It might not be what those incorrigible die-hards who still crave a full Sepultura reunion want to hear, but Max Cavalera has now made more records with his Soulfly than he did with this thrash metal alma mater. Whether or not you are able to appreciate the Brazilian’s later works with quite the same degree of alacrity as many of us reserve for Beneath The Remains and Chaos AD is a moot point; the fact is that Soulfly have built up a substantial back catalogue which, for all its diversity and occasional lapses into idiosyncratic time-wasting, is packed with many moments of bravely raucous brilliance. Pleasingly, Max’s tendency to clutter his records with a surfeit of pointless guest appearances has faded in recent times, and the last few Soulfly albums have been much more consistent and focused as a result, with 2005’s Dark Ages and 2008’s Conquer being undeniable returns to top form. Consequently, fan expectations are unusually high this time round, but Omen delivers once again, emphasising the strength of this current line-up – not least the awesome six-string skills of guitarist Marc Rizzo – and the self-evident truth that Cavalera has rediscovered that all-important knack for writing killer riffs and irresistible shout-along choruses. He has also returned to his high-velocity roots, as showcased here on blistering opener ‘Bloodbath And Beyond’ and several other tracks that take off at breakneck pace and refuse to relent until the job is brutally done. On vicious thrashcore assaults like ‘Jeffrey Dahmer’, ‘Vulture Culture’ and ‘Mega-Doom’, Soulfly sound utterly energised and taut with determination and unified purpose, a raw and fizzing production job capturing the essence of live performance while adding all the necessary low-end oomph and glistening clarity. Elsewhere, on mid-paced chuggers like ‘Rise Of The Fallen’ (featuring Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato) and ‘Kingdom’, you can hear Max reclaiming the brusque simplicity of his pioneering thrash days, as he churns out mammoth, jagged grooves with the casual disdain of a craggy but exuberant veteran. Closing with ‘Soulfly VII’, arguably the finest of the band’s seven titular instrumentals thus far, Omen is a very honest and straightforward record from someone who has long since transcended cynicism. But even though Max Cavalera must enjoy his status as a metal institution, the fire that drove him from the streets of Belo Horizonte to the stages of the world is still blazing away.