A decently long break between this and the previous Soulfly album (2022's Totem) should have led to a fine album emerging from Max Cavalera's brain and fingers, not an unreasonable expectation after the re-recordings of early Sepultura works in the time between showed that much of the old-school metal magic still lingered in the Cavalera DNA. And Soulfly in 2025 is pretty much a family affair, Max joined by son Zyon on drums across the past ten years or so of releases with other family members including Igor Jr contributing bass. Although fans of older Soulfly works will miss the likes of Roy Mayorga and Marc Rizzo, there's certainly no lack of talent in the Cavalera clan.

Where Chama doesn't work instead feels down to the songwriting choices made, as well as the reverb-heavy production which is heavy but raw, making certain moments indistinguishable from noise. Having a guitarist as skilled as Michael Amott provide guest guitar to the grinding Ghenna, for instance, should have made for a more immediately impressive results, yet his performance is almost entirely buried in layers of electronic and studio noise making for an aggressive yet forgettable two-minute piece that seems entirely throwaway.

Elsewhere, things aren't always much better. Intro Indigenous Inquisition and particularly the following Storm the Gates have plenty of aggression and incorporate the tribal elements well, yet there's nothing especially fresh or new for the band aside from some interesting backing electronics, and at around two minutes each the songs are over before they've really made an impact. Nails' Todd Jones guests on Nihilist suffers the same problem, although it does have enough of a catchy groove to keep your ears peeled. And Dino Cazares' guest riffing on No Pain = No Power practically turn it into a Fear Factory song at points even with the other guest vocalists, Ben Cook (No Warning) and Gabe Franco (Unto Others) - certainly memorable in this tracklisting but not necessarily what you listen to Soulfly for...!

Things pick up on the second half of the tracklisting thankfully, with Black Hole Scum slowing the pace for some intense grooving and then Favela / Dystopia having the album's best thrash metal moments. Always Was, Always Will Be suffers in following that, an experimental soundscape of riffs and percussion that doesn't quite land, and Soulfly XIII is as forgettable as those instrumental pieces seem to be. It all just feels inessential, even to fans, particularly when you notice how short Chama is at just over thirty-two minutes. In fairness, it's listenable enough for what it is and the album has a decent flow with songs weaving in and out of each other well. Nothing here will threaten the Cavalera Schizophrenia rerecording as the best thing that the family have produced in a while, however. Here's hoping inspiration strikes a little harder next time.