Max Cavalera's Soulfly will trek across the U.S. with a slew of heavy upstarts in support of their 2022 ripper Totem, but that doesn't mean the Brazilian legend doesn't have time to stop and smell the roses with his friends at Metal Injection!
In a recent sitdown, Cavalera reflected on both the 25th anniversary of Soulfly's debut album, as well as the 30th anniversary of Sepultura's lauded genre classic Chaos A.D., heaping praise on both records and expressing his desire to honor each on tour.
"It has been mentioned to me, and I am aware of it," Cavalera shared of the milestone anniversary for Soulfly's debut. "I mean, the coolest thing would have been if we could have pulled out maybe one show, one festival or something with the original lineup, which would have been Marcello, Roy and Lucio, which is possible because all of those three guys are active in the world. Lucio is still playing in Brazil, Marcello and Roy are also active. And yeah, it's a possibility. Nothing concrete yet, but yeah, we'll see.
"I love those special things that you can do within the music. Like we paid homage to Beneath the Remains and Arise and it was incredible. It was one of the most fun tours I did in a long time. Just really to get to appreciate the old catalog. I think a lot of times when you're a musician and you're just writing nonstop, you don't really take a minute to appreciate how good some of those records were until you do a deep dive on them again, and I had to do that to prepare for the tour and listen to it again. I kind of fell in love with it again. And it was like, yes, this is some really cool shit I did when I was very young, you know? I don't know what the hell I was thinking with those riffs, but it's cool. It's exciting, and the tour was amazing."
Stepping back five years earlier to the release of Chaos A.D., and Cavalera marvels at the "mindfuck" of an album, which pushed he and his then bandmates to their creative limits.
"It's a total mindfuck of a record because we have songs recorded in a castle in Wales about a Brazilian tribe. Makes no goddamn sense," he shares with a laugh. "Like, the whole thing is actually hilarious, the ideas of this record. But yeah, great things came out of it. Really paved the way. For a lot of people Chaos A.D. is one of their favorite Sepultura records.
"I look forward to whenever we get to play Chaos A.D. live. I think it's going to be great. Like we do all these homage tours. That would be a really fun one. From the record one of the most, to me at least, refreshing things that came out of it was actually 'Kaiowas,' the instrumental. It was like messing around with 12 strings and percussion, and we had never done anything like that before. So that was kind of cool, you know, that was like very more on the experimental side of things.
"But in general, I think it was a very productive time of my life when I think about it, because I was doing two records at the same time. I was doing Chaos and Nailbomb both at the same time. Literally at the same time I was writing for one and writing for the other like right after. In my head it was all congealed like Nailbomb and Chaos ideas everywhere.
"But yeah, I love it, man. I love it. And I love that the fans really love embracing the record. I get to see some of my favorite bands covering, like Gojira was covering 'Territory' with Chino and stuff like that. That's really cool. It's always fun to see your peers paying homage to those records like that."
Soulfly, Bodybox & Half Heard Voices
1/25 Tucson, AZ – The Rock [Tickets]
1/26 Flagstaff, AZ – Orpheum [Tickets]
1/27 Farmington, NM – Inspired Moments Event Center [Tickets]
1/28 Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad [Tickets]
1/29 El Paso, TX – RockHouse [Tickets]
1/31 Tulsa, OK – The Vanguard [Tickets]
2/1 Dallas, TX – Trees [Tickets]
2/2 Austin, TX – Come And Take It Live [Tickets]
2/3 San Antonio, TX – The Rock Box [Tickets]
2/4 Houston, TX – Scout Bar [Tickets]
2/5 New Orleans, LA – The Parish [Tickets]
2/7 Ft. Walton Beach, FL – Downtown Music Hall [Tickets]
2/8 Jacksonville, FL – Underbelly [Tickets]
2/9 Orlando, FL – The Haven [Tickets]
2/10 Tampa, FL – The Orpheum [Tickets]
2/11 Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room [Tickets]
2/13 West Columbia, SC – New Brookland Tavern [Tickets]
2/14 Virginia Beach, VA – Elevation 27 [Tickets]
2/15 Bensalem, PA – Broken Goblet Brewing [Tickets]
2/16 Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage [Tickets]
Soulfly, Bodybox & Skinflint
2/17 Clifton, NJ – Dingbatz [Tickets]
2/18 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall Of Williamsburg [Tickets]
2/19 Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom [Tickets]
2/20 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall [Tickets]
2/21 Burlington, VT – Higher Ground [Tickets]
2/23 Syracuse, NY – The Lost Horizon [Tickets]
2/24 Buffalo, NY – Rec Room [Tickets]
2/25 Mechanicsburg, PA – Lovedrafts [Tickets]
2/26 Pittsburgh, PA – Crafthouse [Tickets]
2/28 Columbus, OH – Skully’s Music Diner [Tickets]
3/1 Flint, MI – The Machine Shop [Tickets]
3/2 Battle Creek, MI – The Music Factory [Tickets]
3/3 Joliet, IL – The Forge [Tickets]
3/4 Belvidere, IL – The Apollo Theatre [Tickets]
3/5 St. Paul, MN – Turf Club [Tickets]
Soulfly, Bodybox & Drift
3/7 Omaha, NE – Waiting Room [Tickets]
3/8 Springfield, MO – Outland Ballroom [Tickets]
3/10 Denver, CO – HQ [Tickets]
3/11 Greeley, CO – Moxi Theater [Tickets]
3/13 Billings, MT – Pub Station [Tickets]
3/14 Great Falls, MT – The Newberry [Tickets]
3/15 Spokane, WA – The Knitting Factory [Tickets]
3/16 Seattle, WA – El Corazon [Tickets]
3/17 Portland, OR – Bossanova Ballroom [Tickets]
3/18 Eugene, OR – WOW Hall [Tickets]
3/19 Reno, NV – Virginia Street Brewhouse [Tickets]
3/21 Petaluma, CA – The Phoenix Theater [Tickets]
3/22 Roseville, CA – Goldfield Trading Post [Tickets]
3/23 Santa Cruz, CA – The Atrium @ The Catalyst [Tickets]
3/24 San Francisco, CA – DNA Lounge [Tickets]
3/25 Fresno, CA – Strummer’s [Tickets]
3/26 Ventura, CA – Ventura Music Hall [Tickets]
3/28 Palmdale, CA – Transplants Brewing Company [Tickets]
3/29 Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom [Tickets]
3/30 Pomona, CA – Glass House [Tickets]
3/31 San Diego, CA – Music Box [Tickets]
4/1 Tempe, AZ – The Marquee Theatre [Tickets]
