Chama (album)
| Chama | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 24, 2025 | |||
| Recorded | 2024–2025 | |||
| Studio | Platinum Underground in Mesa, Arizona | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 32:27 | |||
| Label | Nuclear Blast | |||
| Producer |
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| Soulfly chronology | ||||
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Chama is the thirteenth studio album by American heavy metal band Soulfly, released on October 24, 2025 via Nuclear Blast Records.[2][3]
Concept
Physical copies of the album come with a short story by Igor Amadeus Cavalera about a boy named Chama who grows up in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. Chama is surrounded by the 'spirits of the city', who have died from poverty, drug addiction, gang violence or at the hands of the Pacifying Police Unit. When his mother passes away, Chama is left alone and grief-stricken until her own spirit comes to him. She instructs him to leave behind the corruption of the city and 'find the land of trees and water where the fire burns through the night'. Chama walks, hitch-hikes and hops trains 'like a vagabond' to get out of Rio until he reaches the jungle. There he encounters different, benevolent spirits of the trees, animals and elements, and is accepted by an indigenous tribe. He learns their music and that his own name means 'flame', and he has a vision which teaches him that 'all living things burn with the same fire, an inexhaustible blaze that would crackle until the end of time'.[4]
Critical reception
Blabbermouth.net stated that "the tribal aesthetic that propelled them has been revived and given several thousand volts up its jungle-dwelling backside", going on to profess that "SOULFLY have rediscovered groove, momentum and the wild spirit of esoteric heaviness".[5]
Sam Law of Kerrang! indicated "Never ones to knowingly under-do the bludgeon, the release of sheer primeval force as first song proper "Storm The Gates" explodes into life will startle even longtime aficionados". Additionally, he said that "Hammering away like a cross between Cavalera at his heaviest and Mick Gordon’s hell-raising Doom soundtrack, those brutal 161 seconds culminate with what appears to be the sound of the plug rattling loose on an overloaded amp-stack".[6]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Indigenous Inquisition" | 2:01 |
| 2. | "Storm The Gates" | 2:41 |
| 3. | "Nihilist" | 2:46 |
| 4. | "No Pain = No Power" | 3:57 |
| 5. | "Ghenna" | 1:55 |
| 6. | "Black Hole Scum" | 4:30 |
| 7. | "Favela - Dystopia" | 3:18 |
| 8. | "Always Was, Always Will Be" | 3:27 |
| 9. | "Soulfly XIII" | 3:43 |
| 10. | "Chama" | 4:09 |
| Total length: | 32:27 | |
Personnel
Soulfly
- Max Cavalera - vocals, rhythm guitar, bass on tracks 1-3, 5-6, 8-9
- Mike DeLeon - lead guitar
- Zyon Cavalera - drums
Guest musicians
- Igor Amadeus Cavalera - bass on "No Pain = No Power", "Favela/Dystopia" and "Chama"
- Dino Cazares - rhythm guitar on "No Pain = No Power"
- Gabriel Franco - guest vocals on "No Pain = No Power"
- Ben Cook - guest vocals on "No Pain = No Power"
- Todd Jones - guest vocals on "Nihilist"
- Michael Amott - lead guitar on "Ghenna"
Production
- Zyon Cavalera - production
- Arthur Rizk - production
- John Aquilino - engineering
References
- ^ Travers, Paul. ""The guitar tone could flay skin, and his lacerated barks have never sounded so raw." 40 years into his career, Max Cavalera is still finding ways to freshen up his formula with new Soulfly album Chama". Loudersound.
- ^ "SOULFLY Announces New Album 'Chama', Shares 'Storm The Gates' Single". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. August 29, 2025.
- ^ "Chama - Soulfly | Album | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
- ^ Igor Amadeus Cavalera, Chama CD booklet, Nuclear Blast Records, 2025
- ^ "Chama". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. October 21, 2025.
- ^ "Album review: Soulfly – Chama". Kerrang!. October 20, 2025.