The hardest working brothers in heavy metal, Max and Igor Cavalera, are back with a brand new Cavalera Conspiracy album. When Heavy Mag spoke to Max earlier this year, he promised us that he had been working on some of his heaviest music to date and Psychosis certainly bears the fruit of that. This is nine tracks of brutality that is going to make you fall even more in love with the work of the Cavaleras.
There are so many points of brilliance all throughout Psychosis, but the brutality starts with opening track ‘Insane’ which at times sees Marc Rizzo’s guitar playing sound like warning alarms before the track ends with a pure haunting finale that promises something special from the rest of the album. Rizzo’s guitar work is also a standout on ‘Terror Tactics’ while the thinking man’s lyricist Max Cavalera delivers some thought-provoking messages in vocals that also serve as a dire warning.
The brutality continues with ‘Impalement Execution’ while some terrific guitar work and Max’s brilliant vocals bring everything together so well on ‘Spectral War’ it is easy one of the best heavy tracks of the year. Iggor’s drumming comes to life on ‘Crom’ making it one of the heaviest tracks this band has ever created. That brilliant work continues ‘Hellfire’ where the drumming feels like a war going on.
‘Judas Pariah’ is another stand-out on the album. Again it is Cavalera Conspiracy at its brutal best, but while so many heavy bands would attempt this and just result in ‘noise’, you can hear every bit of the song come together. Guitars, bass and drums come together in perfect unison, and it reminds you just how special this band is. The album then closes with two more outstanding tracks. The title track is a Soulfly instrumental, heavy and distorted while showing pure genius. That is then followed by the haunting ‘Excruciating’ which declares only ‘death is real.’ It is the perfect ending for an album that delivers poetic lyrics all the way through.
Cavalera Conspiracy has delivered a spectacular album with ‘Psychosis.’ This is brutal music at its best and shows that the Cavalera brothers are genuine modern day geniuses.
