Outside of his contributions to Probot and Roadrunner United, I’ve stayed away from the latest works of Sepultura/Soulfly founder Max Cavalera. And who could blame me? Given his departure from Sepultura on their infamously shitty Roots and the majority of Soulfly’s discography sucking utter balls, it’s easy to be hesitant to listen to anything coming from Max Cavalera. I’ve heard some rumblings that Soulfly’s last album Dark Ages was more a return to form, but I’m wary of such comments; I’ve been burnt before.

However, this is different. Cavalera Conspiracy sees a reunion between Max and his estranged brother Igor. Considering the different paths both have taken musically since Max’s mid-nineties split with Sepultura, I’m honestly curious how Inflikted is going to sound. So there’s only one way to tell: get on your helmets and safety goggles, boys and girls, we’re running into this thing like a retard on Special K!

Like how Job for a Cowboy’s Genesis was haunted by the deathcore sins of their EP, Cavalera Conspiracy is more than likely going to be haunted by Max Cavalera’s nu metal past. Let’s get one thing straight out the door: Cavalera Conspiracy is neither Soulfly nor nu metal. Cavalera Conspiracy has virtually little to nothing in common with Soulfly. Anyone that tells you this is Soulfly done again is lying when he tells you he listened to this. Cavalera Conspiracy- if anything- has more in common with Nailbomb than it does Soulfly. The music of Inflikted is very simplistic thrash mixed with heavy amounts of aggro-groove and incredibly light sprinklings of industrial elements. Unlike Nailbomb the simplistic thrash is constantly interrupted with tight, impressive solos and the music is more on the generic side of thrash than the punky, harsh, trademark sound of Nailbomb. There is tribal drumming found on "Terrorize" and "Dark Ark", but tribal drumming is not enough to make something a Soulfly song; tribal drumming has been done by Voivod and others long before Soulfly was a twinkle in Max’s eye.

As I said above, there is an extremely prevalent groove element driving the usually simple song structure of Inflikted’s content. This will easily appeal to later era Machine Head and Pantera fans with its aggro feel, but it most definitely isn’t nu metal. Groove and nu metal have overlapping aesthetics, but they are not the same things, kiddies!

Though Cavalera Conspiracy most definitely does not commit the same mistakes as Max’s past acts, this doesn’t make Inflikted good. However, Inflikted isn’t bad either. The album is just plain mediocre. There is a lot of potential behind Cavalera Conspiracy’s sound (especially the opening title track, which mixes in some Middle Eastern-esque riffs here and there, and the speedy vibe of "Hex"), but the groove really isn’t compatible with the thrashier elements of the album. To make matters worse, Max’s vocals quite often follow the groove leads too faithfully, making the vocals sound elementary as opposed to harsh and unrelenting. The lyrics also need a swift kick in the ass.

However, as it stands Inflikted is a lot better than I- or anyone else for that matter- was expecting it to be. I wouldn’t recommend picking up Inflikted when you can still buy the old Nailbomb albums for much cheaper and with much better quality metal, but it goes without saying that Cavalera Conspiracy could have been a lot worse. It’s mediocre, but it’s a start. Max better not fuck this up.

Review byNecro-tron