"It's definitely Soulfly's most battle-ready record by far," the band's frontman Max Cavalera says of their latest album, Conquer.

"The vibe reminds me of movies such as Gladiator and 300. It comes from a completely different place."

For a group renowned for their brutal metal sound, it's quite a claim. Since leaving Sepultura to form Soulfly, Cavalera has turned out four critically acclaimed albums - including the band's self-titled debut in 1997, which sold well enough to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.

This year, he teamed up with brother Iggor to record Inflikted as Cavalera Conspiracy, while at the same time writing and recording Conquer.

"After Cavalera Conspiracy I wanted to write a stronger, uncompromised statement with Soulfly," Cavalera says. "What I did on this album is what I was aiming for.

"This is the Soulfly album that I've been trying to make for a long time."

Produced by Cavalera and mixed by Andy Sneap (Machine Head, Arch Enemy), the album was inspired by a trip to Egypt.

"We visited the City Of The Dead while we were there," Cavalera says. "It's a cemetery where families still live near their dead. It was crazy, creepy and wild." One of the album tracks, For Those About To Rot, was recorded live by the Nile. "There was this crazy gypsy band playing killer music," he recalls. "I happened to have my recorder so I recorded them and made an interlude out of their performance. It felt so authentic to have that outro - like old Sepultura."

Touching The Void, meanwhile, is a tribute to Black Sabbath. Incorporating classic Sabbath sludge with dub flourishes, Cavalera collaborated with French dub artist Fedayi Pacha to record the track. "Fedayi makes dark, really heavy dub,"

Cavalera says, "completely different from commercial dub. He did the outro for the track and played a lot of weird instruments. Those little things definitely make this song special when you listen to it."

As for the record's name - it came from the cover artwork, which depicts a man with six arms holding six weapons, each representing a Soulfly record. But it's also a personal statement, Cavalera insists.

"To me, it's not about conquering the world," he says, "My statement on the record is about fear. If you conquer your fear, you conquer life and death. You're truly free when you can do that. So that's why this name means so much."

  • Starts 7.30pm, tickets £14. Call 01273 673311