Dark Ages (album)

2005 studio album by Soulfly

Dark Ages

Studio album by

Soulfly

Released| October 4, 2005 (2005-10-04)
Recorded| 2005
Studio| The Saltmine Studio Oasis, Mesa, Arizona
Genre|

* Thrash metal
* groove metal
* death 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

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
Allmusic| [7]
Blabbermouth.net| 8/10[6]
Blogcritics| [8]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal| 7/10[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

[edit]

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

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"|  | 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:| 66:25

Japanese & limited edition digipakNo.| Title| Lyrics| Length

|
|
|

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

[edit]

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"
* 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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.

* v
* t
* e

Soulfly

* Max Cavalera
* Zyon Cavalera
* Mike DeLeon
* Igor Amadeus Cavalera

* Marcelo "Cello" Dias
* Roy Mayorga
* Jackson Bandeira
* Logan Mader
* Mikey Doling
* Joe Nuñez
* Bobby Burns
* David Kinkade
* Tony Campos
* Marc Rizzo
* Mike Leon

Studio albums|

* Soulfly (1998)
* Primitive (2000)
* 3 (2002)
* Prophecy (2004)
* Dark Ages (2005)
* Conquer (2008)
* Omen (2010)
* Enslaved (2012)
* Savages (2013)
* Archangel (2015)
* Ritual (2018)
* Totem (2022)

Extended plays|

* Tribe (1999)

Videos|

* The Song Remains Insane (2005)

Singles|

* "Eye for an Eye"
* "Umbabarauma"
* "Bleed"
* "Tribe"
* "Back to the Primitive"
* "Son Song"
* "Prophecy"
* "Unleash"
* "Blood Fire War Hate"
* "World Scum"
* "Bloodshed"
* "Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla"
* "We Sold Our Souls to Metal"

Notable songs|

* "El Comegente"

Related articles|

* Discography
* List of Soulfly members
* Sepultura
* Cavalera Conspiracy
* Killer Be Killed
* Nailbomb
* Incite
* Static-X
* Possessed
* Ministry
* Asesino
* Ill Niño
* Borknagar
* Primer 55
* Megadeth
* Channel Zero
* Snot
* Stone Sour
* Amebix
* Nausea
* Shelter
* Against All Will
* Machine Head
* Medication
* Nação Zumbi
* Once Human
* Lody Kong

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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