Soulfly – Chama Review

Max Cavalera casts one hell of a shadow in metal, with a wide swath of bands he’s either founded or played alongside. Though Cavalera’s mightiest legacy will be his time with Sepultura, he’s been with Soulfly over twice as long. In that time, Max and company have written and recorded thirteen albums. On latest offering Chama,¹ the elder Cavalera relinquished producing credits and creative focus to his son and Soulfly’s drummer, Zyon, providing an opportunity for a fresh direction. Chama’s loose concept centers around a boy surviving in Brazil’s favelas.² In the wake of his environment’s pandemonium, the boy ignites a spark for something greater, leading him into the Amazonian wilderness to kindle his inner spirit amongst the native tribes. Getting back to one’s roots is a theme explored throughout Max’s career, and one that has informed the band’s sound since the beginning. Does Chama find Soulfly going back to the primitive, or just going through the motions?

With Zyon at the artistic helm, Chama filters Soulfly’s signature sound through a darker lens and enlists a slew of support. Chama feels like a natural progression from 2022’s Totem, which embraced a more calloused aesthetic after guitarist Marc Rizzo’s departure. Where Ritual’s thrashy tendencies welded melody with indigenous flair, Totem pitched Soulfly’s sound into darker territory. Chama continues this descent, adding industrial heft that imbues extra grit into the record’s grim sound (“Ghenna,” “Black Hole Scum”). This suits the narrative’s backdrop as ‘the boy’ escapes from the overpopulated slums of a developing nation. And speaking of overcrowding, Soulfly puts out the call to arms to help Chama arise (again). The album features Fear Factory’s Dino Cazares (“No Pain = No Power”), Nails’s Todd Jones (“Nihilist”), Arch Enemy’s Michael Amott (“Ghenna”), and vocal appearances from No Warning’s Ben Cook and Unto Others’s Gabe Franco.³ Throughout the album, Igor Amadeus Cavalera handles low-end duty while Mike DeLeon (Flesh Hoarder, Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals) picks and wails on guitar.

Rather than dulling Soulfly’s bite, age has only honed the veteran act’s edge and intensity. The last ten years have seen the band shift away from sprawling structures, preferring ten (mostly) focused tracks in under forty-five minutes. Chama ups the ante, clocking in at only thirty-three. First proper song “Storm the Gates” launches with Max in fighting form, roaring with as much vitriol as ever while he commands us to, “Fight the power, fight the greed.’ “Ghenna” and “Favela/Dystopia” further evidence Max’s conviction, tightly channeling his righteous indignation. “Favela/Dystopia” and “Black Hole Scum,” meanwhile, conjure Ministry’s mid-90s atmosphere, evoking Filth Pig’s sludgy swamp stomp between intermittent bursts of drums ‘n’ chugs. Zyon finds moments to abuse his kit with satisfying zeal, where “Storm the Gates” and “Ghenna” highlight his performance, and Igor Amadeus’s bass asserts a self-possessed and audible sweet spot in the mix.

With so much going right on Chama, it’s a shame there isn’t more of it. This is the first time that I can accuse Soulfly of not supplying enough material, though a solid thirty-three minutes could have been enough. However, with two-minute intro “Indigenous Inquisition,” four-minute instrumental “Soulfly XIII,” the unnecessarily long intro to “Always Was, Always Will Be…” and the outro in the last half of “Chama,” we’re left with about twenty-five minutes of proper meat over this flame. That’s not quite enough to sate the requirements of a full-length,⁴ and the remaining songs don’t afford enough variety or substance to stand on their own. In isolation, individual songs get in, jumpdafuckup, and get out, but altogether, Chama feels light by a song or two.

Chama attests that Soulfly has gas in the tank and a destination in mind, and Cavaleras & Co. prove they can still pen a rousing anthem and bring it. While I can’t say this about every Soulfly album, Chama feels vital and important to the band, and that authenticity seeps into the sludge and the fury. The filler-to-killer ratio holds Chama back, but it’s a worthwhile listen for anyone curious what Max is up to these days or with half an hour to pass. Those familiar with Soulfly won’t be surprised at what they hear, but I wager many will appreciate how the band has distilled Chama into a controlled burn.

Rating: Good
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Websites: Official Website | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: October 24th, 2025