Go Ahead And Die – Go Ahead And Die (Album Review)

The passing of the torch from one generation to the next is necessary to keep any craft alive, though in certain specific cases, a father has the honor of passing the tradition on to his own progeny. Along with proud thrash metal patriarch and Exodus front man Zetro Souza, who had the unique honor of seeing his two sons field a highly promising act in Hatriot, pioneer of the more twisted world of death thrashing and former Sepultura turned Soufly helmsman Max Cavalera has also gotten into the act. Alongside the younger of his two sons Igor Amadeus Cavalera, this mainstay of the extreme end of the modern groove metal scene has opted to form yet another project known as Go Ahead And Die that explores the common thread between metal and punk in the most brazen of fashions, foregoing any notion of technical intrigue, nuance or progression in favor of a back to basics approach to wrecking necks.

As far as debut efforts go within the context of a power trio arrangement, this is about as primitive and by the numbers as modern death/thrash can get, to the point of being simpler than Max’s concurrent efforts with Soulfly and Cavalera Conspiracy. In some respects this venture a bit closer to the faster paced, thrash-infused brand of mayhem that Sepultura was known for prior to the release of “Chaos A.D.,” though the sonic template and vocal approach taken by both father and son on this record carries a fair amount of early grindcore and crust punk influences to go with the more familiar trappings. When combined with a brilliant display on the kit by Texas scene veteran Zach Coleman that checks just about every box for what makes a precision-based death metal performance, the result is something that is actually akin to a dirtier and more politically charged version of what Paul Speckmann and Rogga Johansson tend to dabble in amongst their numerous projects.

Considering that this project’s very name was constructed based on a re-translation of the Japanese phrase akin to the one-fingered salute, it’s no surprise that these songs are about as subtle as a wrecking ball. They tend towards a moderate length that consists of about four to five differing riff sets that are shift about in a quasi-frequent matter, normally avoiding any overt layering of additional lead guitar work apart from the occasional melodic drone such as the one that recurs a couple times on the sub-3 minute kill session “I.C.E. Cage” and the high pitched one that closes out “Punisher”, which is also the most ambitious offering of the bunch and veers the closest towards a pure death metal aesthetic, particularly during that crazy blast section at the beginning. Other standouts include the gradual crescendo into full on death thrashing hysteria of a title song “G.A.A.D.” and the crusty thrasher “(In The) Slaughterline”, featuring a brilliant back and forth shouting match between father and son.

This is the sort of album that could appeal equally to fans of Amebix as it would rank and file old school death fans that are anxiously awaiting the next Master or Benediction album, though at times it feels like the songs drag a bit due to a lack of variety in the arrangement and the riff work often falling back on heavily similar ideas. While there are plenty of jarring shifts in tempo to be found littered throughout most of this album, there is very minimal dynamic contrast to speak of, and the vocal performances of both Max and Igor tend to be on the static side. It’s about on par with the last couple of Cavalera Conspiracy albums and maybe just a tad less intriguing than the last Soulfly album, but its core audience likely lays with fans of both projects. Max Cavalera has raised the concept of sticking to what works to an art form over the past decade, and this is sure to work for those who want their death metal aged, nasty and straight out of the bottle.

Released By: Nuclear Blast Records
Released On: June 11th, 2021
Genre: Heavy Metal

Musicians:

• Max Cavalera / guitars, vocals
• Igor Amadeus Cavalera / bass, guitars & vocals
• Zach Coleman / drums

“Go Ahead And Die” track listing:

1. Truckload Full Of Bodies
2.  Toxic Freedom
3. I.C.E. Cage
4. Isolated/Desolated
5.  Prophet’s Prey
6. Punisher
7. El Cuco
8. G.A.A.D.
9. Worth Less Than Piss
10. (In The) Slaughterline
11. Roadkill