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THRASHER SOULFLY Herein we examine SOULFLY, venomous vehicle for Max Cavalera’s second incarnation as rock god. Once upon a time, way back in the 90s, a band from Brazil ruled America. Sepultura (the name means “grave” in Portuguese) fashioned a fusion of classic metal and heavenly hardcore, accumulating legions of rabid fans. Guitarist/vocalist Max Cavalera, a hot-blooded product of European tenacity and South American beauty, tells us, “With Sepultura, there was no barrier between metal and hardcore. It was all together…we were fucked-up and pissed off.” Initially the poverty-plagued rockers resorted to stealing equipment; eventually they played arenas with gear supplied by the biggest companies. For a while they were king, but the march of time ground them down, as happens to all bands great and small, and they joined the ghostly ranks of musical memories. RIP!!! Unable to sit around and rehash the past, Max assembled a new band that takes up where Sepultura left off. Incorporating the coolness of his previous project with state-of-the-art world music concepts and updated sonic texturing, his new entity, Soulfly, delivers high-octane, meaningful metal without pretension. The urgency of our planet’s problems and the awful way we treat each other take center stage in Soulfly’s message, delivered with all the fury and brutality a headbanging hedonist could hope for. In other words, these guys mix good vibes with bad. Soaring optimism dragged down by black moods or, conversely, bad attitude buoyed by happiness—either way one hears it, it’s a new musical experience perfectly geared to these confusing times. “We have this weird World Music element. I want to keep that, big time. It definitely sets us apart; without it, Soulfly becomes just another metal band,” Max explains. The message, while lofty, avoids the pitfalls of preachiness. “As a musician, I don’t like politics. I’m primitive: fuck your politics. I’m glad I moved Soulfly into a more spiritual alley than Sepultura, which was more political. I didn’t want a Rage Against The Machine-type band—most people don’t agree with them today, unlike when they first came out. I keep Soulfly away from politics.” Thus he reveals a shrewd assessment of the volatile metal market, in which today’s poignancy is tomorrow’s bullshit. Don’t get the idea that Soulfly are a bunch of nice guys who hug trees and worry about being P.C. They’re an ass-kicking amalgam of potentially mean motherfuckers, belting out brain-melting mayhem. Max: “I’m so glad I’m a musician. It’s very gratifying—instead of killing, murdering, and robbing, I’m making music and making people happy. It’s fuckin‘ amazing. It’s a gift.” He’s currently recording the next album with drummer Joe Nunuz, former Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson, and guitarist Mark Rizzo. The Soulfly CD comes courtesy of Roadrunner Records, home of such hard-hitters as Type O Negative, Fear Factory, and Slipknot. “I’ve been with Roadrunner a long time,” Max relates. “They understand what I’m about. I had a bad experience with Sepultura when Roadrunner licensed us to Epic in ’94 for one record. It was too much of a huge empire and we were just this grain of sand. They didn’t give a shit about the record. They didn’t understand it at all. Music is not about the radio. It’s about the fans, and it should hit people directly. Roadrunner’s cool. With every record I do with them, I push things one step forward.” Now living in Phoenix, Max and his superwife/manager Gloria Cavalera keep on keepin‘ on. The guitarist says, “You gotta keep moving; you gotta keep making records, get yourself out there, and never look back. The better days are yet to come. I just keep writing.” Do you miss your homeland? “Of course I do. But Brazil is a negative country in terms of being a musician. They look at musicians as nothing, you’re not worth a shit. I fought my whole life to get out of there. I don’t feel like I should go back there; it’s going backwards. There’s so many problems with violence, with drugs like crack, with homeless people.” Why is it so violent? “Because of money. When people are hungry, and society closes all the doors on you, the only thing you have left is to grab a gun and survive by your own hand. You become what society has actually done to you. That’s why there’s so much crime in Brazil. There’s no way out.” On a lighter note, why is your music good to skate to? “The intensity definitely hits home with skateboarders. My song ‘Downstroy’, along with some Slayer and Slipknot stuff—that’s what I’d pick to skate to. But sometimes I’d like to hear something more mellow, and that’s where Soulfly comes in with the world music thing. If I’m just cruising around with my skateboard, I want to listen to something more mellow. But if I’m in a contest, I wanna hear something that brings down the house with some heavy shit. And, it’s tough to be a skateboarder here in Phoenix—it’s so fucking hot. “My brother Igor, who played drums for Sepultura, was a big skater. I used to look at his copies of Thrasher. One of my favorite articles in there was about The Misfits, which was kick-ass.” Perhaps future generations of hard rockin‘ skaters will refer back to this here article as one of their favorites. Anyway, what’s on the horizon for you and Soulfly? “I breathe music, go to bed with music, wake up with music—that’s all I do.” Well, Max, it shows. |
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