Soulfly leader Max Cavelera has plenty of creative flaws. Luckily for us, his conviction is still compelling enough (thanks in part to the energetic blur of his shows) to tip the scales in his favor after nearly 20 years. As Sepultura's frontman from 1984 to 1997, Cavelera's passions were balanced by three other members. Left to his own devices in the more autocratic Soulfly, Cavelera has enough passionate vision for everybody, though the arrangement has cost him some focus. Liberal references to himself as a prophet give Cavelera a cultish aura, but it also gives his music more gravity. Even when Soulfly takes embarrassing detours into nü-metal or rehashes Cavelera's worn worldbeat explorations, the band can still make you move like few others can. And with Cavelera's wounded heart at the center of the music, the passion always comes out on top.
