In metal there is always a buzz of excitement when certain names are attached to a record and “Cavalera” is definitely up there as one of them. When Max and Igor were reunited on 2008’s Cavalera Conspiracy record Inflikted many actually ended up favouring their efforts over Max’s recent run of Soulfly records.
Pandemonium is the band’s third album, and much like with the previous two, the name of the game here is speed and aggression. When you listen to the really early Sepultura stuff, a period which Max himself has stated was a time when they were just trying to play faster and harder than anyone else, there are definite echoes of that here.
The opening couple of tracks, Babylonian Pandemonium and Bonzai Kamikazee, will leave you absolutely breathless. Put it this way – it doesn’t feel like the Cavalera brothers are 30 odd years older than the stuff they were putting on the early Sepultura records (come back to us on this one after they’ve played some new live shows though). Whilst it is clear what the aim was on this record, as you move into the second half it is pretty clear that a lot of these tracks are not THAT different from each other. With this being the case you’ll likely find a lot of the tracks being quite forgettable even after a good few listens. One of the stand out tracks, Deus Ex Machina, does come towards the end of the album though, with huge praise pointed in the direction of lead guitarist Marc Rizzo for layering frenetic solos on top of the underlying familiar groove.
As with Soulfly then, Cavalera Conspiracy prove the distinct ability of writing consistently good albums, but fall short when it comes to introducing anything new. A solid effort.
7/10
