MAX CAVALERA On Next SOULFLY Record: 'It's A Tribal Thrash Album. It's Never Been Done Quite Like That'

Metal Wani's Chuck Marshall recently conducted an interview with current SOULFLY/CAVALERA CONSPIRACY and former SEPULTURA frontman Max Cavalera. You can listen to the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether the recent "Max And Iggor Cavalera Return To Roots" tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of SEPULTURA's "Roots" had an impact on SOULFLY's forthcoming new studio album:

Max: "I think all the tours that we did had an impact on everything we do. I think the 'Roots' tour had a huge impact on CAVALERA [CONSPIRACY's latest album] 'Psychosis'. You don't really hear it in the music, but it's more on the energy and the attitude of the album. We felt that energy from the crowd, from the fans and we took it right to the studio and it was so killer to do it like that. The same with SOULFLY. I think we came out of the NAILBOMB tour and went right into the studio, then while in the studio, I kind of like, just remembered the great shows and the great crowds and why we do this. It's really cool, man. It's really meaningful, this whole metal music that we do. It reaches, touches so many people. The decision to do a little bit more tribal stuff, that was kind of like my own desire to go back. I was listening to some old SOULFLY stuff and it was really cool, especially the first record. I was really inspired by that record and I wanted to revisit that kind of sound a little bit with a mix of the stuff that I'm doing now that's really cool. The record did come out…it's a mix. There's some songs that have that tribal feeling, like really heavy, really groovy, all the killer percussion on top of it. And some of it is just crazy; there's even some hardcore, death metal, black metal, all mixed up. It's from all the stuff I listen to. I love metal in general. I've been listening to a lot of the new GENOCIDE PACT, which is awesome. HARMS WAY, IMMOLATION, SUFFOCATION, I love all that. So, it's like, it goes into my music, somehow. It just gets there and ends up there. So, there is a lot of cool, fast stuff. I was really happy because my son [Zyon] plays drums and I was pushing him to play fast and he did. There's a couple of blast beats on the record, which are pretty cool. On that part, I think the record is going to be cool. I kind of feel that it's going to be like some people are going to be digging tribal songs more and some people are going to dig the fast songs. I think it's a tribal thrash album, actually. It's kind of cool. It's never been quite done like that. The tribal stuff mixing with the thrash stuff in a huge way. I think that is the best kind of description of the new SOULFLY. Yeah, 'tribal thrash.' I think that sounds pretty cool."

On whether SOULFLY's new studio album will have any elements found on their 1998 self-titled debut:

Max: "I think so. It's not a copy of the first record, but there is some stuff that reminds me of it. I think the raw energy is real similar to the first album. I think it's perfect to make this record. I think it's appropriate and was the right record to make right now. Recording with Josh Wilbur, too, was great. He helped a lot on everything from the drums to a lot of cool ideas and it was a cool studio. We all felt really comfortable in it. I think it's a perfect record to come out after 20 years. It's our 11th album and we're very excited for it."

On SLAYER's recently announced "farewell tour":

Max: "I don't know; it's not for me. I probably will never retire. I want to die doing this. I want to play until I cannot do it anymore, then throw some dirt on me. [Laughs] But, it's a choice thing. It's their thing. It's what they want to do. You have to respect that. I love them. I think they're a great band. They're great guys. I met all of them, worked with Tom [Araya] on 'Terrorist' [from 2000's 'Primitive'] and it was great. It was a great honor. You know, there's a part of me that will be sad it's happening because they're such a great band and always releasing great music. I got to see them play live a bunch of times. It was great. We did the SOULFLY/SLAYER tour in the early 2000s. It was really killer. Yeah, we're going to miss them. But, I'm sure they'll find other things to do. I'm sure Kerry [King] will probably do something else with somebody else and find something else."

SOULFLY's new album tentatively due this summer via Nuclear Blast.

Max has just embarked on the Canadian leg of the "Point Blank With Soulfly" tour, where SOULFLY is performing NAILBOMB's lone studio album, 1994's "Point Blank", in full.