Review by Adam on August 13, 2002.

Following Soulfly’s second album, “Primitive”, I was left with a grim outlook on the band’s future. The album was marred by an excessive use of profanity and way too many guest singers. On Soulfly’s third album, aptly titled “3”, Max wisely cuts down on both his language and the amount of guest appearances. The result: Soulfly sounds more like a band and not just Max Cavalera and friends.

The music is more of the same; however, it is elevated by the intensity of returning drummer Roy Mayorga. His playing sounds better than ever and we are even surprised with some double kicking that had not been utilized on past Soulfly releases. We are also presented with some guitar solos as well, which previous albums also seemed to neglect. Max seems to have more focused targets with his lyrics this time around. He goes on attacks against terrorists, arrogant rock stars, and those who label him as a sellout. Thankfully, he has a harsher sound with this album to silence these critics once and for all.

Of course you could not have a Soulfly album without the tribute song to lost love ones. This time around we are given a tune entitled ‘Tree of Pain’. It opens with the melodic vocals of R&B singer Asha Rabouin, who recently lost her husband Karnau formally of Cutthroat Logic; a hip-hop group which appeared on Soulfly’s previous album. After this, however, the song kicks into full metal mode as Max kicks into some of his most intense music yet. The emotion hits a high when the late Dana’s brother screams "To D-Low" and we begin to pick up on the massive hurt the guy’s death gave wake to through the kid’s vocals.

Overall this record is a very large improvement over their last one. Some of the thrashier material is reminiscent of Sepultura’s “Chaos AD” era. The more I listen to the vocals, the more I hear a little bit of “Chaos AD” shining through that way as well. However, the music is still a far cry away from Sepultura’s speed metal years, but this record does the most to bring back a taste of that mid-career Sepultura style while applying it to the Soulfly sound. It is still a record that forces the listener to remain open minded throughout, but is nowhere near as great as a challenge in that respect as “Primitive” was. For a while I was certain that Soulfly were on a downward spiral but with “3” the future looks far brighter.

Bottom Line: If you dug Sepultura’s later stuff as well as the first Soufly record, then I would recommend this one to you.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 8
Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 6
Production: 8
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.4 out of 10

Review by Alex on August 20, 2018.

A disturbingly dirty dose of raw black metal is Pa Vesh En’s A Ghost. Both noisy and eldritch this 2 track Ep is. The finalized blueprint of Pa Vesh En’s sound and musical direction is here in 14 minutes of unholiness. The murky landscapes, lofi production, cryptic messages and evil vocal tones all accumulate to what the one man project from Belarus has produced henceforth. As to who exactly is responsible for this debauched project still remains unknown. The mystery surrounding Pa Vesh En increases with every release; and with a full-length album on the horizon, a new veil will be placed over the already hidden identity of Pa Vesh En. 

“Haunting and Mourning” has an audible resemblance of grief and dread merged. The guitars have a very despondent sound whilst the echoing drum snare and cymbal synthesis elicits a fearful presence. The pacing of the song is mostly slow and leeches off the indistinct production, thus complementing both depressive and ominous instrumentation. “Gruesome Exhumation” sees Pa Vesh En explore death/doom territory more openly. The guitar tone is emphasized and brought forward in an attempt to portray the scene a track titled such would have; and to be honest, "Gruesome Exhumation" sounds like a typical death metal song title, so there is no surprise here except for how well it was executed. 

The musical effort on A Ghost matched with the tenebrous artwork provides the listener with a modicum of what lurks within the cellar of this arcane force.

Rating: 6.6 out of 10