Interview with Max Cavalera!

Talking about Max Cavalera is talking about an iconic figure in Metal around the world. Whether because his important and defining work with Sepultura in the 80’s and early 90’s, Soulfly, Nailbomb, Cavalera Conspiracy, Killer Be Killed or Go Ahead and Die after that.

He has been everywhere and worked with a lot of names out there and still every time he comes and surprised us with new and straightforward raw metal.

We had the chance to talk with Max Cavalera recently about the upcoming Europe summer tour with Soulfly and Nailbomb. We talked about the new Soulfly record, the importance of involving family in the business and what would be next for him, Soulfly and all the different bands and projects he is into at the moment.

Miguel (Metal Heart Radio): Hello Max, how are you? How are the things in Phoenix?

Max Cavalera: Good, good, yeah. We just got back from Sonic Temple. Really cool show.

MHR: It was this past weekend, right?

MC: Yeah, Sunday, Mother's Day. That was pretty fun.

MHR: Did you get to expend Mother's Day over there in Sonic Temple?

MC: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, it was cool. So, me and my wife and my son, we flew back the same day. So, we had to go to a restaurant after the show. Had a little dinner and then came to Phoenix, you know?  Yeah. It was great. We played early. We played around 2 o'clock. Just the power set.

MHR: Well, it's nice to see you and nice to talk to you again. So, let's talk about the upcoming European tour, which will begin in a few weeks at South of Heaven Festival in the Netherlands. We, here in the Czech Republic, we will see you at Masters of Rock again in July. But this time will be with Soulfly. What we will see this time around?

MC: We will try to make a real special setlist with a lot of stuff that people haven't heard us play. You know, Soulfly has so many songs, you know?

MHR: Yeah 12 albums worth of great metal songs.

MC: A lot, 12 records, a lot of songs. And I went through all of it, and found a lot of cool songs that, for some reason, we never really play. Stuff like Bleak. Bloodbath and Beyond. Really deep cuts. Of course, you have to play the hits. Prophecy, Primitive. That's the Soulfly thing with all the jams.

But also with these deep cuts, you know? Like really cool, interesting combination of old stuff. We'll play some new stuff as well from Totem, you know, stuff like Spirit Animal. It's the name of the tour. It's Spirit Animal tour.

We never played Spirit Animal live before, so that will be the first time. And hopefully we get to also play maybe two new songs from the new album. That will come out in October.

MHR: Ok Max, who will be part of Soulfly for this upcoming tour? I know that the band has been through some changes a couple of times recently. So, who will be part of Soulfly this time around?

MC: So, yeah, we have, of course, Zion playing drums. He's been solid. He's getting better and better. His drumming has been pretty amazing, actually, the last couple of years. He has a lot of energy. It's cool. He's very visceral. He's a visceral drummer. And we got Mike DeLeon playing guitars. He recorded the record with us, the new record. It seems like he's really fitting good with the Soulfly lineup. And we have Chase from Warbringer playing bass.

MHR: Oh, nice. That will be a nice add. Last year, we experienced morbid devastation at Masters of Rock, which was an amazing throwback set. What has been your experience at the Masters of Rock festival throughout all these years and appearances?

MC: I love it. I think it's a great festival. I think George does an amazing job. I'm a big fan of his festival. I'm a big fan of him as a person. I think he's a great guy. And he always treats us so good. He treats us real special. We feel very welcome. And I feel very welcome in the Czech Republic. You guys freaking love me. I don't know why.

MHR: Well, that’s because it's a fusion between tradition and between how important your early work and Soulfly and everything that you have done has impacted Czech metal scene. That's for sure.

MC: That's great. I love that. I love that. I love the connection that I built up with the Czech fans through the years. We experienced some amazing shows, some amazing festivals and headline shows. And I think this show, to me, is very cool.

This whole tour is very cool because it's a new chapter in Soulfly's life. We're opening a new chapter with new record. With new music coming out in October. And it's a band that's been going for since 1998. So, it's a long time. I love the Soulfly vibe, the vibe of the band.

I think it's unique. We have something very different from the metal that's out there. We have all these crazy jams. And that makes it, I don't know, makes it interesting. To me, as a musician, I get to really experience what I love about music in Soulfly because it is the emotion, you know? Music is full of emotion. So Soulfly has all the hard hits, the energy of death, trash, groove, metal, but also has experimental side, you know? With all the percussion and the drums and the jams.

So, I get to be very experimental. So, the Soulfly show becomes quite unique because of that. It's like you experience something a bit out of normal. It's not the typical metal show. It's a bit different. And also, I think with this kind of positive thing sprinkled on top of it.

Because Soulfly I think is very positive. It's very uplifting, you know? To tell people to uplift their lives, to make a better life for yourself. And I think it's like that positive thing that really in metal 30 years ago, there was nothing like that in metal. It was all negative, you know? It was all black and dark and evil. But it's still energy.

You still have the same energy of the early days, but with this spiritual positive thing on top of it. I think it's great. I think it's like it fits good to what we do. I really love that we get to play some new songs as well from the new record.

I hope that they'll be well received. And also, some of these deep cuts. I'm very curious how people are going to react to these deep cuts that we're playing. That's not your typical Soulfly songs that they've never seen before. I've never even played these songs before.

So, it's a curiosity for me as well.

MHR: Well, I mean, I do think that the positivity of Soulfly is a catalyst of yourself. For the time that I've seen you live, it's always a positive experience.

So, I think it's like a reflection of yourself, which is quite interesting given the times that we are living now. Okay. So, it's been three years since TOTEM was released, and we're talking about a new album, we're talking about new music. You mentioned something upcoming in October. What can you tell us about this new Soulfly album?

MC: Well, it’s, I don't know. I find it hard to explain to people how the record is. I'd much rather let them listen and make their own mind about it. I feel it's very strong. I feel it's a very strong record. It's perhaps a little bit not as fast as TOTEM, but more heavy grooves, like real, real heavy. A combination of early Soulfly type of stuff with what we like in modern metal right now, which is a lot of death thrash. So, I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and I think Soulfly is almost becoming this kind of... almost like tribal thrash, this kind of thing.

Because you have all the great elements of the thrash, because thrash is full of grooves, you know. You can listen to old death tones. There's a lot of groove in it, even like Slayer, you know.

And I feel that's because if you put the tribal stuff on top of it, it becomes something new. I don't like to make a word, you know, like I'm calling it tribal thrash. This is just me just talking shit.

But it's what the music gives me, the feeling. The songs are a bit shorter than TOTEM. They're more direct. They don't have too much bullshit. I cut a lot of bullshit. Boom!

You just got it and just... straight stuff. The song needs to do what it needs to do. And then after it does that, out. Next song. A bit kind of punk mentality also involved in this. Less is more.

MHR: Like 2-3 minutes, right?

MC: Yeah, some of them... I think there's one song that's 1 minute and 90.

MHR: Oh, wow. Yeah.

MC:  And then some of them real, real heavy, big tribal parts with heavy grooves and slam drumming. Again, I cannot express enough how much I like his drumming. Right. You know, through the years. But especially on this record. I think once he did the Modern Drummer YouTube video that people loved it, and people got to see a side of him that many people didn't know. Because he's a real nice guy, you know? He's a nice kid. But when he sits on the drum it becomes like a ferocious animal

MHR: Do you think that he got that from you or from his uncle?

MC: A bit of both. A little bit of both, and even a lot of it from his mother. yeah. Because his mother is also, you know... People don't know this, but Gloria is very wild. And she's more punk than me, you know?

MHR: That's lovely to say.

MC: And I think like... I think from all of that, you know, it's a mixture of all that. And... He's experimenting more with the drums. I'm trying to convince him to do a little short drum solo. I'm trying. Just do something short and cool. Because drumming is so cool. People would love to see that. Because I go jam with him and he warms up. And when he's warming up, I'm watching, going... Yeah, I like that. I think a lot of people would like that.
So, I'm trying to convince him to add something like that on the show. But regardless of that, I think we're in a great mood.

MHR: We are excited for the record. We're excited for the tour.

MC: This is the last tour of the cycle. After the record drops in October, it's going to be the new album. So, this is finishing... Almost like the ending of a chapter, beginning of another chapter together. That this is the kind of tour we're doing.

MHR: Nice, nice, nice. Well, I mean, for your expression, it will never stop to amaze me how you have integrated your family into metal and into your music. Whether it's playing with your son in Soulfly, or creating a new band with Igor, or taking Richie's band as your support. Would we see another Cavalera family member getting into metal or sharing the stage with you in the future?

MC: Well, I'm doing things with both of my sons this year. I'm doing, of course, Soulfly with Zion. But I'm also doing Nailbomb with Igor in August, and we are also doing Cavalera Chaos AD in America. I don't know when, that's probably next year. We'll probably bring that to Europe as well. As far as the older Cavaleras, we are training the little ones now.

MHR: Really? How's that possible?

MC: One of the grandkids is actually going to hopefully help with being a drum roadie. So that should be cool. Who knows? Maybe a musician comes out of that.

MHR: More and more, the world needs more from the Cavalera tribe.

Now, Max, definitely you get with the times and you adapt your music to the modern, ever-changing sounds of metal. What bands do you consider an inspiration for you in the last 2-3 years? Are there any new bands that have inspired you recently?

MC: I like a lot of records that came out this year, like the Nails record. I thought it was great. I like this band called Mongrel as well. I like bands like 200 Stab Wounds. And maybe in a little bit different way, I've been listening to a little bit of even some punk stuff like Turnstile and Harm's Way. It's really interesting.

There's a lot of good metal out there. There's a lot of young bands. There's Antichrist Sigma Machine. Some of the older guys are still doing it. Incantation, Immolation. I still love all the old classics. Morbid Angel and Obituary. All of that. Celtic Frost, of course.

Big up to Tom. Yeah, I like a lot of that. But I try to keep with the modern metal. Fulci, also from Italy, I like very much. I try to stay connected with the new guys. I'm their uncle now, or grandpa.

MHR: Max, you are. Bands have to you as a reference from where they started and support, for sure. In the same vein you also have toured the world several times. Is there any country that still needs to be added to the Soulfly tribe? A country that you have probably have not been yet.

MC: Yeah, India. Qatar. A lot of Middle East we didn't play much. Alaska, we've never been to Alaska, there's some parts of Northern Africa that I would like to go. Morocco, Tunisia. It's a big world. I think right now I'm up to 84 countries. I have visited about 84. But there's more to see. 190-something countries. And there's fans. There are fans coming from everywhere. I hear... I meet them on tour.

The other day we met a guy from China. He was a fan from China. So many fans in China.

It's incredible. We've got to come play there. India as well. Many, many fans in India. So hopefully one of these days we get to meet some of these places again. That would be great.

MHR: Unhealthy Mechanisms by Go Ahead and Die was released in 2023 and a US tour followed last year. Are there any plans for Igor and you to bring this project to Europe at some point?

MC: I would love to even do something like we did here in the States. It was a show called The Maxis Dynasty Show. I played three bands in one night. I played Soulfly, Nailbomb, and Go Ahead and Die. It was freaking crazy. But we also had Incite. We also had Healing Magic. We also had Jade's Helm.

If we can do something like that in Europe I think it would be great. Maybe with a couple of other bands that I like. Almost like a mini festival. That would have been cool. I really love Go Ahead and Die. It's like the most abrasive thing I do in music.

We don't give a shit. We give zero fucks. It's all about the plug-in. One, two, three, four, kill. It's like a live. I love Go Ahead and Die. I think we're going to work on a new record next year. Hopefully a third record. We can make a third record. I also love Killer Be Killed. Hopefully we can do some more of that. Yeah. I just love metal.

MHR: Closing up. With this new Soulfly record we will see you touring Europe. No festivals. like touring next year with any of these projects, whether it's Soulfly, Nail Bomb, Chaos AD or Go Ahead and Die. What are the prospects for next year touring Europe?

MC: We don't have it yet. But yeah, for sure. With the new record it's definitely going to be a full European tour. Hopefully also summer festival events around the next summer. It's always exciting to create a new record and you get to tour for that album. So that should be cool.

MHR: Good, good, Max. Definitely looking forward to see you at Masters of Rock, really excited about this Soulfly show and the deep cuts that you mentioned. Thank you so much, Max. I hope that you have a great rest of the week.

MC: Looking forward for the summer dates, thank you so much.

Thank you, buddy. See you in Czech Republic.

Foto: Ota Hofr