When faced with the improbable realization that 2011's Redemption is Ektomorf's ninth album devoted to some manner of serious Soulfly karaoke, with nary a lawsuit or death threat from Max and Gloria Cavalera, one feels compelled to pause and wonder whether perhaps it's time to stop bitching about this weird state of affairs and just live and let live. After all, there's no denying that Ektomorf typically come up with a few pretty decent Soulfly songs every time out, and Redemption is no exception, thanks to infectiously rudimentary chant-alongs (see the title cut and "God Will Cut You Down," among others) with one combat boot planted in the realm of groove metal and the other in nu metal. And the band even breaks out of type on very rare instances, including the forbiddingly melodic "I'm in Hate" and the cleanly sung, acoustically infused "Sea of My Misery." Heck, should one simply cave in and give Ektomorf leader Zoltán Farkas credit for proving that Hungarians can speak English with a convincing Brazilian accent? (All that's missing is an occasional "um, dois, tres, quatro," or "jumdaf**kup!") But no, the unavoidable problem is with all of the other, purely derivative Soulfly songs that Ektomorf appear powerless to stop themselves from churning out ("Last Fight," "Revolution," "Cigàny," etc.), along with the odd Slipknot cop-out ("Stay Away") -- whoopee! So, while one might deserve credit for trying to look the other way, there really can be no Redemption for Ektomorf -- sorry -- not here, perhaps not ever.
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