Chama

Chama

With a title that translates to “Flame,” Soulfly’s 13th album sees ringleader Max Cavalera returning to his South American roots. Chama tells the story of a boy raised in Brazil’s favelas who seeks a higher power in the jungles of the Amazon. On opening invocation “Indigenous Inquisition,” Cavalera recites the names of extinguished native tribes before launching into the percussion-heavy “Storm the Gates,” a track reminiscent of his work on Sepultura’s groundbreaking 1996 world music/nu-metal fusion album, Roots. The star-studded “No Pain = No Power” features cameos from Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares, Unto Others mastermind Gabriel Franco, and No Warning vocalist Ben Cook, while Arch Enemy guitar wizard Michael Amott lends a blistering solo to “Ghenna” and NAILS lead singer Todd Jones takes a vocal turn on “Nihilist,” a track dedicated to fallen Entombed vocalist L.G. Petrov.