Soulfly - Archangel - Album Review - Groovy Death Metal from Los Angeles, USA

Favourite:

Song - Titans
Deep cut - Deceiver
Solo - Deceiver
Riff - Ishtar Rising intro
Lyric - “draw blood, first blood, the levee breaks the flood” - Live Life Hard!

Just based off of the singles and the artwork from “Ritual” compared to that of “Archangel” I hope it’s not too bold of me to assume that we can expect a sequel of sorts tomorrow...

Soulfly’s previous release - “Archangel” (2015, death groove) hits you in the face with beautifully crafted metal melodies, riffs, vocals, and thrash drums all heavily layered together.

The album kicks off with a classic metal-loving song “We Sold Our Souls To Metal” which fades away and blends perfectly into the title track “Archangel” which has a much more industrial/Slipknot feel which is fucking awesome.

What gets me really excited listening to this record and then comparing it to the singles off of “Ritual” is how suspenseful the intros on “Archangel” are, although they do nothing compared to the intros on the singles off of “Ritual”. That gets me really excited, knowing that they’re taking the good elements from their previous album and developing them. But that’s enough about tomorrow’s release. Back to “Archangel.”

What I love about Soulfly is they aren’t a band that focuses on one genre, or multiple sub genres fused together, but that they’re bold and out there and not afraid to mix all these well known genres together. I mean just by the end of the second track I’ve heard elements of groove, thrash, death, progressive, nu-metal and tribal metal.

Tracklist:

1. "We Sold Our Souls to Metal"
2. "Archangel"
3. "Sodomites" (feat. Todd Jones)
4. "Ishtar Rising"
5. "Live Life Hard!" (feat. Matt Young)
6. "Shamash"
7. "Bethlehem's Blood"
8. "Titans"
9. "Deceiver"
10. "Mother of Dragons" (feat. Richie Cavalera, Igor Cavalera Jr. and Anahid)

What I also appreciate about this album is those really clean and unique guitar melodies that pop out of nowhere, then disappear, only to reappear in the background later in the song. “Deceiver” and “Acosador Nocturno” are definitely the most technical song on the album, at least for the guitars which take on a very Meshuggah vibe while experimenting with polyrhythms.

Overall this album is fucking fantastic, a solid effort in Soulfly’s soon to be 11 album discography. I cannot wait for tomorrow’s release. Stay tuned!

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