Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Blabbermouth.net	[2]
Kerrang!
Metal Hammer
"Sputnikmusic

Dark Ages is the fifth LP by the metal band Soulfly. The album was released on October 4, 2005.

The album was strongly influenced by the death of Max Cavalera's 8-month-old grandson, Moses, who died on December 10, 2004. The song, "Corrosion Creeps," is dedicated to Chuck Schuldiner of Death [1]. The song 'Fuel the Hate' begins with the spoken lyrics of 'Monday, July 16, 1945, 5:30am', a reference to the 'Trinity' nuclear test. It was around this time that the lyrical themes began to move away from the earlier spiritual themes and began incorporating more violent and aggressive elements.

Sound [link]

Many critics^[who?] have described Dark Ages as a return to Cavalera's thrash and death metal roots of the early Sepultura days, its sound also has been compared to his post-thrash album Chaos A.D.-era, while still maintaining the world music influence present on the first four Soulfly albums^{[citation needed]}.

This time, Cavalera traveled to five different countries - Serbia, Turkey, Russia, France, and the United States - in order to record all the sounds that he desired to have on the new album. The album also features a didgeridoo on 'Carved Inside' and a Jamaican thumb piano on 'Riotstarter'. This further showcases Cavalera's desire to experiment within metal.

The cultural spice is accentuated by Max's decision to travel the world to capture the sounds within their own natural environments. While in Russia, the frantic "Molotov" begins with Russian lyrics. "In Russian it means 'War fucking sucks, but the maneuvres rule'... Which is a funny but aggressive Russian adverb. " S.O.D.'s Billy Milano makes a guest appearance as well on the song. Cavalera called Milano and said, "Do you mind singing over the phone and I just record it? . . . Even the distortion coming from his voice is actually from the phone."

Reception [link]

• CMJ (No. 930, p. 50) - "An experimental savvy emerges in Dark Ages' quieter moments."

• Mojo (p. 104) - 3 stars out of 5 - "Dark Ages fuses juggernaut punk-metal with found sounds....The evocative field recordings are matched by heartfelt songs."

Track listing [link]

All songs written and composed by Max Cavalera except where stated. 

Credits [link]

• Max Cavalera - Lead vocals, Guitar, Sitar, Producer, Berimbau
• Marc Rizzo - Guitar, Vocals, Flamenco guitar
• Bobby Burns - Bass
• Joe Nunez - Drums, Percussion
• Billy Milano - Vocals on "Molotov"
• David Ellefson - Bass on "Riotstarter"
• Stefan Goldman - Acoustic Guitar, Korg Synthesizer, Sitar, Mandolin
• John Watkinson Gray - Engineer, Digital Editing, Mixing, Prophet V Programming
• June Murakawa - Assistant
• Michael Whelan - Illustrations
• Leo Zulueta - Logo
• Gloria Cavalera - Executive Producer, Management
• Milan "Bare" Barković - Engineer
• John Bilberry - Assistant Engineer
• Alexsander Hrenov - Balalaika, Spoons
• Darya Jubenko - Engineer
• Nemanja "Coyote" Kojić - Vocals (on "Innerspirit")
• Matt Marksbary - Assistant Engineer
• Justin Salter - Assistant Engineer
• Christina Stojanovic - Management
• Alexander Yushin - Bayan
• Monte Conner - A&R
• Terry Date - Mastering, Mixing
• Ted Jensen - Mastering

Chart positions [link]

Album - Billboard (North America)

References [link]