Dark Ages (album)

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

Dark Ages
Studio album by Soulfly
Released	October 4, 2005
Recorded	2005
Genre	Thrash metal death metal groove metal
Length	66:25 78:29 (digipak)
Label	Roadrunner
Producer	Max Cavalera[1]
Soulfly chronology
Prophecy (2004) Dark Ages (2005) Conquer (2008)
Singles from Dark Ages
"Carved Inside" Released: September 25, 2005 "Frontlines" Released: February 7, 2006

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.[4] "Arise Again" combines Metallica-like riffs and Sepultura-like echoes.[5]

"Corrosion Creeps" is dedicated to Chuck Schuldiner of Death.[6] "Fuel the Hate" begins with the lyric line 'Monday, July 16, 1945, 5:30am',[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[10]
Blabbermouth.net	[9]
Blogcritics	[11]

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.[10] 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."[11]

Track listing

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

Dark Ages

No.	Title	Lyrics	Length
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 Milano	1:58
7.	"Frontlines" (feat. Kerry King)		4:34
8.	"Innerspirit" (feat. Nemanja "Coyote" Kojić)	Max Cavalera, Nemanja Kojić, Bojan Stojanovic	5:15
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 Cavalera	8:14
15.	"Soulfly V" (Instrumental) (includes an untitled hidden track at 7:15)		10:54
Total length:			1:06:25

Japanese & Limited Edition Digipack

No.	Title	Lyrics	Length
16.	"Salmo-91"	(taken from Psalm 91)	4:24
17.	"Prophecy" (Live at Metalmania Festival 2004)		3:27
18.	"Seek 'n' Strike" (Live at Metalmania Festival 2004)		4:15
Total length:			1:18:29

Personnel

Soulfly Max Cavalera - vocals, 4-string guitar, berimbau, sitar, didgeridoo Marc Rizzo - lead guitar, flamenco guitar Bobby Burns - bass Joe Nunez - drums, percussion Additional musicians Nemanja "Coyote" Kojić - vocals on "Innerspirit" Pavel Fillipenko - vocals on "Molotov" Billy Milano - vocals on "Molotov" David Ellefson - bass on "Riotstarter" Kerry King - lead guitar on "Frontlines" Richie Cavalera - vocals on "Staystrong" Stefane Goldman - sitar, mandolin, acoustic guitar, keyboards Alexander Yushin - bayan Alexsander Hrenov - balalaika, wooden spoons, treshchotka Vitaly Hrenov - contrabass balalaika John Gray - synth programming

Production Max Cavalera - production John Gray - recording, engineering, digital editing, mixing on "Molotov" and "(The) March", additional mixing on "Soulfly V" John Bilberry - assistant engineering Matt Marksbary - assistant engineering Justin Salter - assistant engineering Terry Date - mixing June Murakawa - assisting Milan "Bare" Barković - engineering Alexkid - engineering Darya Jubenko - engineering Gloria Cavalera - executive production Ted Jensen - mastering Monte Conner - A&R Management Gloria Cavalera - management Christina Stojanovic - management Artwork Michael Whelan - illustrations Mr. Scott Design - art direction Leo Zuletta - Soulfly logo

Chart positions

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
2005	The Billboard 200	155

References

1. "SOULFLY: 'Dark Ages' Final Track Listing Revealed". News. BlabberMouth. June 7, 2005.
2. "Soulfly - Dark Ages". Reviews. Alternative-Zine.com. 2006-11-07. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
3. "Review: "Soulfly: Dark Ages"". Sea of Tranquility. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
4. Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
5. Tom Day (3 Oct 2005). "Soulfly - Dark Ages". Album Reviews. musicOMH. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
6. "SOULFLY: New MAX CAVALERA Audio/Video Interview Posted Online". BlabberMouth. Archived from the original on 2013-02-01.
7. Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
8. Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
9. "CD Reviews". Blabbermouth.net. Archived from the original on 2007-09-13.
10. "Dark Ages - Soulfly". Allmusic.
11. richwithhatred (July 26, 2005). "Review – Soulfly – The Dark Ages". Blogcritics.