MAX CAVALERA On Project With Brother IGOR: It's The Closest Thing To A SEPULTURA Reunion

SOULFLY's official web site, Soulfly Web, has been updated with a new question-and-answer session with the group's leader, Max Cavalera. It follows here in its entirety:

Soulfly Web: First of all, we probably should discuss "Inflikted" [the new SOULFLY demo track which was recently released in very raw form] because that is what everybody has been hearing lately. It's apparent that everyone's hearing something different, because I've heard comparisons from everything like crust punk like AMEBIX, to thrash metal, and even industrial; all of its still undeniably very raw and punk. How do you bring together so many distinct sounds cohesively into one song and also, what heavy bands are you listening to the most this summer?

Max: Doing this with "Inflikted" was very exciting for me; it's something I've never really done before. You know, usually I'll do my four-tracks, but then I usually have the chance go into the studio and work it out and hear it with the band before anyone else hears what I'm thinking of. But it's very cool, because that recording is as raw as it gets. I've already gone back and I redid some of the vocal parts and added a couple other parts, but at this stage, it's still very raw. Like you said though, I like the fact the "Inflikted" is a song which carries different sounds. There's definitely a hardcore punk vibe to it, inspired by stuff like old CRO-MAGS, but there's a heavy aspect to the riffs which goes even into death metal, you know, stuff we listen to; MORBID ANGEL and MASSACRE. And on this track, there's only the drum machine, which some might see as similar to NAILBOMB, and actually that drum machine is the same drum machine that I've used for NAILBOMB, I've used it on DEFTONES' "Around the Fur" in "Head Up", and I've now used it on all of the SOULFLY records. In the end, it came out that "Inflikted" happened to be a mixture of all those sounds and I can't wait to play some new shit live. Every time I listen to the songs I'm getting more into them, and I know that "Inflikted" is going to create some raging crowds when it's live.

Soulfly Web: When we spoke nearly two months ago, you were just beginning to put some of these demos that we've been talking about to tape. At what stage are you and the rest of the band at now in creating the next album from SOULFLY?

Max: We've all been in very close contact with everything, and the band is very tight right now — more than ever. I think that this album is going to show a very developed, concrete, more solid SOULFLY album, because I know Bobby, Marc, and Joe so well now, and also because I love what they do all around; I love Marc's solo project on the side and everything they're doing musically, but at the same time, that stuff doesn't interfere with SOULFLY or anything. From doing the MARILYN MANSON cover that we just recorded to doing the shows in Argentina, Chile, and Spain, I can already see that this is going to be one of SOULFLY's strongest records because everybody is on the same page. Nobody is holding anybody back and we all just want to go forward with it. If we start recording with this kind of attitude, it's going be very fun to record. So now we're putting together plans to record and to tour right after that. I've loved "Dark Ages", but I want to start playing some of the new shit.

Soulfly Web: With all this talk of heaviness and brutality on the new album, do you think some longtime SOULFLY fans might be concerned that some of the positive and uplifting aspects of your music might not still be as central to your vision of SOULFLY? Are these songs still influenced by dub, ambient, and other music like this that you are known to frequently listen to?

Max: Of course, you don't have to worry about that. As anyone who knows what I've done before, I'm definitely looking interesting ways to make the new album very exciting. Still, I don't really see the point of repeating myself again, and I've made a point to never repeat myself ever since the early SEPULTURA days. There's still some of those same elements, but there's also a progress that has taken place from album-to-album. The message though, that is still all there, man. I believe in all of the things that I've said with SOULFLY, both positive and negative. "Dark Ages", for example, was a bit darker than "Prophecy" before it, but that's because it was made in a darker time for me, with my grandson Moses passing away, Dimebag being killed — there was a lot of tragedy and frustration for me. But yeah, those influences will still be there, but they will still be very different. I'm still the same crazy Max.

Soulfly Web: Do you have any idea what SOULFLY's definite touring and recording plans will consist of for the rest of the summer?

Max: It's still up in the air, but we're trying to plan out the year right now, and it looks like we will do a festival tour in Europe in August with many cool bands, and then we're going to go straight to the jam pad to practice, and then right to the studio to actually record the album. Normally we come from the tour, then we all take some time off, and then we go into the album. This time we're going straight from the tour into recording mode, and I think that that will reflect on the album. We'll be straight off a tour and it'll all be sounding very fresh and new, and I'm counting on that to be a factor in making this record. I want to use the energy from the tour to channel it right into the recording - right into the very first note that I hear from it.

Soulfly Web: Fucking awesome. Finally, on a bit of a different note, Jose from Sirius has just let the word out that you and Igor are coming together to work on music together for the first time in a very long time. He only used the word "sick" to describe it, but some SEPULTURA fans might need a bit more insight than this. Could you maybe describe the project a bit, why you're doing it, and what it sounds like musically?

Max: Yeah, we were hanging out with Jose last weekend, and he's a huge fan, supporter, and friend of mine. We didn't go into many details about the project, 'cause we don't really want to put any limits on it, but what I played for him was very raw. They were my personal demos, just the same as "Inflikted", but were even more raw, with no vocals or anything. I hope people are going to be very excited about it, because it's going to be a very special album for us regardless of what happens on it. It's the first time I've worked with my brother in 10 years in the studio. In many ways it's pretty historic and even magical for me — 10 years is a very long time. This project is going to be very much like a volcano exploding. We've had so much anger and aggression building up, and I know that Igor is going to fucking destroy the drum kit in the studio. I really doubt the drum kit will even survive the recording, and I hope doesn't. So far it's sounding very aggressive, but again, at this point there are no rules or limitations with it. It's going to be mainly just me and Igor, but I want to have some other guys involved with it. It's going to be similar to NAILBOMB in that it's only two guys, some friends, and one album — but it's definitely going to have its own style. It's metal Cavalera style, and it's the closest thing that anyone's going to get to seeing any type of reunion. I don't know what the fuck is going to happen with it, but I'm very excited to see where it goes and what we can do.