Soulfly – Enslaved

Anyone even vaguely familiar with Soulfly will probably know the drill by this point in the band's career, and indeed, those who have been following along over the years will be glad to know that the main ingredients remain on their eighth full-length: textbook nu-metal riffs, furiously stringent drumming and lyrical themes addressing spirituality, war, and other well-worn topics – all accompanied by ex-Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera's notoriously throaty roar, of course.

It's a well-tested formula which works fine, but it runs the risk of turning stagnant in a musical landscape populated by so many innovative metal acts. Recent albums have seen a few head-turning guest performances, matched here by an equally ferocious appearance from Cattle Decapitation's Travis Ryan, sporting a terrifying death-growl on lead single World Scum. Such turns on Enslaved do render it Soulfly's most extreme album to date, and despite its vague 'political' message this is mindless fun at best.