Review GO AHEAD AND DIE ‘Go Ahead and Die’

Heavy metal and the Cavalera family, that was always a tight entity. Sepultura, Soulfly and the Cavalera Conspiracy, all these band were and are closely connected to the name Cavalera and with Go Ahead And Die a next band continues the endeavor. Was it so far the brothers Max and Igor, being the metallic forces, it is the next generation that nowadays starts to position themselves in the spotlight?

Go Ahead And Die is a trio with Max Cavalera and his son Igor Amadeus who, together with drummer Zach Coleman, created an album that is aggressive and brutal. The band name is inspired by the Japanese expression for “Fuck You” which, if being re-translated into English, means Go Ahead And Die. Being easier understandable than the Japanese version, the phrase became the band name which certainly sticks out from many other monikers.

Musically, Go Ahead And Die doesn’t take a totally different route than what we know from the Cavaleras. This debut includes metal that’s build on fury and frustration with these eleven songs being an outlet for such strong emotions. These extreme metal songs are a fusion of old-school thrash metal, and some death metal influences, all mixed-up with the anarchic expression of punk and crust.

The trio doesn’t take any prisoners and start with full steam into this longplayer. The raging opener ‘Truckload Full of Bodies’ is like a sonic punch into your face. No frills, no layers – just pure rawness without brakes and breaks. ‘I.C.E Cage’ and ‘Worth Less Than Piss’ reflect a similar approach with the latter being driven by groove and smashing drums.

The guys stay close to their chosen style throughout and at the same time add nuances to the tracklist that helps them to sail around monotony. Next to the speedy tracks the longplayer also features moderately paced tunes with the closer ‘Roadkill’ being one of them. Groove becomes here more important than unlimited speed which creates a well-done contrast.

‘Go Ahead And Die’ is a furious longplayer, thematizing and addressing topics that indicate the failures of society when it comes to environment, corruption, politics and crime. The album is the outlet for all the bottled-up emotions – a loud “Fuck you”-scream that is craved into each of these eleven chapters.