SEPULTURA To Perform Only DERRICK GREEN-Era Material At Brazil's ROCK IN RIO Festival

Brazilian/American metallers SEPULTURA have announced that their upcoming September 5, 2026 performance at this year's edition of the Rock In Rio festival in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil will focus only on the material written and recorded during the band's Derrick Green era. This means that none of the classic songs recorded by SEPULTURA's classic lineup, including such staples as "Roots Bloody Roots", "Territory" and "Refuse/Resist", will be played at the Rock In Rio show.

SEPULTURA's classic lineup fell apart in 1996 with the exit of the band's original frontman, Max Cavalera, after the rest of the band split with his wife, Gloria, as their manager. His brother, drummer Igor Cavalera, stuck around with the group for another 10 years before leaving SEPULTURA and re-teaming with Max in CAVALERA CONSPIRACY.

Cleveland native Green went from fronting hardcore band OUTFACE in Ohio to relocating to New York and then joining SEPULTURA in 1997 and living in São Paulo, Brazil for nearly two decades. He currently resides in Los Angeles.

Although SEPULTURA has maintained a diehard fanbase in all parts of the world throughout the band's three-and-a-half-decade-plus history, Max-era albums "Roots" and "Chaos A.D." were by far SEPULTURA's most commercially successful, having both been certified gold in the U.S. for sales in excess of five hundred thousand copies.

When he was asked in a January 2020 interview with the "Scars And Guitars" podcast why he thinks SEPULTURA still gets asked about a possible reunion with Max, Derrick said: "I think for some people, it's hard for them to really move on. It's hard for people to change in general — for the fact that they're fearful of change, because of the unexpected when changing. It's hard for certain people, but that's okay. It's not where we're at musically, and thank god that we were able to move forward and not only rely on the past. I think it's natural for certain people that they gravitate to something that they've known from the past, and maybe that's just where they like to have their heads."

He continued: "I never wanted to be in that position, just because I'm an artist and, for me, it's important to really explore and to evolve, and change is actually necessary. And that's something that's happening in all of our lives, so I accept it and go with it and living within the moments that are happening now."

Derrick added: "I don't worry too much about other people and them being trapped in the past. It's just something I don't wanna be a part of or be near that. [Laughs]"

In November 2020, Green spoke in general terms about the challenges of stepping into an established and successful band, particularly when it comes to replacing someone who was a focal point in the group for nearly a decade and a half. He told "Talking Bollocks", the metal podcast hosted by ACID REIGN frontman-turned-stand-up-comedian Howard H. Smith: "Joining a band, replacing a person, especially the front person, is one of the most difficult things — switches or changes that can happen in a band. And I wasn't expecting anything to happen overnight. I knew it would take years for people to get past the actual change and start to really listen to what's happening in that moment. I felt that we had to really work on that; we had to earn that. I think the band itself had spent so many years getting to a position where they earned the level of respect that they got. So I felt the same way. We had a new combination of people in the band, and I felt that we were earning this respect again. And it's taken us to where we're at now, where now people can look back and say, 'Oh, I see it here. Oh, man. This is better. Oh, this got better.' Or some people are, like, 'This is my favorite.' And I realize everyone has their own opinions, but for me personally, I feel fantastic at the position that we're at. It's a complete battle and struggle, but it's something that I love doing. So there's no negativity drawn from that, being a battle and a struggle. It was something that was really important and needed in order to make it very real and very truthful, the music."

Earlier in 2020, SEPULTURA bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. said that he has had "zero" contact with Max, adding that a reunion with the band's original frontman would have to happen "naturally."

Back in 2017, Igor Cavalera told The Salt Lake Tribune that he and Max "believe SEPULTURA doesn't really make sense nowadays, to do what they're doing." The drummer also downplayed the possibility of a reunion of SEPULTURA's classic lineup, saying: "Unless it's something really solid — and we haven't seen that from their part — of doing something totally professional and coming together, trying to do something like that. At the end of the day, it would be special for the fans, so it's not like a closed door, but at the same time, we have no time to spend energy with this kind of thing. So we just move forward."

Max echoed his brother's sentiments, telling The Salt Lake Tribune that he doesn't even think about his former bandmates much. "For a time — for a long time — there was a war in the press, like, 'He'll talk this, I'll talk that,'" he explained. "I got really tired of it, honestly. I'm not gonna do that anymore. So let them go their way and do their thing, and we're gonna do our thing, and I think that's the best for everybody."

While stopping short of completely ruling out a reunion of SEPULTURA's classic lineup, Max said: "Right now, we don't even need it. It's been so much of that kind of bad vibes through the years that I don't even know how that would even really work out. I think what [Igor and I] are doing is the closest thing to that, and it works great, it works like a charm. It's amazing."

SEPULTURA will release a new EP, "The Cloud Of Unknowing", on April 24 via Nuclear Blast Records. Described in a press release as "one of SEPULTURA's most diverse and emotionally resonant releases", the four-song "The Cloud Of Unknowing" EP "serves as a bittersweet farewell, showcasing the full spectrum of the band's creativity, reflecting both the ferocity and depth that have defined SEPULTURA's legacy."

SEPULTURA kicked off its farewell tour on March 1, 2024 at Arena Hall in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The sold-out show marked the band's debut performance with Greyson Nekrutman, who previously played with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES.

SEPULTURA announced Eloy Casagrande's departure on February 27, 2024, explaining in a statement that he was leaving to join "another project", with Eloy later confirming that he was the new drummer of SLIPKNOT.

The news of Eloy's exit from SEPULTURA came just two months after the band announced it would celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2024 by embarking on a "farewell tour" which would cover the entire globe.

In SEPULTURA's statement, the remaining bandmembers expressed their shock over Casagrande's departure, saying they were "taken by surprise" that their now-former drummer would "abandon everything related to SEPULTURA" less than a month prior to the start of the tour.

SEPULTURA is putting together a live album commemorating its last run of shows. The band is recording 40 songs in 40 different cities for what will be a "massive compilation of our best, most energetic moments on stage," according to a statement released by SEPULTURA in December 2023.

The final North American leg of SEPULTURA's "Celebrating Life Through Death" tour will feature support from thrash legends EXODUS, hardcore heavyweights BIOHAZARD, and newcomers TRIBAL GAZE. The trek will kick off on April 29 in Montclair, New Jersey and will visit major cities across the U.S. and Canada, including Montreal, Detroit, Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles, before concluding on May 29 at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. Along the way, SEPULTURA will also perform at major festivals, including Welcome To Rockville and Sonic Temple.