MAX CAVALERA Hopes To Release New KILLER BE KILLED Album In 2020

Lee Bros Meats conducted an interview with SOULFLY frontman Max Cavalera prior to the band's July 5 show at iBoat in Bordeaux, France. You can listen to the entire chat via the SoundCloud widget below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the band's 2018 studio album, "Ritual":

Max: "It was necessary for SOULFLY to have this album. It was a return to SOULFLY's essence, to what SOULFLY really is. Because it's very tribal, very full of groove, but also with elements of extreme metal — death metal, thrash metal, black metal, stuff I like. You put all this together, you have a record like 'Ritual'. To me, it feels like a very cool, fun record. It's better to play live. We're opening with 'Summoning', then 'Under Rapture'. Then 'Ritual' and 'Dead Behind The Eyes' later. It feels really good. I'm excited. I think it was a really refreshing album to make. It was done with the right people. Josh Wilbur is a great producer; he's a good guy in the studio. I think to me, the song 'Ritual' is one my favorites I've ever done. It's next to 'Primitive' or '[Roots Bloody] Roots', those kind of songs. Classic songs."

On playing club dates versus festivals:

Max: "I like both. They're two different shows. This is much closer to the audience. It's a more intimate show with the fans. SOULFLY headline shows have become a cool atmosphere; I really love it. It's a very positive atmosphere with the fans. We had a really great experience in Germany. We had a really great experience in Portugal. And I noticed this right now, especially the small shows like this, are kind of my favorite things right now. I really enjoy it. It's fun. It's like you're playing for the people who really want to hear you; they really love you. You can play any song and they'll like it. There's not much pressure. Festivals, there's more pressure. A lot of times you play, like in Spain, we're playing before SUM 41. It's a mixed crowd. It's hard to gain everybody. We try. I think we do pretty good in festivals. We have good festival songs that go really well like 'Tribe' and 'Rise Of The Fallen', 'Eye For An Eye'. It's good for festivals, which I prefer."

On whether it's "weird" working with his family, namely his wife/manager Gloria, as well as his son Zyon, who has been drumming for SOULFLY since 2013:

Max: "Not for me. I started with my brother [Igor] in SEPULTURA. To me, a family connection is very familiar, it's very natural. It's important. It's kind of a dream for me to get to play with Zyon because he saw the whole thing. When he was born, he was sleeping, like, on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, BLACK SABBATH. So, now he's big and a good drummer. He's a great drummer. I'm proud of him. The whole band is great. Marc Rizzo [guitar] and me have a great chemistry. Mike [Leon] is a great bass player. It's a solid group. I do a thing with Marc which is really cool, it's kind of a solo, but I do the background notes. I don't see anybody else doing that. Mostly, it's only a guitar solo, but we do it together. It's really cool. You'll see it tonight. It's after 'No Hope = No Fear'. It's like Marc Rizzo's solo, but I put some melodies underneath, so it almost feels like a song. But we change it every night — I change the notes every night. I never know what I'm going to do; I let it happen live. It's much better like that. It's much more exciting."

On his future plans:

Max: "Right now, I'm more focused on SOULFLY. We have two tours planned. Europe right now, and we have an American tour with UNEARTH. I do a little bit with my brother, [playing classic SEPULTURA albums] 'Beneath The Remains' and 'Arise' in Europe in November. I hope it comes to France. I think France would enjoy that. It's a cool show. It's different from SOULFLY. It's like another part of my life I get to revisit. Then, of course, I still have KILLER BE KILLED, which I'm working on it for next year. I think we'll hopefully have an album for next year for KILLER BE KILLED. I like this project a lot. I think we will have an album next year; I believe it. I've been talking to the guys. I think the first record was really good. It needed to be projected more, more promotion. More people needed to know about it. I think not a lot of people knew about it. So hopefully this time with this new one, we get to show it to more people. It's a special project. I think the combination of me, Greg [Puciato, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN], Troy [Sanders, MASTODON] and Ben [Koller, CONVERGE] is very unique. It's like THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, MASTODON, SOULFLY should not work. It should be shit. But it's not. It's good. I'm excited for next year."

"Ritual" was released last October via Nuclear Blast.

SOULFLY's 22-date trek U.S. tour will kick off on September 3 in Dallas, Texas and make stops in Baltimore, Houston and Albuquerque before concluding in Los Angeles on September 29. Support on the tour will come from UNEARTH (September 3 - September 16),INCITE, PRISON and ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN.

KILLER BE KILLED's self-titled debut album was released in 2014 via Nuclear Blast. The album featured former THE MARS VOLTA drummer Dave Elitch, who has since been replaced by Koller.