MAX CAVALERA has been absolutely no stranger to our shores over the years. He must have been here a dozen times over his career, and with the myriad incarnations of bands that he has put together, initially Sepultura, then SOULFLY and more recently The Cavalera Conspiracy. The brand new Soulfly album, Savages is now out, and Max has even been inspired by a well known Australian movie on one of the tunes on the new record, as he was happy to explain from LA to ROD WHITFIELD.
“‘Ayatollah of Rock n‘ Rolla’ came from Mad Max II,” he tells us. “I’m a big fan of the movies, I know they’re big in Australia. I even have one line in ‘Ayatollah of Rock ‘n Rolla’, the line is ‘Fuel injected suicide machine’, that’s straight from Mad Max I. You know, the beginning of the movie when they are chasing the guy on the highway, and he says ‘I’m a fuel injected suicide machine!’ I took that right from the movie and put them in the lyrics of that song.” He was unaware that a fourth instalment of the Mad Max franchise was in the works: “Is it?” he asks in surprise, “I gotta see that, they better make a good one!” he laughs.
Aussie cult action movies aside, Max is extremely happy with the brand new Soulfly album, and feels that it is one of his most diverse works to date, bringing in sounds and influences from all eras of his career, and more.
“I’m really excited, it’s a really strong record,” he enthuses. “I’m really happy with the way it’s turned out. It’s a pretty powerful record, a lot of cool stuff in it, a lot of cool guests on it. I love the songs, I love the production, Terry Date gave the album a great production, and I’m just excited for the album to come out, and be finally on tour for the record.
“It’s pretty brutal,” he describes, “half of the record is extreme, and there’s some experimental stuff. Some of it is a little bit more traditional style Soulfy groove, like early Soufly…then there’s some new stuff that we’ve never done before, like ‘Ayatollah of Rock ‘n Rolla’, is totally new, it’s got Neil from Clutch in it. It’s a mix of Soulfly and Clutch, and it’s very cool and exciting.”
Max has always been one to keep his music career in the family. For years he played in Sepultura with his brother Igor, before they had a falling out in the mid nineties, resulting in Max’s departure from the band. The feud lasted a decade or so, before the pair mended their bridges in the mid 2000s. Max’s wife Gloria has been his band’s manager for many years, and now Max has brought his son Zyon into the fold on drums for the Savages album.
“Yeah it’s cool, I played for half my life with my brother behind the drumkit,” he says, “to look behind the drumkit and see my brother is always a good feeling. And now I look behind he drumkit and see my son, it’s a good feeling too, it’s a family feeling. So for me, it’s normal, it’s not really that different, it’s not so unusual to have a family member in the band. It just feels like it’s supposed to happen, and I think it’s great, it’s really exciting. I think it’s cool that we have a metal family!
“We work together, my wife is the manager, we grew up with this kind of music. I’m very proud of Zyon, I think he’s done a amazing job on the Savages album, I mean his drumming is fantastic. He was under a lot of pressure making this record, it was tough on him, but I think he did a fucking great job man.”
Indeed he did. The touring cycle for the Savages album will no doubt include Australia, some time in 2014, so watch out for announcements.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpa4QdbkwP0