MAX CAVALERA Says SEPULTURA Reunion Will Probably Happen Next Year

Cameron Edney recently conducted an interview with SOULFLY/ex-SEPULTURA mainman Max Cavalera. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Q: Max, let's start with news on Bobby Burns [bass]. How is he doing?

Max: Ah, he's getting better, it came on so sudden. It happened just before the tour started and we were all surprised by it, but he's doin better and hopefully he will be alright soon. He is home recovering right now and we have Dave Ellefson doing the first part of the tour and then Danny Lilker joins us for the other half of the tour.

Q: You have got two amazing bassists filling in for Bobby. Both Dave and Dan are great guys and fantastic at what they do, Dave has played with you in the past, tell me what's Dan's involvement with SOULFLY?

Max: Well, I've known Danny for a long time, ya know since the early SEPULTURA days. He's toured in Brazil with NUCLEAR ASSAULT and we've played together. Danny's also a very good friend of Gloria's [Cavalera, Max's wife/manager]. He met her a long time ago back in Phoenix and she arranged some NUCLEAR ASSAULT shows and through the years we have kept a friendship. I love S.O.D., I love NUCLEAR ASSAULT and BRUTAL TRUTH and I actually got to jam with Danny a couple of months ago in Serbia. We did a bunch of thrash/death metal songs in a festival in Serbia called the "Access Festival", it was really fun. When the news of Bobby came we asked Danny if he could fill in some shows for the tour but because of his commitments with BRUTAL TRUTH he could only fill in for half of the tour. So it's very exciting because I am a big fan of both of these guys and the bands they have played in. I think it will be a nice treat for the crowds as well.

Q: Do you know at this stage if Bobby will be returning for the Australian leg of the tour?

Max: We don't know, man. At the moment, I couldn't say. All I can say is that we hope so, but if not either Danny or Dave will come with us. We're going to see how Bobby feels and how his recovery is over the next couple of weeks before we make any decisions. We are definitely coming to Australia, we won't be cancelling. We are really looking forward to it. We have great fans there. Let's see what happens and who is going to come with us. SOULFLY has very good spirits right now, we had a great show yesterday and it's been a great touring year for us and we are very happy to see out the year in Australia.

Q: You were recently joined onstage with your brother Igor. Tell us about that?

Max: That was very cool; it was a very emotional night. It was the tenth anniversary of Dana's [Wells; Max's stepson] memorial show and spirits were very high that day. The whole evening was magical from the beginning to end. Even the way the whole thing was set up, we charged just $1.00 for the tickets. It was great, it added to the atmosphere of not playing a business-style show it's a real show, it's a real memorial show. It shows that no one was there to make money, it was all for the music, for Dana. On top of that my brother called me and apologized. He came down to Phoenix and I saw him for the first time in ten years and jammed with him for the first time in ten years. You can imagine how great that was for us and for all the fans.

Q: I wish I could have seen that mate, can we expect to see Igor doing full shows with SOULFLY in the future or both of you returning to SEPULTURA?

Max: Well, at the moment I am touring with SOULFLY and I want to make it very clear that I love SOULFLY. SEPULTURA and SOULFLY are two different things. People don't have to be worried. I'm not going to stop SOULFLY [laughs] even if I do a reunion with SEPULTURA; it's two different things. My thing with SOULFLY is on a day-to-day basis. Every day I am working to make SOULFLY better. If the reunion happens, and I think it will happen, then it will be a great thing for me and the fans. I can't speak for Igor but it looks like next year will be a good year for heavy music.

Q: Tell us your thoughts on Igor's decision to leave SEPULTURA, I mean, everyone thought and or hoped that you would one day return to the band for a reunion tour and now Igor has gone too?

Max: Oh I don't know! I don't really have an opinion on what he chooses to do. I stay out of it because I wasn't even there. I don't know how the camp was when I wasn't around, I know how it was when I was there but for the last ten years I haven't been anywhere near them. I can't really comment.