Soulfly announce new album Ritual - listen to Evil Empowered

Soulfly have announced that they’ll release their new studio album later this year.

It’s titled Ritual and it’s set to arrive on October 19 via Nuclear Blast and is Max Cavalera and co’s first record since 2015’s Archangel (opens in new tab).

Ritual was produced, recorded and mixed by Josh Wilbur and features guest appearances from Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe and Immolation’s Ross Dolan. The sleeve artwork was created by Eliran Kantor, while the booklet art and packaging were designed by Marcelo Vasco.

Vocalist and guitarist Cavalera says: “I am really stoked to be working again with two of my favourite 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 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!”

To mark the announcement, Soulfly have released a stream of the first material from the record in the shape of Evil Empowered

Find full Ritual details below.

Soulfly - Ritual
1.  Ritual
2.  Dead Behind The Eyes (feat. Randy Blythe)
3.  The Summoning
4.  Evil Empowered
5.  Under Rapture (feat. Ross Dolan)
6.  Demonized
7.  Blood On The Street
8.  Bite The Bullet
9.  Feedback!
10.  Soulfly XI

Soulfly - Ritual (opens in new tab)

Soulfly - Ritual (opens in new tab)
Max Cavalera and co's first album since 2015's Archangel features guest appearances from Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe and Immolation’s Ross Dolan - and includes the single Evil Empowered.

Scott Munro
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Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.