Soulfly's sixth offering for Roadrunner Records, Conquer, may very well be the musical equivalent of the movie Braveheart. The songs –much like the warriors in the film- channel raw, unbridled rage through a cacophony of thrash guitars, infectious grooves, tribal polyrhythms and Max Cavalera’s unmistakable, thunderous roar. On this record, Soulfly unleash a metallic mayhem unlike anything they’ve done previously. Conquer shifts from unrelenting, precise speed metal to slow, brooding doom. Marc Rizzo’s lead guitar rips with the precision of a smart bomb, while Bobby Burns grinds out volatile, chest-caving bass lines. Drummer Joe Nunez crushes behind the kit, forging a rhythmic background for all-out sonic war. Once again, it’s the legendary Max Cavalera who stands at the eye of the storm, uniting the musical tribe and acting as its unofficial leader. His voice and guitar command the tribe into battle with each line and riff. Grab your war paint and prepare for the onslaught.

CBGB's was THE venue of an era; an embodiment of what it meant to be in a band, striving for everything you got. In many ways the birthplace of American Punk and the No Wave movement, one can say the music created there was -at its very essence -- a revolutionary influence, and its corrosive nature has infected millions of people through the years. One in particular, a soundman on the staff, was tainted by the experience, changing him into an iconic corner stone of metal; I am, of course, referring to Prong's very own Tommy Victor.

Dissonant, dark, detached -and at times rather deranged --Tommy Victor, founder and frontman of Prong, always swings his riffs low, hard and squarely at your skull. Victor never did 'happiness' and Prong didn't necessarily give a shit about making the 'feel good album of the year'. For Victor, high-praise is best served in the packed clubs and sweaty mosh-pits he plays in around the world. This is all the proof he needs of a dedicated fan base which never misses the band's shows, and loyally buys albums while 'critics' consistently miss the boat. Every time Prong was ignored by the mainstream -whilst revered through the underground --or ripped off by lesser, spineless musicians who don't have a creative pot of their own to piss in - Prong just got harder, stronger and more pissed off. It fuelled them even more, and drove them even further. This is not your parent's band; this is brutality with no regrets amplified, distorted, and turned up to 11.