DARK AGES
It was nice seeing
Dark Ages come ahead of time. SOULFLY have returned after the very killer
Prophecy record and they are ready to attack. I must say that this took over my CD player for days being played over, over and over.
The title track “Dark Ages” is the calming intro before the storm. The amp volume goes up, up and the Soulfy punch hits you square in the face. I would say that they are playing it more thrash and punk with the some weird and interesting sounds twanging out. Very catchy and memorable sounds are spewing out. As I was driving along (during the first listen) and the meaner “I And I”; it had me saying yeah, this is what I want to hear! It is angry and fast Soulfly. I still hope that one day he’ll return to his brother and band when I hear it played like this.
“Carved Inside” opens with different weird guitar sounds and then the all out thrashing kicks in again, Yes! “Arise Again” gets a bit slower to start the first half and then more punky Nailbomb like. “Molotov” is in the language of home and is yet another ballsy and punky type of track. “Frontlines” is another with total urgency. “Innerspirit” has some speedy as hell foot play. This is the type of song I listen to and can’t help thinking how better it is than your Korn’s and Disturbed’s of today.
“Corrosion Creeps” picks the pit stomping pace with riffs kids love to mosh to. Don’t fear it goes back to the super Slayer Kreator like fastness then falling into a more gang vocal horror sound like Biohazard. “Riotstarter” brings out the more experimental percussive sounds we all became familiar with on Roots. Then it slides right into being another hyper number. “Bleak” takes it more down a mid paced road. The riffs stay heavy and strong as the foreign sounds kick. They do serve it up in a punching way.
“(The) March” definitely goes more Nailbomb like with the more manilpulated sound showing. The Soul-Core as I’ve now dubbed it kicks back up some dust on “Fuel The Fire”. Oh sweet metal hell. “Staystrong” goes more hard-core street and pounding. “Soulfly V” is a continuing saga like song that has been all of the bands records. Keeping a tradition alive.
I have to take a bow to the amazing production work that Terry Date did with these guys (not to mention many brilliantly produced albums before there time). Everything is crisp and the hits are clean. This definitely will land in my top ten at the end of the year. Go get it and feel the abuse.
