MORGAN Y. EVANS: The album sounds amazing, intense and real. When that fast ending of “Sanctuary” kicked in, hearing Igor’s drums and those riffs, I got goose bumps!

MAX CAVALERA: Right on, man! I’m glad man.

MYE: The first heavy tape I ever got into, someone made me a tape of Chaos A.D. by Sepultura and Agnostic Front’s To Be Continued on the other side. You really opened that door to that style of music to me, so thank you very much.

MC: That’s a good combo right there, man. Chaos A.D. and Agnostic Front. You know, Roger [Miret, Agnostic Front vocalist] lives out by Phoenix now.

MYE: Oh, he lives near you?

MC: Well, he lives near my friend in Scottsdale. It’s where the Northside Kings are from, that band. I don’t know if you know them. They’re a hardcore band from here with the big fat guy who punched Danzig [laughing].

MYE: Oh, that guy! Yeah, yeah.

MC: He’s my friend for a long time. Since the Nailbomb days.

MYE: So you guys have barbecues together?

MC: Actually me and Roger are planning one together because he’s Cuban and he loves black beans. That’s all we eat in Brazil, black beans, so one of these weekends I told my friend Danny to have Roger come over here. We’re gonna have some barbecue and listen to music and shit. But yeah, I dig their new album too, Agnostic Front. It’s called Warriors.

MYE: I haven’t heard it but I’d like to.

MC: It’s fuckin’ really good. You should pick it up, man.

MYE: Definitely. So everyone is talking about your musical reunion with your brother Igor. You guys didn’t speak for years after your split with Sepultura. My family also had a rift and I only recently spoke with a brother and sister and some cousins for the first time in years and years. I was nervous at first, but then it felt so good. I was wondering with you guys, how’d you first break the ice and laugh together again?

MC: Yeah, it was tough man. Because of some people and the media and other things we didn’t talk and we didn’t see each other. First time I saw Igor in twelve years was in Phoenix and the last time was back in 1997 touring for Roots. It’s a big ass time, but it was great to see him and to make music with him and jam. Music, family, blood…to me it is all one, y’know. Even Igor had been saying to people that he wanted to meet with me for the family side, the brother side. I’m down with that, It’s all good but together with that comes music [laughing]. Pretty much at the same time. It didn’t take me long after seeing him to say, we’re jamming motherfucker! I didn’t wanna hear what he had to say otherwise, we had to jam.

MYE: [laughing] That rules.

MC: And he was really happy, too.

MYE: Had you kept up with each other’s music over the years, even when you weren’t speaking?

MC: Not really, man. I didn’t follow Sepultura and he didn’t follow Soulfly, but that’s cool. I understand and he understands. I couldn’t really hear Sepultura because I was a big part of it. I didn’t expect him to follow Soulfly. When he was in town though, he met everybody for the Dana Show.

MYE: Yeah, I love that you guys first played together again at the 10th annual tribute.

MC: Right! And Igor told me how he thought the vibe within Soulfly was something really, really cool. There was no rock stars and no bullshit. He said, “Max, you’ve got a really cool camp. I dig it. You’ve got really good people in your band and crew.” That made it easier also, because I invited Marc [Rizzo-Soulfly guitarist] to play in Cavalera Conspiracy. Igor and Marc vibed really good together. So, yeah man, to me the past is the past and I’m proud of it, but I don’t live for the past. I live for the present and the future. To me, this is the time for the new music with my brother. Songs like “Sanctuary” and “Blood Brawl”.

MYE: “Black Ark”, that one is great.

MC: The entire album is really meaningful and to me really special. In fact, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to make another album like it. I’m very proud of it. I’m sure I’ll do other albums and they’ll all be cool, but this one has a special feeling to it. The one that brought me and Igor back together, you know?

MYE: Yeah, the energy is so powerful. So Soulfly had The Song Remains Insane DVD and Sepultura had the brilliant Third World Chaos video and now DVD that I always used to watch with its’ insane Castle Donnington footage. I know Cavalera Conspiracy just started, but are you planning to record video for any of it to document this special time?

MC: Well, unfortunately not because we didn’t film anything. The idea when we went into the studio, in a funny way we really went into a conspiracy with the album. Nobody knew we were recording. Roadrunner, our label, didn’t even know until we were done with the record. Monte Conner (of the label) came during the last week and said , “I thought Igor was in Brazil!”

MYE: [laughing] That’s a good surprise!

MC: Yeah, man! We were like, "No, motherfucker! We’re done!” So, I don’t know. We lost in one hand the documentation, but on the other hand we win with the record. I was more willing to make a good record than to have cameras around and have people be uncomfortable with things like that. We’ll probably do a video with live footage from the tours coming up or something.

MYE: Yeah, that makes sense. So “Nevertrust” on this album is the funnest metal song I’ve heard to scream along to and kind of trash your personal living space since, probably, Soulfly’s “No”. It’s so fast and dirty punk sounding. It almost reminds me of Extreme Noise Terror.

MC: I love those guys man, Holocaust In Your Head. Yeah there’s definitely some influence of Doom, Extreme Noise Terror, Agnostic Front. Even more dirty and even more fucked up. Even with lyrics, to me, you mention “No”. This song is almost like “No” part two. The attack on mediocre music continues.

MYE: Yeah, dude. So I know you picked Marc for the band ’cuz he rocks and you’re used to working with him, but how did you choose Joe from Gojira?

MC: Marc was my first choice. It was not even a choice, I knew for a long time. After I jammed with Igor, I called Marc ’cuz I had him in my head. I just knew Marc would love this kind of music. His favorite albums were always Arise and Nailbomb, Morbid Angel or Reign In Blood, things from that era. I knew that Marc would be very, very into this and rediscovering the thrash roots with this album. Joe was not my choice but was the weird, danger element to Cavalera Conspiracy. Nobody knew him so it was about bringing someone new to the camp and it was a risk. Also, with the conspiracy mentality it comes with not playing it safe all the time and so we invited this guy from France we didn’t know. I liked his music and Gojira a lot and hoped he was a cool guy, so that was the plan, He turned out to be a very cool guy and a great influence on the album. Joe brought the death metal vibe to some of the songs like “Ultra Violent” and “Black Ark”. So yeah man, he was the surprise element. Everybody knows me and Igor and a lot of people know Marc from Soulfly but not as many knew Joe. Most people I mentioned him to at the time we were making the album didn’t know Gojira at all.

MYE: They toured with Lamb of God and are just kind of breaking in the States.

MC: Yeah, kind of new to people but very, very good. I saw them actually with Behemoth and they shredded. It was killer. So yeah, it was good because you get a little of me and Igor’s old metal and Marc’s style and Joe added some new blood with some of the stuff coming up right now with Gojira and Lamb Of God and bands I think are really cool. This was how it ended up what is on the record, that combined styles and excitement.

MYE: I admire that you’ve always done what you’ve wanted and work with different styles of people in your career. Everything from working with Sean Lennon on “Son Song” in Soulfly to traveling to other countries for sounds for Sepultura or I think, Serbia for Soulfly’s Prophecy album.

MC: Yeah.

MYE: Or “Tree of Pain” that Soulfly song had almost Gospel vocal singing on it also. Your bands have also often dealt with spiritual elements or religious hypocrites or fucked up things about society. “Biotech is Godzilla” comes to mind. Going into the Inflikted record, how did you decide what you wanted to sing about?

MC: Well, it was kind of a matter of choosing a little bit different themes. The album was influenced a lot by movies like City Of God and Apocalypse Now. They were a really big influence to me and some of the songs like “Hearts of Darkness” was definitely influenced by Apocalypse Now. The music and also “The Doom of All Fires” was influenced by City Of God, one of the best Brazilian movies ever. I was looking for more sources. A lot of Soulfly songs deal with spiritual elements. This time was not so much that and more dealing with other elements like war. Not so much mainstream war, like people think war and they automatically think, like, Iraq. I was referring to a different war, the war within everyday struggle everybody has. You don’t have to be on the frontlines to be in the war. Life is a war sometimes. It’s about people that get up everyday and get up and face the day. The official war is Iraq and whatever, but this touches personal wars and that’s really what I was tapping into for this record.

MYE: That means a lot to people also, to have a band they like help vent those frustrations.

MC: Yeah. A lot of fans are people living it, going to work every day. I’ve been there. When I go outside walking in the streets I love to have my music with me. I put my headphones on and it is my army, my tribe. So if I’m not there they can have my music there with them. That’s why I do it. It’s not for just me, man. I don’t do music just for me, that’s selfish.
I do music for the people that love the music, man. I share that with them.

MYE: Right on. I heard there’s another Soulfly album coming this year also and it is being mixed by Andy Sneap! I love his work on Testament’s The Gathering and can’t wait to hear your new album. I was wondering, do you plan to keep going with Cavalera Conspiracy also or do it more like a Nailbomb thing where it is shorter lived. Are you going to just document this time or you aren’t sure yet?

MC: I’m not sure yet. Soulfly of course is my main band. You’re right, Andy is mixing our new one and I heard some mixes yesterday. He’s really kicking ass on it, and it sounds great and Andy loves the record. He really digs the heaviness of it and its’ gonna be the follow up to Dark Ages. Cavalera Conspiracy is gonna be different than Nailbomb. Nailbomb we did two shows and the records and it was over. That’s too little. Even with Nailbomb I wanted to play more, but Alex (Newport-of Nailbomb, Fudge Tunnel) didn’t want to. Wherever I tour someone always wants to hear Nailbomb.

MYE: “World of Shit”, I love that song.

MC: Thanks. I have the chance to do Conspiracy and play so, fuck yeah, I’m gonna play! So we are gonna tour Conspiracy and see, and Soulfly continues too.

MYE: That’s such awesome news. When I saw you live last, you are always intense, it was Soulfly at Irving Plaza with Crisis and Twelve Tribes. I’m friends with Crisis, who broke up sadly, and I actually jam with their original drummer Fred Waring, but you guys were awesome that night. You covered “Territory” and “Troops of Doom” by Sepultura and I know you and Igor covered “Roots” and “Attitude” when you first played together at the Dana memorial show. I know you’re focusing on the Inflikted album and the present, but are you going to throw any oldies in the set also?

MC: There’s a big possibility of that. One of the ideas we had for the tour, I wanted to play the whole album in order and drop an eleven song bomb on the crowd! After that it can go into a kind of Max and Igor jam session that we’ll play. Our own favorites and the crowd’s favorites that we’ve had forever and so you can expect from “Necromancer” all the way to Nailbomb to Soulfly to cover songs like Possessed and Hellhammer. Whatever we feel like playing. The Cavalera Conspiracy will be a very good show with the album side kicking ass and then the old classics. A lot of fans want to hear me and Igor’s playing and so some of that is the closest they’ll get to the old Sepultura, so I’m planning on doing that.

MYE: The ending of “Black Ark”, the jamming at the end almost reminds me of like Santana combined with the score from The Omen.

MC: That’s one of the ones with an ending where we were a little more experimental. Mostly on this album it is not as experimental as Soulfly or even Sepultura, but when it does experiment it does things like that. It’s a very raw record as a whole, but when it does touch some experimental stuff it works. It’s cool, like that part or the end of “Blood Brawl” we did some acoustic guitars that Marc came up with. We didn’t want to do too much of that this time though and confuse some of the fans . I wanted to keep it direct and raw, Max and Igor metal that I was hungry for and I think fans are hungry for.

MYE: Yeah, but then when you have a little bit it also works cool to set up a launch for the next thrash song.

MC: Yeah, it does, right? That’s kind of the thing for a little bit of the balance though. That’s why me and with Logan Mader producing, our ideas really clicked. We gave the album the treatment it deserves from song to song.

MYE: “Ultra Violent” features Rex Brown from Down/Pantera on bass and it is so slow and crushing. How did that come about? I love Down and their new record is so awesome.

MC: Yeah, um…We found out Rex was in town so I just called him, and I hadn’t seen him in awhile. We’d toured a lot in the days of Sepulture and Soulfly, and so we had him come say “Hi” to the studio and when Rex came by I asked him if he’d throw bass on “Ultra Violent” since it didn’t have bass. I wondered if he’d come and fuck shit up and throw down a great bass part on it and he did. Rex was very into it and was honored. We had the studio booked for eight hours and he only used thirty minutes. The rest of the time we just fucked around [laughing]. It was really good seeing him and having him be part of the record. A lot of Max and Igor fans are also Pantera and Down fans and Soulfly fans so it’s great.

MYE: I love that opening bass slide he does, it’s great. Very characteristic of his style.

MC: Yeah, man. He killed it in like, a half an hour!

MYE: How does it feel to know another cool Brazilian band like Krisiun is getting more popular worldwide and how grateful they are for you and Igor and the rest of the original Sepultura dudes for opening doors for Brazilian metal across the globe?

MC: It makes me feel old! (laughing) Just joking. It’s cool, man. I love the fact that we inspire something. Brazil was not really looked at as a metal place before and Sepultura put it on the map. I’ve got my corner of Brazil with me all the time, my Brazilian flag guitar. Metal is an epidemic around the world. In Iraq and China there’s metal fans! It’s everywhere.
Not the biggest kind of music in the world but it’s the most passionate I think.

MYE: And the fans need it most more than shitty pop fans.

MC: That and the fans go to greater lengths to hear it and the bands to make it more. It’s the kind of music that is appreciated more.

MYE: Inflikted has a song called “Terrorize” and Soulfly’s Primitive had “Terrorist” with Tom Araya of Slayer. Soulfly 3 , that album had a moment of silence called “9-11-01” for victims of the World Trade Center tragedy. I know you’re not supporting killing innocents but more rebelling against injustice when you use words like terrorist.

MC: “Terrorize” on this album was actually a tribute to the band Terrorizer and specifically to Jesse [Pintado-who passed away] which was Terrorizer’s guitar player, Napalm Death’s guitar player. In the past for example I’ve dedicated music to Chuck Schuldiner from the band Death. It’s my own way. I make songs sometimes to make songs and dedicate them to musicians that aren’t here anymore but made an impact on our lives. All you gotta do is know who we are. When I’m saying “terrorize” and “terrorist” I’m not at all supporting Al Qaeda or this bullshit. It’s terrorize against all this shit. Religious extremists killing in the name of God, I have nothing to do with that, but we make music that is powerful and you need to get people’s attention. You can’t do it in metal with just “peace” and “love”, brother!

MYE: If people are smart then they’ll figure it out.

MC: Yeah, so “Terrorize”! Hit ‘em with the jackhammer, man.[laughing]

MYE: [laughing] I didn’t know your father was the Italian ambassador to Brazil. I just read that on Wikipedia. That must have been interesting growing up.

MC: It’s funny, I just saw that the other day, somebody showed me that. Yeah, he was a musician too, just not famous. He’d play acoustic guitar and sing Italian songs. But yeah, he was a diplomat. When he was around he was very respected. I was always proud of him.

MYE: Dude, when you’ve done so much in your career that has inspired people, looking back on the chapters of your career, from when you came to the states from Brazil to get signed and did Beneath The Remains, or left Sepultura to do Soulfly and now these new Cavalera Conspiracy and Soulfly records are like another chapter…how do you take it all in?!

MC: I feel really lucky that, first, I made it out of Brazil doing music. All you have to do is watch something like City Of God and see how difficult it is to make it out of Brazil. Most of the time it is mostly soccer players. The musicians have a harder time breaking out. I am very grateful for music and the people who gave me the fuckin’ attitude to get through. Even after something like Sepultura, when I started Soulfly it was very difficult because I was almost willing to quit music. Music was stronger than quitting though. Music kicks ass and I couldn’t stop. I always tell people, if they can, to get involved in music and art because it is really positive and will help you.

MYE: Well, dude, it was so great to talk to you. You’re definitely one of my all time musical heroes. Please tell Igor that “Territory” has the best drum break of all time of any song ever (laughing)!

MC: I will, man. Thanks a lot. See you on tour?

MYE: Yeah man, I really wanna see you guys tour this. Peace out!