Dark Ages (album)

Dark Ages
Studio album by
Soulfly
ReleasedOctober 4, 2005 (2005-10-04)
Recorded2005
StudioThe Saltmine Studio Oasis, Mesa, Arizona
Genre
Length
LabelRoadrunner
ProducerMax Cavalera[1]
Soulfly chronology
Prophecy
(2004) 		Dark Ages
(2005) 		Conquer
(2008)
Singles from Dark Ages
  1. "Carved Inside"
    Released: September 25, 2005
  2. "Frontlines"
    Released: February 7, 2006

Dark Ages is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Soulfly. It was released on October 4, 2005.

Album information

The album explores aggression and dark themes to mourn the deaths of Max Cavalera's 8-month-old grandson, Moses, and his close friend Dimebag Darrell.[2] Dark Ages was recorded in five countries – Serbia, Turkey, Russia, France, and the United States. Cavalera praised this album by calling it "unorthodox metal".[3]

Songs

The album opens with an intro track "The Dark Ages", which continues into "Babylon", which explores worldwide chaos. "Arise Again" combines Metallica-like riffs and Sepultura-like echoes.[4]

"Corrosion Creeps" is dedicated to Chuck Schuldiner of Death.[5] "Fuel the Hate" begins with the lyric line 'Monday, July 16, 1945, 5:30am', exact time and date when 'Trinity' nuclear test occurred. It was around this time that the lyrical themes began to move away from the earlier spiritual themes and began incorporating more violent and aggressive elements. Richie Cavalera, Max's son, co-sings on "Staystrong" as a tribute to youthful deaths of Moses and Dana.[2]

The outro for "Bleak" was recorded in an ancient temple in Istanbul to capture echoes to include as common sound effect on this album.[3] "Molotov" lyrics are in Russian, Portuguese, and a final verse in English. The performance of Billy Milano, one of two guests for "Molotov", was recorded over the phone by Max.[2] "Riotstarter" contains strong tribal chants, and "Innerspirit" blends clean and melodic vocals by the guest Coyote over the roars by Cavalera.[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[7]
Blabbermouth.net8/10[6]
Blogcritics[8]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[9]

AllMusic had a positive response, because the album has greater complexity of metal than any of the previous album, thus refreshing the band with veterans present.[7] Blogcritics had a very good response, as "Cavalera is screaming louder and harder than ever throughout. He's raging harder and in a higher range than he's been in years, and it's a welcome improvement."[8]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Max Cavalera except where stated; all music is composed by Max Cavalera

No.TitleLyricsLength
1."The Dark Ages" 0:48
2."Babylon" 3:53
3."I and I" 3:15
4."Carved Inside" 3:35
5."Arise Again" 4:10
6."Molotov" (feat. Paul Fillipenko & Billy Milano)Max Cavalera, Pavel Fillipenko, Billy Milano1:58
7."Frontlines" 4:34
8."Innerspirit" (feat. Nemanja "Coyote" Kojić)Max Cavalera, Nemanja Kojić, Bojan Stojanovic5:15
9."Corrosion Creeps" 4:27
10."Riotstarter" (feat. David Ellefson) 5:00
11."Bleak" 4:57
12."(The) March" 1:19
13."Fuel the Hate" 4:12
14."Staystrong" (feat. Richie Cavalera)Max Cavalera, Richie Cavalera8:14
15."Soulfly V" (instrumental) (includes an untitled hidden track at 7:15) 10:54
Total length:66:25
Japanese & limited edition digipak
No.TitleLyricsLength
16."Salmo-91"(taken from Psalm 91)4:24
17."Prophecy" (Live at Metalmania 2004) 3:27
18."Seek 'n' Strike" (Live at Metalmania 2004) 4:15
Total length:78:29

Personnel

Chart positions

Chart (2000) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 41
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] 19
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12] 64
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13] 68
French Albums (SNEP)[14] 49
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 29
Italian Albums (FIMI)[16] 91
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[17] 54
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] 44
US Billboard 200[19] 155

References

  1. ^ "SOULFLY: 'Dark Ages' Final Track Listing Revealed". News. BlabberMouth. June 7, 2005.
  2. ^ a b c "Soulfly - Dark Ages". Reviews. Alternative-Zine.com. November 7, 2006. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Review: "Soulfly: Dark Ages"". Sea of Tranquility. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  4. ^ Tom Day (October 3, 2005). "Soulfly - Dark Ages". Album Reviews. musicOMH. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  5. ^ "SOULFLY: New MAX CAVALERA Audio/Video Interview Posted Online". BlabberMouth. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013.
  6. ^ a b "CD Reviews". Blabbermouth.net. Archived from the original on September 13, 2007.
  7. ^ a b "Dark Ages - Soulfly". AllMusic.
  8. ^ a b richwithhatred (July 26, 2005). "Review – Soulfly – The Dark Ages". Blogcritics. Archived from the original on January 5, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  9. ^ Popoff, Martin; Perri, David (2011). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 4: The '00s. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 460. ISBN 9781-926592-20-6.
  10. ^ "Soulfly - Dark Ages". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  11. ^ "Soulfly - Dark Ages" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  12. ^ "Soulfly - Dark Ages" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  13. ^ "Soulfly - Dark Ages" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  14. ^ "Soulfly - Dark Ages" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  15. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  16. ^ "Soulfly - Dark Ages". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  17. ^ "Soulfly - Dark Ages". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  18. ^ "Soulfly - Dark Ages". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  19. ^ "Soulfly Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 7, 2021.