MAX CAVALERA: 'For Me, Every Album Is A Chance To Do Something That I've Never Done Before'

In a new interview with Historias Rockeras, former SEPULTURA and current SOULFLY frontman Max Cavalera spoke about the importance of breaking new musical ground on every album that he is involved with. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think that's something that I… I like that myself. And that's what I liked about the work with SEPULTURA — the albums where they didn't repeat themselves. From 'Beneath The Remains' to 'Arise', it was different; 'Arise' from 'Chaos A.D.' was different; 'Chaos A.D.' from 'Roots' was different. And same with SOULFLY. The early SOULFLY was more tribal and then it got more thrash in the middle. 'Soulfly 3' and 'Prophecy' were more thrash metal, and then 'Enslaved' was more death metal. 'Archangel' is more — there's some black metal, even, influences.

"I love that — I love that there's no rules; you make your own rules," he continued. "And for me as a creative person, it gives me excitement to say, 'What can I make next that I have not done before? What can I make new?' And the new [stuff], really, sometimes is just going back to the past. So if I go back and make a very close to black metal album, which I think might be a cool thing to do, so go back to a 'Morbid Visions' kind of style and make something new out of that again, so you can do that too. It's so cool that it's so open. For me, there's no rules in metal; you make your own rules. And I think that's how I live my life. For me, there is no rules in metal. You make your own ideas; you make your own what you wanna make with it; it's up to you. And you change people's conception; you change people's vision of something.

"I remember when we did 'Roots', the label did not like the name; it probably sounded like a reggae compilation. And I told them, 'Don't worry. After SEPULTURA 'Roots', the word 'roots' is gonna be connected to metal.' And now it's so connected, we have programs on radio called 'Roots Of…' this, and other bands using the word 'roots'. 'Roots' is a metal word; it's connected to metal now.

"You have to have the vision," Cavalera added. "You have to look at something and say, 'Okay, this is gonna change people's mind after you do it.' You have to have the courage to do it and then have the patience and the vision to see something happen that has not happened yet. So I think it's all part of it.

"I feel very excited to make records. For me, every album is a chance to do something that I've never done before."

SEPULTURA's classic lineup fell apart in 1996 with the exit of Max after the rest of the band split with his wife Gloria as their manager. His brother, drummer Igor Cavalera, stuck around with the group for another 10 years before leaving SEPULTURA and re-teaming with Max in CAVALERA CONSPIRACY.

Although SEPULTURA has maintained a diehard fanbase in all parts of the world throughout the band's three-and-a-half-decade-plus history, Max-era albums "Roots" and "Chaos A.D." were by far SEPULTURA's most commercially successful, having both been certified gold in the U.S. for sales in excess of five hundred thousand copies.

Igor and Max have spent much of the last six years celebrating the 20th anniversary of SEPULTURA's "Roots" and 30th anniversary of "Beneath The Remains" and "Arise" albums on tour all over the world.

Last month, Max and Igor announced the fall 2022 leg of the "Return Beneath Arise" U.S. tour. The trek will kick off on September 28 in Pomona, California and end on October 29 in Santa Ana, California.

SOULFLY's twelfth album, "Totem", was released on August 5 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2018's "Ritual" was recorded at Platinum Underground in Mesa, Arizona by John Aquilino and Arthur Rizk with assistance from John Powers. Produced by Max alongside Arthur Rizk (KREATOR, MUNICIPAL WASTE, CODE ORANGE),the LP boasts guest appearances from John Powers (ETERNAL CHAMPION),Chris Ulsh (POWER TRIP),and John Tardy (OBITUARY). Rizk was also responsible for playing lead guitar on the record. The artwork for the album was created by James Bousema.