SOULFLY: 360-Degree Video For 'Ritual' Title Track

The official 360-degree video for the title track of “Ritual”, the forthcoming eleventh album from SOULFLY, can be seen below. Due on October 19 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment, the follow-up to 2015’s “Archangel” was produced, recorded and mixed by Josh Wilbur (KILLER BE KILLED, LAMB OF GOD, GOJIRA). Cover artwork was painted by artist Eliran Kantor (TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH, SODOM). Additional booklet art was handled by Marcelo Vasco (SLAYER, HATEBREED, KREATOR), who also handled the package design. The album features multiple guests, including Randy Blythe (LAMB OF GOD) and Ross Dolan (IMMOLATION).

Comments vocalist/guitarist Max Cavalera: “This song took a long time and almost didn’t make the record. We recorded it as an instrumental and ran out of time in the studio. We ended up having to fly Josh Wilbur out to my house to finish the vocals. He kept on telling me he wanted more of that ‘tribal shit’ like some of the stuff on our first record and ‘Primitive’. We ended up creating the chorus on the spot and layering something like 12 or 16 tracks of chanting for it. After we heard it and were listening back, we got really excited and were high-fiving each other. Josh just turned to me and said that was what he wanted to hear as a fan, and he was really happy to get that out of me. We both knew it was a new SOULFLY classic for the ages and had to be the album opener. I’m really proud of this song and I think old-school fans of my work are going to love it.”

“Ritual” track listing:

01. Ritual
02. Dead Behind The Eyes (feat. Randy Blythe)
03. The Summoning
04. Evil Empowered
05. Under Rapture (feat. Ross Dolan)
06. Demonized
07. Blood On The Street
08. Bite The Bullet
09. Feedback!
10. Soulfly XI

States Max: “I am really stoked to be working again with two of my favorite artists, Eliran Kantor and Marcelo Vasco!

“The ‘Ritual’ artwork is very mystic and captures the vibe of the album perfectly. For this one, we really tried to retain the groove of early SOULFLY as well as my love for the heavy, fast stuff I’m into, like death and black metal and some hardcore.

“Working with Josh Wilbur for SOULFLY this time around has been amazing. He’s a huge fan and added a lot to the record. I would fight for the fast songs and he would always push me to add more groove. I think in the end we created a really cool mix of songs that covers a lot of ground in my career. Let the Ritual begin!”

Wilbur adds: “Before I had ever recorded a record, in my formidable years, Max released the holy trinity that was (at least to me) ‘Chaos A.D.’, ‘Roots’ and ‘Soulfly’. I wanted to make a record that captured what I loved about those when I was growing up! Those records inspired me and introduced me to heavy metal. Fast forward to now and I was given the opportunity to make the record I wanted as a fan! So I set up some mics, recorded some riffs, we banged on some galvanized metal, roto toms, djembes, and anything else we could get, then I told Max to ‘BRING DA SHIT’!”