MAX CAVALERA: Reunion Of SEPULTURA's Classic Lineup 'Would Be Great'

Max Cavalera says that a reunion of the classic SEPULTURA lineup "would be great," but the guitarist/vocalist doesn't believe that it will ever happen.

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

Earlier this year, Max and his brother Igor — who was a member of SEPULTURA for more than two decades — celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the band's classic album "Roots" by performing the LP in its entirety on North American and European tours, dubbed "Return To Roots". They were joined by their CAVALERA CONSPIRACY bandmates Marc Rizzo (guitar) and Johny Chow (bass).

Asked by Greece's Metalpaths TV what he would say if he ever received a phone call from SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser asking him to take part in a reunion of the group's classic lineup, Max responded (see video below): "Yeah, if it was done the right way, it would be great, but right now, I don't even think we need it, because I think this ['Return To Roots'] tour kind of proved to the fans that they don't even care if it's all [members of the classic SEPULTURA lineup]. I think they just… they like [to see] me and Igor [playing together] — most of the fans just wanna see me and Igor — so I think… I almost think that is the reunion, as far as I'm concerned and as far as a lot of fans are concerned. But, you know, if eventually that day comes that [Andreas] says that… I don't think that's gonna happen, because I know him. [Laughs] But if it does, yeah, of course, we would do a proper reunion tour, you know."

Max and Igor first played all of "Roots" at this year's edition of the Amnesia Rockfest on June 24.

"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.

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).

In a 2015 interview with Metal Wani, Kisser stated about the persistent talk of a possible reunion of SEPULTURA's classic lineup: "I think it's gonna go on forever. Unfortunately, people are really… They're stuck in a date, in a year, in an era of their life. They didn't develop something of their own. They didn't move on, it seems like."

He continued: "We had to rebuild SEPULTURA from scratch, because when Max left, he took the management, he took the label, he took, basically, [producer] Ross [Robinson] and [producer/mixer] Andy Wallace. It took everything that we built… It took ten years to build that, [and] Max took it for him. And it was very difficult for us, of course — to lose the lead singer, a charismatic guy… Max was really one of a kind of a lead singer, you know, so it was very difficult on that respect, but the most difficult part was really to rebuild the whole structure — the confidence from the label and the fans. The campaign that [Max] Cavalera did was really… He tried to separate the axis of evil: 'Either you're with me or with them.' It was something very stupid in the end. I mean, this is not a political party; this is music. If you choose to follow a different path, so be it — just go for it. Don't keep looking back and talking shit — which he still does. But that's his problem, and that's something that he has to deal with."

The current SEPULTURA lineup — featuring Derrick Green on vocals and Eloy Casagrande on drums — will release its new studio album, "Machine Messiah", on January 13 via Nuclear Blast.