Psychosis

***Psychosis*** is the fourth Cavalera Conspiracy album, released on November 17, 2017.

## Title

Max Cavalera chose the title *Psychosis* due to his current worldview. He said we are living in an "age of psychopathy" with psychopaths everywhere. These are reflected in lyrics in seven of the songs.

## Music and lyrics

This is mainly considered a deathrash album. The album has other genres on top of that, including groove metal (such as in "Terror Tactics"), industrial metal (especially prominent in "Hellfire"), black metal (such as heard in "Judas Pariah"), grindcore, and some tribal elements (such as in the instrumental title track). The first five tracks of this album resemble late 80s/early 90s Sepultura mentioning the albums *Beneath the Remains*, *Arise*, and *Chaos A.D.* The second half of this album has greater assortment of sounds. There are occasional use of synthesizers and couple other unusual instruments like jaw-harp on "Excruciating" and hurdy-gurdy on "Judas Pariah". Many tracks have ambience in the end that segue into next tracks.

Many reviewers and fans say this is the closest album the Cavaleras get to Sepultura fronted by Max and Igor. Despite the album cover is in the same class as *Roots*, the album is not quite similar musically to *Roots*. Numerous Max Cavalera fans say *Psychosis* is like a spiritual successor to *Arise*, nicknaming that *Arise II*.

The lyrical themes of this album are war, terror, the current psychotic state of the world, and touches of history conspiracies from Max's beliefs that governments were responsible for those, such as the assassination of JFK and 9/11. The only song of the album that does not discuss any of these topics is "Crom", which mentions about the events that take place in the movie *Conan the Barbarian*.

## Tracklist

1. "Insane" (released as single) – 3:50
2. "Terror Tactics" – 4:57
3. "Impalement Execution" – 4:25
4. "Spectral War" (released as single) – 5:03
5. "Crom" (feat. Jason Tarpey) – 5:29
6. "Hellfire" (feat. Justin Broadrick) – 3:10
7. "Judas Pariah" – 3:52
8. "Psychosis" (instrumental) – 3:59
9. "Excruciating" (feat. Jose Mangin) – 6:22

## Reviews

* Kyle McGinn of *Dead Rhetoric* (8.5/10) – "*Psychosis* is an exciting and frenetic album that successfully merges the abrasion of their previous/retro material and brings it up to speed with a more modern finish. Without question, the strongest Cavalera Conspiracy release to date, and sure to excite fans both young and old."
* Brendan 'Unholydarklotus' Fisher of *Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life* (9.5/10) – "*Psychosis* is nearly faultless. Mixing fast and furious metal would produce a feeling of nostalgia around the old Sepultura sound. The drums, guitars and vocals married together to perform a ruthless assault on your body and mind. It is Cavalera Conspiracy’s best release so far. The Cavalera brothers are an unstoppable force."
* Vaim of *GRIMM Gent* (8.4/10) – "Cavalera Conspiracy really hit its stride with *Psychosis*! It feels like we're on a trip through memory lane with some of the strongest tracks they've done since Sepultura and that could've perfectly featured on the albums of said band. And all of that without sounding old, dull or outdated... absolutely crushing!"
* Dave Griffiths of HEAVY Magazine (4/5) – "This is brutal music at its best and shows that the Cavalera brothers are genuine modern day geniuses."
* Joshua Bulleid of *Heavy Blog Is Heavy* – "*Psychosis* is a virtually flawless and surprisingly varied and experimental release that stands alongside *Killer Be Killed*, *Inflikted* and *Dark Ages* as one of the best records either of the Cavalera brothers have produced following their initial separation, and arguably beyond."
* Chad Bowar of *Loudwire* – "*Psychosis* is an extremely streamlined album. They've pared off nearly every inch of fat and filler, leaving straightforward and focused slabs of grade A metal.
* Jason Deaville of *Metal Injection* (9.5/10) – "It is a spiritual successor to those long ago days when Max and his Brazilian compadres were on top of the world. *Psychosis* reiterates how incredibly important both Max and Igor are to the entirety of the extreme metal genre. It is now more apparent than ever that Cavalera Conspiracy are Sepultura."
* Zoran of *Metal Revolution* (70%) – "Songs are stripped down of just about any unnecessary fat, which serves them extremely well. It’s a welcoming addition to Max Cavalera’s post-Sepultura discography"
* Carl O'Rourke of *Metal Wani* (9/10) – "Cavalera Conspiracy's *Psychosis* is a musical force of nature, as well as a reflection on, and of, the chaos of our time."
* Fausto Casais of *Music and Riots* – "*Psychosis* is a masterful album, undeniably fresh, strangely weird and full of contemporary methods of sonic brutalization."
* *SonicAbuse* (10/10) – "This is the most exciting, adventurous Cavalera Conspiracy album to date. Embrace the darkness – *Psychosis* is one hell of a ride."
* travislausch of Ultimate-Guitar.Com (7.7/10) – "*Psychosis* is an incredibly solid record, with tight songwriting and production, a high degree of musicianship, a huge amount of mosh-pit-inducing fun, and just enough raw brutality to keep any fan of extreme metal happy, but also enough variety in tempos and atmospheres to keep the record sounding fresh and interesting the whole way through."

* Amazon.com
* ANTICHRIST Metalzine
* *AudioVein Entertainment* (4.5/5)
* Blabbermouth.net (9/10)
* *CrypticRock* (4/5)
* *Damnation Magazine* (4.5/5)
* Das Metal Magazine (9.4/10)
* Distorted Sound Magazine (8/10)
* Encyclopaedia Metallum
* *Escuta Essa Review*
* *Exclaim!* (9/10)
* Ghost Cult Magazine (9/10)
* *Grande Rock ezine* (7/10)
* *Grizzly Butts* (3/5)
* *Heavy Music Headquarters* (4/5)
* *Last Day Deaf*
* laut.de (4/5)
* *Live Metal* (9.5/10)
* *Louder* (3.5/5)
* *Maximum Volume Music* (7/10)
* Metal1.info (8.5/10)
* *Metal Addicts*
* Metalfan.be (93/100)

* *Metal Storm* (7/10)
* *MetalSucks* (4/5)
* Metal-Temple.com (10/10)
* *MHF* (75/100)
* *MonkHammer*
* The Moshville Times
* *Neckbreaker* (8/10)
* New Noise Magazine (4.5/5)
* *OUTBURN ONLINE* (9/10)
* *Overdrive Music Magazine*
* PureGrainAudio.com (9.5/10)
* *Spreaker*
* *Rank and Revue*
* *Rock and Roll Fables*
* *Sea of Tranquility* (3.5/5)
* *SkullsNBones*
* *STACK*
* *Steve Savage*
* *Valkyries Webzine* (8/10)
* the void report
* YouTube
* YouTube (5/5)

## Personnel

**Band performers**

* Max Cavalera – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
* Marc Rizzo – lead guitar, backing vocals
* Igor Cavalera – drums, percussion

**Guest/session performers**

* Arthur Rizk – bass guitar, noise, synthesizer
* Jason Tarpey – vocals on "Crom"
* Roki Abdelaziz – spoken intro on "Crom"
* Justin Broadrick – vocals on "Hellfire"
* Jose Mangin – spoken outro on "Excruciating"
* Dominick Fernow – synthesizer on "Spectral War", "Hellfire" and "Excruciating"
* Christian Cavalera – hurdy-gurdy on "Judas Pariah"
* Aaron Jaws Homoki – jaw-harp on "Excruciating"
* Roy Young – didgeridoo on "Excruciating"

**Songwriters**

* **Max Cavalera** – lyrics, music
* Igor Cavalera – intro music on "Psychosis"
* Laima Leyton – intro music on "Psychosis"

**Production**

* Produced, engineered and mixed by Arthur Rizk
* Engineered by John Aquilino
* Mastered by Joel Grind

**Management**

* Managed by Gloria Cavalera of Oasis Management
* A&R by Monte Conner

**Artworking**

* Artwork by Peter Sallai
* Illustrations by Leonardo da Vinci
* Layout by Branca Studio
* Cover created by Péter Sallai

**Booking**

* Booking for North America by Dan Rozenblum of Template:Agency
* Booking for worldwide by Steve Zapp of Template:Agency

Music & lyrics
Tracklist
Reviews
Personnel

Music & lyrics
Tracklist
Reviews
Personnel

Music & lyrics
Tracklist
Reviews
Personnel

Music & lyrics
Tracklist
Reviews
Personnel