Conquer (album)

Conquer
Studio album by Soulfly
Released	July 29, 2008[1]
Recorded	September 2007 at Porch Studio
Genre	Thrash metal,[2] groove metal,[3] death metal[4]
Length	57:10 (Regular edition) 71:17 (Special edition)
Label	Roadrunner
Producer	Max Cavalera
Soulfly chronology
Dark Ages (2005) Conquer (2008) Omen (2010)
Singles from Conquer
"Unleash" Released: June 24, 2008 "Blood Fire War Hate" Released: February 9, 2009
Alternative cover
Special edition digipak

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[2]
Allmusic	[3]
Alt Press	(#241, p.166)
Blabbermouth.net	[4]
ChartAttack	[5]
Kerrang!	[6]
Metal Hammer	[7]
PopMatters	[8]
Sun Media	[9]

Conquer is the sixth studio album by the band Soulfly. It saw official release on July 23, 2008, in Australia, although the album had leaked early onto file-sharing networks. It was released on July 29, 2008 in Canada and the United States and debuted at #66 on the U.S. Billboard 200 — Soulfly's highest Billboard peak since their 2002 release, 3.

Production and release

The album was tracked by Tim C. Lau in late 2007 at The Porch Recording Studio in Orlando Florida and mixed by Andy Sneap in early 2008. In promotion for the album, Max Cavalera stated that he had been heavily influenced by Bolt Thrower, Napalm Death and Slayer in writing for this album, which he declared would make Dark Ages sound like a pop album.

A bonus edition of the album was released containing three bonus tracks and a DVD. The DVD features a full live concert from Warsaw, Poland and the music video for "Innerspirit" from the previous album, Dark Ages.

The album sold over 8,400 copies in the U.S. during the first week of its release.^[10]

Songs

"Unleash" was the album's first single with the accompanying music video directed by Robert Sexton. This song and its video features Dave Peters of Throwdown.^[11] The second single released was Blood Fire War Hate, the first track of the album, featuring Morbid Angel vocalist David Vincent. "Touching the Void" is heavily influenced by Black Sabbath as it contains doom and sludgy riffs, with outro recorded by French dub artist Fedaya Pacha.^[2] "Warmageddon" explores war and Armageddon,^[12] hence its portmanteau.

Critical reception

Conquer has thus far garnered positive reviews from most media outlets and review websites. Chad Bower of About.com calls it "outstanding", with "great musicianship and songwriting" and "new styles, sounds and experiments, which also hit the mark." Nikos Patelis of Metal Invader notes the "hardcore beatings, extreme thrash speeds and many implements of weird sounds that have nothing to do with metal" and deems the album "dark as hell". In comparison to Cavalera Conspiracy's debut earlier this year, Dominic Hemy of Planet Loud considers Conquer "tighter, heavier, more diverse, more original, and far more engaging than Inflikted".

Track listing

All lyrics written by Max Cavalera except where stated, all music composed by Max Cavalera except where stated.

Conquer
No.	Title	Lyrics	Length
1.	"Blood Fire War Hate" (feat. David Vincent)	Max Cavalera, David Vincent	4:59
2.	"Unleash" (feat. Dave Peters)	Max Cavalera, Dave Peters	5:10
3.	"Paranoia"		5:31
4.	"Warmageddon"		5:22
5.	"Enemy Ghost"		3:02
6.	"Rough"		3:27
7.	"Fall of the Sycophants"		5:09
8.	"Doom"		4:58
9.	"For Those About to Rot"		6:47
10.	"Touching the Void"		7:25
11.	"Soulfly VI"		5:20

Special edition[13]
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
12.	"Mypath"			4:43
13.	"Sailin' On" (Bad Brains cover)	Gary Miller, Darryl Jenifer, Paul Hudson	Gary Miller, Darryl Jenifer, Paul Hudson	4:41
14.	"The Beautiful People" (Marilyn Manson cover)	Brian Warner	Jeordie White	4:23

iTunes Bonus Tracks Version [14]
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Mypath"	4:43
13.	"Sailin' On" (Bad Brains cover)	4:41
14.	"The Beautiful People" (Marilyn Manson cover)	4:23
15.	"Roots Bloody Roots" (Sepultura cover; Live in Poland)	3:24
16.	"Jumpdafuckup/Bring It" (Live in Poland)	4:43

Bonus DVD listing

Live in Warsaw, Poland^[15]

1. "Prophecy"
2. "Downstroy"
3. "Seek 'n' Strike"
4. "No Hope = No Fear"
5. "Jumpdafuckup/Bring It"
6. "Living Sacrifice"
7. "Mars"
8. "Brasil"
9. "No"
10. "L.O.T.M."
11. "Porrada"
12. "Drums"
13. "Moses"
14. "Frontlines"
15. "Back to the Primitive"
16. "Eye for an Eye"

Music Video

1. "Innerspirit"

Personnel

Soulfly Max Cavalera – lead vocals, 4-string guitar, berimbau, sitar Marc Rizzo – guitar, flamenco guitar Bobby Burns – bass guitar Joe Nunez – drums, percussion Additional musicians David Vincent – additional vocals on "Blood Fire War Hate" Dave Peters – additional vocals on "Unleash" Fedayi Pacha – duduk, percussion on "Touching the Void", dub outro on "For Those About to Rot" Jean-Pol Dub - didgeridoo on "Touching the Void" Tim Lau - drum programming

Production Max Cavalera - production Tim Laud productions - engineering, recording Tim Lau - digital editing Andy Sneap - mixing Ted Jensen - mastering Monte Conner - A&R Logan Mader - mixing on "The Beautiful People" Management Gloria Cavalera - management Christina Stajanovic - assistant Bryan Roberts - assistant Artwork Android Jones - artwork Max Cavalera - art direction Charles Dooher - art direction Mr. Scott Disign inc. - design Eddie Malluk - band photography Leo Zuletta - Soulfly logo

Chart positions

Album

Year	Chart	Position
2008	US Billboard 200	66
2008	UK Rock Albums	7
2008	Germany	15
2008	Austria	16
2008	Australia	19
2008	Finland	20
2008	Netherlands	33

References

1. Roadrunner Records
2. "Soulfly - Conquer Review". About.com.
3. "Conquer - Soulfly". Allmusic.
4. "CD Reviews". Blabbermouth.net.
5. "Soulfly — Conquer". ChartAttack.
6. "Kerrang! Review". Kerrang!.
7. "Metal Hammer Review". Metal Hammer.
8. Begrand, Adrien (26 August 2008). "Conquer review". PopMatters. Retrieved 6 August 2009.
9. http://web.archive.org/web/20081211054147/http://calsun.canoe.ca:80/Showbiz/2008/07/27/6278621-sun.html. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved July 29, 2008. Missing or empty |title= (help)
10. SOULFLY: More 'Conquer' First-Week Chart Positions Revealed - Aug. 8, 2008" Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved on August 8, 2008.
11. "SOULFLY: Full New Song 'Unleash' Available For Download - June 24, 2008". blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
12. Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
13. Conquer special edition details; Max featured in "Global Metal" documentary Retrieved on May 31, 2008
14. Soulfly - Conquer on iTunes
15. SOULFLY: 'Conquer' Special Edition To Also Include Bonus DVD - May 21, 2008 Retrieved on May 31, 2008