Max Cavalera and Soulfly, the spearheads of groove metal are soon to deliver their thirteenth album – Chama.  A concept album of sorts.  The name Chama itself literally translates to ‘Flame”, but it also embodies the burning vitality of the human spirit, the strength of ancestors, the forces of nature that bind us to the tempo of the earth. Accompanying the album Chama is the story of a boy from the dingy favelas of Brazil, who in search of a higher power, finds himself amongst the tribes of the Amazon, who show him the way of the jungle’s souls. Max himself suggests that the album loosely follows this accompanying story with the boy Chama, finding his fire amongst the chaos and debris of a collapsing industrial world.

The album is everything you expect from Soulfly – bombastic, driven beats, chugging riffs and screeching guitars, all supporting Max’s growling, screaming, dirty vocals.  But it has a level of exploratory sound, and little changes that reflect the growth in the band.  This has never been more evident than the passing of the torch of producing credits and creative direction from Max to Zyon Cavalera (Max’s son and drummer for over ten years).

It has taken a few listens to take in all the nuances throughout the album. Each song, while following the overall storyline, brings its own impact to the album.  To run through the second half of the album, there are songs like Favela – Dystopia which is extreme and visceral, apparently just like the streets of Brazil that it is written about.  As compared to the more methodical Always Was, Always Will Be… which is more measured before finding its groove. Soulfly XIII is a pleasurable walk beside a beach, before the title track Chama is a chugging beat down that picks up its pace before mellowing to finish out the album.

Like previous Soulfly albums there is a cavalcade of guest performers on this.  Dino Cazares (Fear Factory) on No Pain = No Power, Michael Amott (Arch Enemy) on Ghenna, Todd Jones (Nails) on Nihilist, Ben Cook (No Warning) and Gabe Franco (Unto Others) also feature on vocals throughout the album.


Chama is out October 24 through Nuclear Blast Records.