Enslaved

Soulfly | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 13, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Roadrunner Records
• ASIN: B006YTYIXG
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,986 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Led by legendary, Metal royalty, Max Cavalera (Sepultura, Cavalera Conspiracy) Soulfly incite a musical uprising on Enslaved, their eighth album for Roadrunner Records. Ever since the band's gold-certified debut in 1998, Soulfly have become deadlier and more dangerous with each critically acclaimed successive release, but Enslaved sees them roaring like never before.

This time around, the heavy metal tribe treads extreme territory by incorporating blast beats, violent riffs and wheezing whammy squeals into its patented groove-driven war cry. All of those elements converge within a concept record about slavery a first for legendary frontman Max Cavalera [Sepultura, Cavalera Conspiracy].

This is also the inaugural offering from the group's new lineup featuring bassist Tony Campos [ex-Static-X, Asesino] and drummer David Kinkade [Borknagar] alongside Cavalera and guitar cohort Marc Rizzo.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Heaviest Soulfly Album Yet! March 13, 2012

By J. Hill TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

Max Cavalera has been taking Soulfly in a heavier direction for several albums now, but the last one, Omen, slowed things down somewhat. Now, Enslaved is here to kick everything back into massive overdrive. This CD will cave in a few skulls when unsuspecting listeners pop it in and wait for Max to "go through the motions" with some standard groove metal. These songs resemble Sepultura's sound more than any other Soulfly release, but it's not a straight Sep sound; you can hear the unmistakable stamp of both bands in almost every song. Cavalera and company thrash it out from one track to the next, refusing to let up for a moment. Even the slower sections crush, like on Legions and American Steel, where the groove is more about head-stomping than jumping around. Combined with their past discography, this album solidifies Soulfly's legacy as a top-tier metal band. Incredible.

By the third and fourth Soulfly albums, the band seemed to have grown comfortable with a familiar formula, giving the impression in their music of repetition and simplicity, which also carried over into the song arrangements. Lyrics kept getting more and more simplistic, songs got shorter, and a certain lack of fire spawned many Soulfly critics who suggested Max was losing some of his creativity. Enslaved puts those notions to rest. Each song is fleshed out; they all feel complete in a way they didn't on Omen, and to some extent, Conquer. Riffs have more drive, new drummer Dave Kinkade absolutely rips it up on drums, and new bassist Tony Campos lays a crushing bottom-heavy foundation. Much of the melody brought by Marc Rizzo on the last few albums has been replaced with pure speed and aggression, though his skills still shine with some choice classical and flamenco interludes.... Make no mistake, Max was out to make a statement with Enslaved, and he's succeeded. I'm happy to say this is a full-fledged five-star album for Max Cavalera and Soulfly! For anyone interested, here's a closer look at a few highlights.

Resistance--Short intro track with some Chaos A.D. power-drill guitars and shouted-word vocals.

World Scum--Death metal destruction with Cattle Decapitation vocalist.

Intervention--Relentless thrash assault with old-school sound.

American Steel--Meaty riffing, powerful drumming, and a HEAVY breakdown.

Redemption of Man by God and Treachery--Ultra-heavy speed-groove, with nice vocals by Dez from Devildriver on Redemption.

Plata O Plomo--Old Soulfly tradition of Portuguese lyrics with a stomping beat and great riffs.

Chains--Epic track, over seven minutes, that runs the gamut of Soulfly's metal repertoire with thrash, groove, and even a blast beat.

Revengeance--Max and his sons finish the album with an almost Nailbomb sense of industrial heaviness.

Great bonus tracks on the special edition include the thrasher Slave, which ends with some classic lines from Tribe off the first Soulfly album. Next, Bastard might be the most standard track of the whole collection, sounding like a basic groove-based Soulfly song that could be on just about any release. Finally, the eighth installment of the Soulfly instrumentals is the first to incorporate a violin, throwing an entirely new twist on the spiritual, tribal element for which these tracks have come to be known, and strengthening the overall sense that each musician involved put everything they had into the making of Enslaved. Read more ›

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Soulfly - Enslaved March 13, 2012

By Gentlegiantprog

Format:Audio CD

Fronted as always by Max Cavelera, Soulfly have lived through enough line-up changes in the past to carry on strong no matter who joins or leaves their fold and deliver more of the same Thrash, Groove and World Music inspired Metal that the band have been creating since their inception a decade and a half ago.

Enslaved is the band's eighth studio album. It was released in 2012 and finds the band recording with a new rhythm section as bassist Bobby Burns (who had been in the band since 2003) and drummer Joe Nunez (who was in the band since 2000, except for one album) get replaced by Tony Campos of Static-X and David Kinkade of Borknagar.

Lead guitarist Marc Rizzo is now the band's second longest lasting member behind Max himself, and has become more and more integral to the band's sound and direction since joining in 2003 (in addition to appearing in alongside Max in his other band Cavelera Conspiracy.)

Where Enslaved fits in with the rest of the band's catalogue is definitely closer in style to the sound found on the faster and darker albums like Dark Ages than the fun and bouncy tribal sing along albums like Primitive. It is probably the most straight forward, serious and un-experimental sounding album the band have ever done, which counter-intuitively lends the record a really interesting an vital sound.

The style at this stage is completely absent of any Nu Metal influence, with the drumming and guitar generally a lot more clinical and thrash influenced than ever before, however the manage to do so in a manner that feels entirely modern and nothing like homage to the 1980s.... The main riff of `Treachery' for example feels almost like it could have been written by Chimaira's Rob Arnold, and the huge string bends at the beginning of 'Chains' sound a little like recent Cannibal Corpse tracks in a subtle sort of a way.

Enslaved also carves its own position in the Soulfly catalogue by having removed all traces of the World Music interludes, intros and outros that had peppered all of the band's previous work to at least some extent. Furthermore, the band even went as far as not including a Self-Titled instrumental track in the main album like they had always done on previous records (although one does crop up on the special edition. )

One thing that Soulfly have never been able to stop themselves doing however is include guest appearances by other famous musicians, and on Enslaved this once again proves to be the case as Dez Fafara of Devildriver sings on the track "Redemption Of Man By God," while Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation appears on the surprisingly Death Metal influenced lead single `World Scum.'

Overall, Enslaved is a strong, well written and immaculately produced album by a confident and mature band. The direction is dark, precise and heavy modern metal music with a lot of shredding, a lot of speed and no messing around. If your favourite Soulfly albums were the first two and you don't usually enjoy any Thrash or Extreme Metal then it might not be what you wanted, but if you have enjoyed the direction that the band have been heading in for the last three or four albums then you will be happy to find them charging further down that path and sounding good doing it.
Comment Read more ›

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Heaviest Soulfly Album Yet April 3, 2012

By J. Hill TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

Max Cavalera has been taking Soulfly in a heavier direction for several albums now, but the last one, Omen, slowed things down somewhat. Now, Enslaved is here to kick everything back into massive overdrive. This CD will cave in a few skulls when unsuspecting listeners pop it in and wait for Max to "go through the motions" with some standard groove metal. In my opinion, these songs resemble Sepultura's sound more than any other Soulfly release, but it's not a straight Sep sound; you can hear the unmistakable stamp of both bands in almost every song. Cavalera and company thrash it out from one track to the next, refusing to let up for a moment. Even the slower sections crush, like on Legions and American Steel, where the groove is more about head-stomping than jumping around. Combined with their past discography, this album solidifies Soulfly's legacy as a top-tier metal band. Incredible.

By the third and fourth Soulfly albums, the band seemed to have grown comfortable with a familiar formula, giving the impression in their music of repetition and simplicity, which also carried over into the song arrangements. Lyrics kept getting more and more simplistic, songs got shorter, and a certain lack of fire spawned many Soulfly critics who suggested Max was losing some of his creativity. Enslaved puts those notions to rest. Each song is fleshed out; they all feel complete in a way they didn't on Omen, and to some extent, Conquer. Riffs have more drive, new drummer Dave Kinkade absolutely rips it up on drums, and new bassist Tony Campos lays a crushing bottom-heavy foundation. Much of the melody brought by Marc Rizzo on the last few albums has been replaced with pure speed and aggression, though his skills still shine with some choice classical and flamenco interludes.... Make no mistake, Max was out to make a statement with Enslaved, and he's succeeded. I'm happy to say this is a full-fledged five-star album for Max Cavalera and Soulfly! For anyone interested, here's a closer look at a few highlights.

Resistance--Short intro track with some Chaos A.D. power-drill guitars and shouted-word vocals.

World Scum--Death metal destruction with Cattle Decapitation vocalist.

Intervention--Relentless thrash assault with old-school sound.

American Steel--Meaty riffing, powerful drumming, and a HEAVY breakdown.

Redemption of Man by God and Treachery--Ultra-heavy speed-groove, with nice vocals by Dez from Devildriver on Redemption.

Plata O Plomo--Old Soulfly tradition of Portuguese lyrics with a stomping beat and great riffs.

Chains--Epic track, over seven minutes, that runs the gamut of Soulfly's metal repertoire with thrash, groove, and even a blast beat.

Revengeance--Max and his sons finish the album with an almost Nailbomb sense of industrial heaviness.

Great bonus tracks on the special edition include the thrasher Slave, which ends with some classic lines from Tribe off the first Soulfly album. Next, Bastard might be the most standard track of the whole collection, sounding like a basic groove-based Soulfly song that could be on just about any release. Finally, the eighth installment of the Soulfly instrumentals is the first to incorporate a violin, throwing an entirely new twist on the spiritual, tribal element for which these tracks have come to be known, and strengthening the overall sense that each musician involved put everything they had into the making of Enslaved. Read more ›