CAVALERA CONSPIRACY — Pandemonium (review)

CAVALERA CONSPIRACY — Pandemonium album cover Album · 2014 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Pandemonium" is the third full-length studio album by Brazilian thrash/groove metal act Cavalera Conspiracy. The album was released through Napalm Records in October 2014. It´s the successor to "Blunt Force Trauma" from 2011 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as bassist Johny Chow (Stone Sour) has been replaced by Nate Newton (The Ocean Collective, Doomriders, Old Man Gloom). The usual suspects are Max Cavalera on guitars and lead vocals, Igor Cavalera on drums and percussion, and Marc Rizzo on guitars.

Stylistically "Pandemonium" leans a bit more towards the thrash metal past of the Cavalera brothers than the two previous releases, but still features a lot of heavy grooves and the occasional ethnic trial music moment (although it´s mostly the limited edition bonus track "Porra" which falls into that catagory). "Pandemonium" features quite a few fast-paced thrashy sections and the distinct sounding shouting raw vocals of Max Cavalera and it´s generally a highly energetic, heavy, and aggressive album. The lead guitar work of Rizzo is of high class and his playing is both varied and intriguing.

The opening track "Babylonian Pandemonium" is one of the highlights of the album, but "Pandemonium" is generally a well written and effective release. The sound production is professional, raw, and detailed, and the musicianship is top notch. So on most parameters "Pandemonium" is a good quality release. There are elements which aren´t as great as others though, and I´d mention some of the thrashy riffs, which do sound a little uninspired (especially compared to what the brothers produced on the late 80s/early 90s thrash metal releases by Sepultura) and the idea to often put distorting effects on Max Cavalera´s voice. It doesn´t sound great and contributes to "Pandemonium" being an album I seldom return to. With the talent involved in the creation of "Pandemonium", I just think I expect more. Still a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 7 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 7 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed