Inflikted

***Inflikted*** is the first Cavalera Conspiracy album, released on March 25, 2008.

This is the first album where Max Cavalera and his brother Igor are co-bandmates since *Roots*, they're last Sepultura album together 12 years prior to the release. *Inflikted* is the seventh album by Cavalera brothers and the twelfth by Max at least himself (counting five by Soulfly between last Sepultura album with Max and the first Cavalera Conspiracy album, though at the time of the release their sixth Soulfly album was in development).

## Summary

Max Cavalera said this album would be similar to Sepultura's early death/thrash-metal recordings but it would also have a heavy hardcore punk influence. In addition to Max and Igor Cavalera, the lineup also includes lead guitarist Marc Rizzo of Soulfly and Joe Duplantier (guitarist and vocalist of Gojira) on bass and backup vocals. Rex Brown from Pantera and Down cameos on bass on one track, and another track features a collaboration with Max's stepson Richie Cavalera (of Incite) on vocals.

All the songs on this album were recorded at Undercity Studios in Los Angeles in July 2007. Logan Mader, who also produced a Soulfly album, was the co-producer of this album.

## Album cover

The album cover shows the band logo with the band name spelling upward from the bottom on the left then above it is the album title or the former name of the band. The background represents the color of the blood resulted when there is an inflicted wound.

## Title

The title of this album is taken from the song he was supposed to be for Soulfly, but Max wanted to do that song with Igor, so he named the band Inflikted taken from it. Realizing that other bands used this name, Max Cavalera renamed the band to Cavalera Conspiracy after he blurted out with his brother and they liked it better than the former name. The name of the album was originally inspired when he went to Indonesia in 1992 when he was with Sepultura. While there, he saw a ritual involving self-inflicted pain with knives, blood, and fire. During her pregnancy with their son Zyon (now a drummer for Soulfly), his wife Gloria drank "snake's blood" and believed to have later contributed to their son's crazy behavior. This led to Max's thought to make a song and the album from that.

Max may have used the 'k' in the album title instead of 'c' in order to try avoid using the name with exact same spelling as few other bands named Inflicted while still pronounces the same, but they're still conflicting with the rules for naming the band and are forced to change it to a completely different name. The spelling with a 'k' sticks for the title of this first album and its title track.

## Music and lyrics

The album marks the first reunion between Max and his brother Igor since they were with Sepultura, so this album has strong similarity to Sepultura as well as Soulfly. According to the review from AllMusic, the album is a cross between Sepultura and Slayer while a review from JamBase says the album has influences of Rage Against the Machine-style of funk. Unlike Soulfly up to the release of this album, *Inflikted* lacks Brazilian influences and tribal sounds, but one of the tracks "Black Ark" has uses of tribal percussion. Rather, the songs on this album are pure death/thrash with grooves, but hardcore punk and grindcore could be heard in spots.

The lyrics are generally about violence, terror, hatred, and distrust, as suggested by the songs "Ultra-Violent", "Must Kill", and "Nevertrust".

### Songs

The first track of this album is the title track "Inflikted". The second track is "Sanctuary", which is the popular song by Max fans that's been released as the first single by the band, features a music video, played live the most of any Cavalera Conspiracy songs, and covered live by Soulfly. "Black Ark" is one track that features Max's son Richie who plays in their own band Incite. "Ultra-Violent" may have been the pun of "ultraviolet" that Max finds the title highly pleasing due to the overall theme of this album. "Must Kill" is the final track of the standard album where 'must kill' is repeated many times in the final part.

There are two bonus tracks. The first bonus track is "The Exorcist", which was first recorded by the band Possessed where the lyrics deviate from the overall theme of the album. The second one is "In Conspiracy", which seems to suggest it pays homage to this very band.

## Tracklist

1. "Inflikted" – 4:31
2. "Sanctuary" (released as single) – 3:22
3. "Terrorize" – 3:37
4. "Black Ark" (feat. Richie Cavalera) – 4:53
5. "Ultra-Violent" (feat. Rex Brown) – 3:46
6. "Hex" – 2:36
7. "The Doom of All Fires" – 2:10
8. "Bloodbrawl" (alt. titled "Bloodcloth") – 5:40
9. "Nevertrust" – 2:20
10. "Hearts of Darkness" – 4:29
11. "Must Kill" – 4:49

**Bonus tracks**

12. "The Exorcist" (Possessed cover) – 3:25
13. "In Conspiracy" – 3:51

## Reviews

* Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic (4/5) – "Bassist Duplantier generally just keeps a low sonic profile and his nose out of trouble, but guitarist Marc Rizzo's has otherworldly soloing and inventive melodic lines."
* hells\_unicorn of Encyclopaedia Metallum (76%) – "This is not a return to the band’s early death/thrash pioneer days, or the high flying riff extravaganza of *Beneath The Remains*. This is a full out modern revisualization of a few bits and pieces of Sepultura’s past, and tends to emulate all of its various eras before Max Cavalera’s exodus."
* DGYDP of Encyclopaedia Metallum (55%) – "This is basically a more intense version of Soulfly, nothing alike old Sepultura at all."
* Greg Pratt of *Exclaim!* – "Whole being fast, thrash-y and intense in ways that neither Soulfly nor Sepultura have managed to be in a while."
* Jim Kaz of *IGN* – *Inflikted* is a respectable debut, but is "unfortunately afflicted with bad lyrics," but "Rizzo's "agile lead guitar playing keeps the album from sinking into metal monotony in many spots."
* Melodic Net (4/5) – "This was a fantastic metal album, but the lyrical content needs to change before I listen to this more often...or I need to become way more angry."
* *Metal Injection* (6.5/10) – "*Inflikted* is the most upscale-sounding record of Max's career. Rizzo's parts are practically mixed in surround sound while Max's vocals go through all kinds of electronic gadgetry."
* Saby Reyes-Kulkarni of *Phoenix New Times* – "*Inflikted* sounds more like the product of a weekend spent jamming in the garage than the efforts of two vital artists making up for lost time."
* Adrien Begrand of PopMatters (7/10) – "Sure, it's not a Sepultura reunion, but having Max and Igor performing on record for the first time in a dozen years is as close as we'll ever get, and not only does Cavalera Conspiracy's *Inflikted* revisit the post-thrash sounds of 1993's *Chaos A.D.*, but it manages to outshine anything Sepultura has put out in the last dozen years." Begrand also stated that the band "is as solid a metal supergroup as you'll ever come across, and the album's eleven tracks benefit hugely from the chemistry between the four musicians."
* Bruce Moore of PureGrainAudio.com (9.3/10) – "*Inflikted* is a dazzling and thunderous display of quintessential Cavalera Brothers. This is an ultra-violent album full of aggression."
* Zippermouth of Sputnikmusic (3.5/5) – "Time and time again, Max Cavalera has proved that he is capable of pulling off great riffs and vocals, but this time around he's added something more: bad spelling [as with the album title]."

* Amazon.co.uk
* *be subjective!* (5/5)
* Blabbermouth.net (8.5/10)
* The BNR Metal Pages
* bol.com
* *Chronicles of Chaos* (8.5/10)
* Dangerdog Music Reviews (2/5)
* *El Portal del Metal* (4/5)
* *EMP*
* Encyclopaedia Metallum
* FOK.nl (4/5)
* *GoatiaMedia*
* *Get Frank*
* laut.de
* *Leseternels* (14.5/20)

* metal.de (9/10)
* *Metal Express Radio* (8.5/10)
* Metalfan.nl (90/100)
* The Metal Forge
* Metal Music Archives
* Metal-Rage.com (95/100)
* *Metal Reviews*
* *Metal Storm* (8.2/10)
* Metal-Temple.com (8/10)
* *NZRock*
* Oor.nl
* *Rate Your Music*
* *Sea of Tranquility*
* *Stormbringer* (3.5/5)
* Vacarm.net

## Link to interview

* CAVALERA CONSPIRACY: 'Inflikted' Represents 'Really Killer Chemistry Between Four People' – Blabbermouth.net

## Personnel

**Band performers**

* **Max Cavalera** – lead vocals, rhythm guitar except for tracks played by Duplantier
* Marc Rizzo – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals on "Sanctuary"
* Joe Duplantier – bass guitar, rhythm guitar on "Inflikted", "Black Ark" and "Ultra-Violent", co-lead vocals on "Black Ark" and "Ultra-Violent"
* Igor Cavalera – drums, percussion

**Guest performers**

* Richie Cavalera – co-lead vocals on "Black Ark"
* Rex Brown – bass guitar on "Ultra-Violent"

**Songwriters**

* **Max Cavalera** – lyrics, music
* Richie Cavalera – lyrics on "Black Ark"
* Joe Duplantier – music on "Ultra-Violent"
* Mike Torrao – lyrics and music on "The Exorcist"
* Mike Oldfield – music on "The Exorcist"

**Production**

* Produced by **Max Cavalera**
* Co-produced by Logan Mader for Dirty Icon Productions
* Engineered, recorded, mixed and mastered by Logan Mader at Undercity Studios, North Hollywood, California
* Outro on "Must Kill" recorded by Igor Cavalera Jr. and Laima Leyton
* Additional vocal tracking by Tim Laud, Dennis Graef and Ingo Schulz
* Additional pro tooling by Kanky Lora, Michael Rashmawi
* A&R by Monte Conner

**Management**

* Managed by Gloria Cavalera of Oasis Management
* Management assisted by Bryan Roberts and Christina Stojanovic
* Legal represented by Davis Shapiro Lewit & Hayes, LLP, Jeff Leven and Laurie Soriano

**Artwork**

* Garett Zunt – artwork
* Surface to Air, Garett Zunt – design
* Igor Cavalera, **Max Cavalera**, Sandrine Pelletier, Surface to Air – art direction
* Santiago Marotto – photography
* Todd Bell – shackle photo
* Jens Howorka – photography (back cover)
* Kevin Estrada – photography (band in studio)
* Charles Dooher – creative direction
* Igor Cavalera, Laima Leyton – CC logo

**Booking**

* Booking by Ian Sales, Rod MacSween and Steve Zapp of Template:Agency
* Booking for North America by Justin Hirschmann of Template:Agency

Music & lyrics
Tracklist
Reviews
Personnel

Music & lyrics
Tracklist
Reviews
Personnel

Music & lyrics
Tracklist
Reviews
Personnel

Music & lyrics
Tracklist
Reviews
Personnel