MAX CAVALERA Is 'Proud' Of His Work With SEPULTURA: 'I Think We Left A Big Mark On The Metal World'

On March 3, Holland's FaceCulture conducted an interview with former SEPULTURA and current SOULFLY frontman Max Cavalera. You can now watch the chat in three parts below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether album anniversaries mean anything to him:

Max: "Well, they do. It's a special thing. It commemorates a date, and the fact that we're still here doing it is very special, and I think it should be celebrated. For [SEPULTURA's 1996 album] 'Roots', I'm doing a thing with Igor [Max's brother and former SEPULTURA bandmate]; I'm playing the whole record with him, starting after the SOULFLY tour. I think we're doing the U.S. first, and then we're coming to Europe with it. And we're gonna figure out some kind of visuals, like maybe some videos we're gonna play with it with some kind of really cool backdrops. It's gonna be a special night, a special event, but playing the whole record, which is really, really cool. I've never done that before."

On how he looks back on the "Roots" album twenty years later:

Max: "Yeah, [the personal stuff around the band] was chaotic, but musically, it was good. I think 'Roots' is an excellent record. It's a very brave record. It's a very fearless record in terms of saying, 'We're gonna do this. No matter what people say, we're gonna do it.' And we did it. And it was a huge risk. Not many bands take that risk. And we stuck to our guns and put the album out. And I think it was a very interesting record, because I think it was the beginning of my experiences in world music, which I really love, and bringing metal… making metal different. You can combine indigenous sounds and stuff with metal and make something cool with it. So I think 'Roots' was the blueprint for all that; it was like the first one that was like that. We went to the Xavantes tribe and recorded with them. It was killer. It was an amazing experience."

On whether his exit from SEPULTURA shortly after the release of "Roots" has tarnished his memories of that album and his earlier work with the band:

Max: "What we did up until 'Roots' was great and I'm proud of it, and I think we left a big mark on the metal world, and we should be proud of it. And what happened happened. I think it could have been handled different. If it was today, I probably would think of different ways to deal with the situation, but we were not prepared at that time, so we ended up imploding. But sometimes I also think it's fate; it was meant to be like that. Otherwise, we wouldn't have SOULFLY and other experience in music I had, like KILLER BE KILLED and CAVALERA CONSPIRACY. So, yeah, I think it's all meant to be, and I'm happy with it. I look back [on it] with pride, and we did a lot of great things. But I'm still living today like this is the dream that I had as a kid; to live from music and do all this, I'm doing it right now. So for me… People say, 'Oh, those are the glory days.' For me, the glory days are now. To still be able to do it and have fun with it and enjoy it, I think that's the best thing you can do."

"Roots", along with 1993's "Chaos A.D.", is considered SEPULTURA's most commercially successful release, having been certified gold in 2005 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for U.S. shipments in excess of 500,000 copies.

In 1996, Max exited SEPULTURA after the rest of the band fired Max's wife Gloria as their manager.

Igor left SEPULTURA in June 2006 due to "artistic differences." His departure from the band came five months after he announced that he was taking a break from SEPULTURA's touring activities to spend time with his second wife and their new son (who was born in January 2006).