MAX CAVALERA On A.I. Technology: 'My Hope Is That We Can Coexist With This Thing'

In a new interview with the RRBG podcast, former SEPULTURA and current SOULFLY frontman Max Cavalera — who is known for his many collaborations through the years — weighed in on a debate about people using an A.I. (artificial intelligence) music generator as a tool to create melodies, harmonies and rhymes based on artificial intelligence (A.I.) algorithms and machine learning (M.L.) models. Max said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That's one of my arguments with people about this whole A.I. shit. To me, that's like what A.I. cannot do. You can't really put people like me and Dino [Cazares, FEAR FACTORY guitarist], or me and Chino [Moreno, DEFTONES singer], or me and Tom Araya [SLAYER vocalist], and you get a cool song out of it. A.I. can never do that. And they won't be able to do it. They'll do a false Xerox of it, but it's not the same… I don't give a shit what people say. It's not the same, man, and it will never be."

Addressing A.I. technology as a whole, Max said: "My hope is that we can coexist with this thing; that's my wish. 'Cause I think some of it can be good, if it's done the right way. I think we're gonna actually learn to coexist with this A.I. technology and see where it goes from there. But the soul of the person, yeah, that's a unique thing. Your heart, your passion, that's a human thing, man."

SOULFLY's thirteenth album, "Chama", came out on October 24 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Last month, SOULFLY kicked off the "Favela Dystopia" 2025 West Coast tour with GO AHEAD AND DIE. The 17-date trek launched on November 1 in Roswell and headed to Denver, Spokane and Fresno, among other cities, before concluding in Flagstaff on November 23.

SOULFLY drummer — and Max's son — Zyon Cavalera co-produced "Chama", which was recorded at the Platinum Underground Studio in Mesa, Arizona by John Aquilino. John has worked with Max and company multiple times before and is not only a talented engineer but a family friend. The album was produced by Zyon and Arthur Rizk. The latter was also responsible for the mixing and mastering. Rizk has not only worked with the Cavalera family numerous times before, but has also helped to shape the world of heavy metal in the modern day. SOULFLY enlisted Carletta Parrish to create the album artwork. For the album, Igor Amadeus Cavalera (GO AHEAD & DIE, NAILBOMB, HEALING MAGIC) played bass and Mike De Leon played guitar.