We're used to hearing Max Cavalera talk shit on his former band, Sepultura, whether he's saying the band was taken hostage before he quit, that he doesn't give a fuck about the band (I beg to differ), and just general shit talking. But it seems like his brother, former Sepultura drummer Igor Cavalera was pretty mum on the subject – until a recent interview.
Igor, who I always loved as a drummer, was recently interviewed about his relationship with his former Sepultura bandmates and his legacy with the band, he said this:
"It's kind of weird, I am proud of all I accomplished with SEPULTURA, and on the other hand, I feel a little sad, you know, because I see the guys playing nowadays, and a lot of the drive and rush that we had has been lost. My brother [Max] left the band, then I left the band, so I think, in my opinion, it would have been cooler if the band had come to an end at that point. Maybe that would have been the right time for it to stop — kind of like soccer players that retire from the sport while they are still at the peak of their playing ability, [before] they start looking like they are too tired to keep playing. So it makes me sad, but on the other hand, I'm doing my own thing now."
Of course it's easy for Igor to say that because he's moved on to successful bands, and he chose to leave Sepultura. But Andreas and Paolo chose to stay. Why should they change their name, lose out on potential cash from a less-recognizable name because the two Cavaleras decided to quit? It's just business.
Andreas previously spoke of the struggles of keeping Sepultura going after Max quit and said it was ultimately their choice to leave the band, nobody kicked them out. In an interview last year, he said:
The choice to leave the band was their choice. We never fired any musician in the group. We only fired our manager after the 'Roots' tour, and Max chose to leave and stay with her and start a solo career. He didn't care about the name during those days. He didn't fight for the name. He just turned his back and said, 'Fuck you guys; I'm better off myself.' And Igor left 10 years later; he didn't care either to fight. It's like many fathers who have children and leave them. For [the Cavaleras], Sepultura is like an abandoned child. They really turned their back on us and left
Either way, good for all parties involved to still be working in the music business.
