Danny Lee breaks out the riffage and scorching solos.
Altitude has an urgency to it, even on the two longer numbers towards the end of the album, there's an intense delivery that doesn't hang about as they celebrate music on this album. No big political notions, no existential explorations, just the joy of jumping into the studio or going out on the road to play music. For those minutes, hours, days (this record was tracked in just 8), you're lost in music and nothing else's matters.
Thankfully the music here is great, if you like Grand Magus, Green Lung, Orange Goblin (tribute paid on O.G.) and obviously Sabbath too then Solar Sons should be next on your playlist. 8/10
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