Soulfly

"The hardest part was realizing that I had to continue without Sepultura, and I had to find the right people to do that," says Max Cavalera about the formation of his new band, SOULFLY. "But the last thing I was gonna do was stop playing music or give up."

Max Cavalera's career has been defined by his belief in never giving up. As co-founder (with his brother Igor) of the groundbreaking Brazilian hard rock band Sepultura, Max defied convention by writing and performing the kind of brutally heavy music that was popular around the world-but regarded with distaste by the Brazilian music community. Despite incredible odds, a lack of support at home, no contacts, and shaky communication skills, Sepultura emerged from Brazil to become one of the most internationally renowned heavy rock bands of the last decade. And with albums like Chaos A.D. and Roots, the band pioneered a marriage of heavy rock and world music that established Sepultura as one of the most innovative metal bands ever.

But change is the only constant in the universe, and sure enough, differing opinions on music, business, and career goals led to a parting of the ways between Max and the rest of Sepultura. Coming on the heels of the devastating death of his beloved friend and stepson, Dana Wells, the split admittedly traumatized Max even further. However, the end of one era has given birth to another, as Max assembled SOULFLY and found the new musicians and energy he was craving.

"Putting together this new band really helped me to deal with these things," confesses Max. "Without SOULFLY, it would have been ten times harder. To me, music has always been the thing through which I release all my stress and emotions. Everybody who's ever seen me live or heard anything I've written knows that. So continuing with my work really helped me through these fucked-up, hard times.

"The thing about these guys is that they have the attitude that I wanted in a band," says Max," "which is to make music, play with fire, and not worry about foolish things. These guys have that. It feels great to go in the rehearsal room and get goosebumps about being in a group again."

The first man to enlist when Max began his search in January '97 was Roy, formerly drummer with New York avant-core band Thorn, plus a noted remixer and producer in his own right. Next was Marcello, who Max knew very well already: he was a Sepultura roadie for years. The final piece in the puzzle was Jackson, who played guitar in Max's favorite Brazilian band, Chico Science and NACAO ZUMBI. Sadly, Chico Science himself, had died-leaving the band's future in doubt. But the tragedy did provide Jackson with the opportunity to join Max and complete the lineup of SOULFLY. "He has his own style, his own character, and a lot of new ideas," says Max. "It kind of reminds me of the feeling I had when Andreas joined Sepultura-that he took Sepultura to the next level. That's how I feel about Jackson. Blended with what I was doing, it was the perfect combination."

That combination is fully in effect on SOULFLY's self-titled debut album. Fans of the monstrously heavy sound that Max established in Sepultura won't be disappointed, as the album displays all the aggression and power that is Max's trademark. But while songs like "Eye For An Eye" (the only song, according to Max, that directly addresses the breakup with Sepultura) are straightforward engines of brutality, the record also continues Max's determination to expand his musical vocabulary.

"There's a song called 'Bumba' (a Portuguese word that means 'big noise') that's co-produced by Mario C., who's worked with the Beastie Boys, and it's the first time I've explored the idea of mixing my music with sampling. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. I think this album will be even more different in style than Roots, which gives you an idea of how experimental it is. Of course, people are gonna hear a resemblance to Sepultura, because it's my voice and I haven't changed my vocal style, and there's riffs and tribal things in there that continue the types of things I've done in Sepultura, but the album also goes beyond anything I've done before."

In addition to Mario C., Soulfly features Burton C. Bell, Dino Cazares and Christian Olde Wolbers from Fear Factory, Fred Durst and DJ Lethal from Limp Bizkit, Chino from Deftones, Benji from Dub War, Eric Bobo from Cypress Hill and Jorge DuPeixe and Gilmar Bola Oito also from Chico Science. Overseeing the entire project is producer Ross Robinson, who collaborated with Sepultura on Roots and made a name for himself producing bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit.

Besides assembling SOULFLY and recording the album, Max has kept busy in other areas as well. In September, he gave an ardent address as one of three keynote speakers (with Moby and Marilyn Manson) at New York's CMJ New Music Marathon. Max's speech touched on his career, beliefs, and commitment to heavy music in spite of music industry indifference and trendiness. Similar spoken word appearances followed at the Crossing Border Festival in Holland, where Max also jammed with Gil Scott Heron's band, and in Brussels, Belgium. He's also guested on the new album by his good friends, the Deftones. And in a weird twist of fate, Max has been asked to sing the jingle for a Sprite soda commercial, to air early next year in Brazil. "What I'm gonna do, they're probably not gonna accept. And if they do accept it, that's great, 'cause I'm gonna do something really off the wall and outrageous. For me, it's a way of going against the corporation, rather than with it."

With all this activity, Max nevertheless remains focused on the one thing that has always meant the most to him: making music with passion and integrity. And with the arrival of Soulfly, he's created possibly the most emotionally-charged and personal album of his career.

"I believe this album has been forged in tragedy," concludes Max. "It's kind of weird, but true. There was a price for this record, and unfortunately, it was a very high price: losing a really close friend and splitting with people I played with for fifteen years. If Dana hadn't died and I had continued with Sepultura, this might be a completely different record. So I think everyone will listen and realize why this album is so intense and so personal."

Before Soulfly, Logan Mader was the guitarist in the popular metal band 'Machine Head', he contributed to their first two albums - 'Burn My Eyes' and 'The More Things Change'. However, around 24th March 1998 it was announced in an statement by Machine Head that Logan had quit the band. (Click here to read the press release). It was rumoured that someone from Rob Zombie's camp (Not Rob himself) had call Logan to ask if he would be in Rob Zombie solo band in Machine Head's 'downtime'. This, according to Machine Head's frontman, Rob Flynn, was during a period where they were "...right in the midst of us talking about how we had to knuckle down and make sure all were focused right". Rob Zombie has since gone on the record denying this saying "What is this? Who the hell is Logan?! I never spoke to the guy!"

However, according to Flynn, Logan was freaking out and suddenly announced he was going to be 'a rock star'. Flynn asked Logan when he thought this 'downtime' was going to be, to which he said July/June, which was when Machine Head were booked to go to Indigo Ranch and record the album. After a week of arguing Logan called Flynn up and quit the band.

Logan then accepted an offer of replacing Jackson Bandeira of Soulfly and accompanied them for their highly successful world tour. Although his position was temporary, it was assumed by the fans that Logan would become a permanent member and even went on record saying how he would like to help write Soulfly's next album. However, on the eve of touring in Australia, New Zealand and Japan Logan left Soulfly. The excuse that Logan gave was that he wanted to dedicate himself to his own projects. Soulfly replaced him with Mikey Dowling (from LA punk band Snot - whose singer Lynn Strait died in a car crash on Dec 11th '98). Max gave the following statement:

"Logan was never a permanent member of this band, it was just time for him to move on. We've known Mikey for some time and toured with him last year (1998). After our brother Lynn died, we thought it would also boost Mikey's spirit. We jammed with him before and it made sense. We're thankful he could fill in temporarily." At the time of writing Soulfly have not announced a permanent replacement, nor has Logan announced any exact plans.

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