Soulfly – Chama

Written by on 15-11-2025 at 08:56.

Max Cavalera seems to be tireless. Deep into his fifties, the Brazilian still manages to bring something new to his audience every year. Over the past two years, that included covers of Sepultura songs with Cavalera Conspiracy, and in 2022, Totem — the previous Soulfly record — hit the record stores. With Chama, we’ve reached the thirteenth album, and the flame clearly still burns bright for Max and his son Zyon. “Chama,” translated from Portuguese, also means “flame.” It catches the eye, though, that this newcomer only runs for just over half an hour, which is quite a contrast to the band’s early years.

As far as Soulfly goes, my opinion has definitely changed compared to about twenty years ago. Of course, those early days were glorious. The band was very much a product of its time, channeling Sepultura’s jungle power and injecting it with a heavy dose of nu-metal. Hiphop, Fred Durst, and Slipknot influences came and went. With Dark Ages, I had something of a “nomen est omen” moment, as Soulfly seemed to descend into the medieval era, searching for a new identity. That stubbornness from Max is something I only started to appreciate later on, because when you listen to Soulfly it always has those trademark groovy or thrashy moments, yet every record sounds different. Nowadays, I find lesser-known albums like Conquer (2008) or the excellent Ritual (2018) to be truly outstanding work.

Somehow, Totem didn’t quite hit the mark for me, but with Chama, you’re presented with something very different and that becomes clear right from the opener, Indigenous Inquisition. The sound is less polished than on previous records, fitting nicely within a darker sludge atmosphere. A thick, hazy wall of guitars hits you and transitions into Storm the Gates, where father and son experiment successfully with djent passages, still underpinned by a primal vibe. The mood continues on the excellent Nihilist, featuring Todd Jones from the American hardcore band Nails. It’s a very charged track, with a few fiery solos but mainly that dragging, crushing wall of sound.

You’ll want to check out No Pain = No Power. On this groovy, dense track, clean vocals appear courtesy of guest singers Gabriel Franco from the American band Unto Others and Ben Cook from Canada’s No Warning. Personally, I lean more toward the chaos of Ghenna, where the Cavaleras team up with Michael Amott (Arch Enemy). Definitely not accessible, but Soulfly has plenty of approachable songs in its back catalog. Black Hole Scum doesn’t make it to radio either, brimming with old-school death metal energy in the guitars, drums, and vocals.

No thrash, then? Of course there is. With Favela/Dystopia, you may not get the best Cavalera thrash song ever, but it kicks off with some satisfying thrashing before sliding back into old-school death territory. You can hear what Max has been immersed in these past few years. After the filler track Always Was, Always Will Be… and the inevitable instrumental Soulfly, the duo still manages to close with a powerhouse. The title track again builds on those djent-style grooves, dreamy vocals, and thrashy bursts, before suddenly dropping all the grooves halfway through and ending in a semi-acoustic, synth-rich atmosphere. Completely out of step with the rest of the album, but by now, that’s practically a trademark for these Brazilians.

The shortest, yet perhaps the most unusual Soulfly album to date. The thirteenth record by these gentlemen is definitely not a “thirteen-a-dozen” release — unless your daily egg carton is already full of djent, dark chaotic grooves, old-school death, thrash, and a hefty dose of dark spirituality. Chama makes for a strange omelet, but it’s one that tastes pretty damn good.

Score:

80/100

Label:

Nuclear Blast Records, 2025

Tracklisting:

  1. Indigenous Inquisition
  2. Storm the Gates
  3. Nihilist
  4. No Pain = No Power
  5. Ghenna
  6. Black Hole Scum
  7. Favela / Dystopia
  8. Always Was, Always Will Be…
  9. Soulfly XIII
  10. Chama

Line-up:

  • Max Cavalera – Vocals, guitar, bass
  • Zyon Cavalera – Drums, percussion

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