Metal Underground.com

While they may be becoming rarer these days, metal music still has its stars, the musicians whose mere involvement in a project or new band arouses plenty of attention. One such star who has been involved in more outside ventures than his main band would be Max Cavalera, the Soulfly and former Sepultura frontman who also boasts a resume that features Nailbomb, Cavalera Conspiracy, and Killer Be Killed. Now, it's another family affair for the Brazilian veteran, as he teams up with his son Igor Amadeus Cavalera, as well as Khemmis drummer Zach Coleman to present Go Ahead And Die, a band unashamedly rooted in 80s hardcore punk. Sadly though, Go Ahead And Die doesn't live up to the hype.

Something that needs to be addressed immediately is the production. It could be just the promo copy, but the sound on this record is atrocious. "Muddy" is a word that often gets thrown around when discussing poor sound quality, but this sounds like it was recorded in the trenches of Verdun. It could be argued that the album is intentionally unpolished to fit the band's influences, but frankly, the likes of Discharge, GISM, and Ratos de Porão all had clearer production than this. Subsequently, it makes it difficult to judge the music by its own merits, but we'll try anyway.

As mentioned, "Go Ahead And Die" is crafted from a love of old-school hardcore punk, which can be heard straight away (though the Celtic Frost influence that the band touted so much in the press is barely present, if at all.) As one might expect, there are also plenty of elements of early Sepultura on this album, and at times this can create something really enjoyable, such as "Prophet's Prey" and "(In The) Slaughterline," which are both standout tracks. Lead single "Truckload Full Of Bodies" is the most modern-sounding song on the album and is another highlight, partly because it sounds very familiar to those who've followed the career of Max Cavalera, yet it's just different enough that it can't be accused of belonging to one of his other bands.

For what is essentially a crossover thrash album, there is far too much padding. There are at least two songs with a repetitive outro that lasts over a minute, which drags the tracks out much more than they needed to be. There are also some strange sound effects that add nothing to the album and take away from the vibe that the listener assumes they'll be getting given the press hype. One of the worst offenders of both of these crimes is the song, "Punisher," which shoehorns in a lengthy breakdown for the sake of playing some news clips. "El Cuco" and "Roadkill" are two other examples of songs that go nowhere and take a long time going about it.

In summary, Go Ahead And Die's first effort can best be described as a disappointment. While it's nice to hear that Cavalera is focusing on lyrics again and has moved on from his phase of reusing lines and titles from previous works in his music, choosing instead to take aim at many societal ills, it's in service to a forgettable project which has some good moments, but not enough to gain much interest outside of name recognition. With a more focused goal and much better production, Go Ahead And Die could actually create something well worth your time, but in the case of their debut, it's a free-kick that's sailed way over the crossbar.