Massimiliano Antonio "Max" Cavalera (Portuguese pronunciation:[masimiliˈɐnuɐ̃ˈtonjukɐvɐˈleɾɐ]; born August 4, 1969) is a Brazilian musician. He co-founded the heavy metal band Sepultura in 1984 with his brother Igor Cavalera, and was the band's lead singer and rhythm guitarist until his departure in 1996. He currently plays in the heavy metal bands Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, Killer Be Killed and Go Ahead and Die. Cavalera was also involved in a short-lived side project called Nailbomb.[2]
Career and influences
Max Cavalera's father, Graziano Cavalera, was an employee of the Italian Consulate in Belo Horizonte. He died at 41 years of age, when Max was nine years old. Cavalera's family was in a state of financial crisis and family turbulence when he formed Sepultura with his younger brother Igor. In the early 1990s, he relocated to Phoenix, Arizona. He did not begin to make spiritual music until after he quit Sepultura. His earlier lyrics for Soulfly were influenced by religion and spirituality, though he is critical of religion. His later albums, starting with Dark Ages, began to incorporate lyrical themes of violence, warfare, anger and hatred. His albums have all been dedicated to God, and he has often been depicted by the press as a man of religion, especially in the United States, something that Cavalera himself says he does not understand:
I do hate a lot of "religion", but people like Christ – yeah they inspire me. I mean if you look at Christ, He was hanging around with the lowlifes, prostitutes and the losers you know, not going around with those high society motherfuckers you see trying to sell Jesus today![3]
When asked in an interview whether he was a Christian and whether Soulfly was a Christian band, he said:
No. I mean, if I was a Christian I would wear all these different kinds of omens. Because Christian people are so close-minded. A priest would not accept that. So I don't like the concept of Christianity in terms of being so close-minded. It is the same with music. Sometimes I compare preachers to close-minded musicians or close-minded listeners, who only like one kind of music. Some preachers are the same. And they don't tolerate Hindus, Buddhists or whatever. Only them. It's bullshit. So Soulfly is not a Christian band at all. Very much opposite. But we are very spiritual. Spiritual has nothing to do with Christianity anyway. It has been here since the beginning of time.[4]
In another interview, he was asked about the Varg Vikernes church burnings. He quoted, "I support church burnings 100 percent, but why don't we just burn everything. Mosques, temples, all religious buildings."[5] However, he later claimed his views changed about the church burnings and called them "too violent". He has stated that he does believe in God, "But it might be different than the God the preacher preaches about."[citation needed]
Of enduring influence to his music, is the untimely death of his stepson, Dana Wells, who was killed in a car crash[6] after the release of Roots in 1996. The songs "Bleed", "First Commandment", "Pain", "Tree of Pain" and "Revengeance" are tributes to Wells, as well as Deftones' song "Headup", in which Cavalera featured and co-wrote. He reunited with his brother Igor, in their band Cavalera Conspiracy, and wrote and performed on Soulfly's Conquer, released in 2008.[7][8]
In 2013, Cavalera released his autobiography, titled My Bloody Roots; his co-writer was the British author Joel McIver and the book's foreword was written by Dave Grohl.[9]
Guitar style
Cavalera in 1989
Cavalera is known for playing his six-string guitar with only four strings; with the B and high E (2nd and 1st) strings opted out. The inspiration struck when he broke both strings one day and he did not bother to replace them. A friend later commented that the guitar looked better without them, thus it became his trademark.[10][11] Cavalera used to play with three strings, but eventually started playing with four due to Andreas Kisser writing a Sepultura song that required another string.[12] He did return to using three temporarily with his project Nailbomb.[13]
Personal life
Since 1992, Cavalera has lived in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife Gloria and his five children. Three of his sons are also active in music, with Richie fronting Incite and Igor and Zyon performing in Lody Kong. Jason tours as Zyon's drum tech, amongst other various duties behind the scenes. In 2012 and 2013, Zyon toured with Soulfly after David Kinkade's retirement, and now he is a regular member as drummer. Igor briefly filled in as bassist for Soulfly in 2015 after Tony Campos left the band, and toured as keyboardist and co-vocalist during Soulfly's Point Blank Tour.[14]
In 2022, Cavalera attracted criticism after a 2014 clip resurfaced of him telling a Moscow crowd that he supported the internationally unrecognised Russian annexation of Crimea.[15]
On July 5, 2023, Cavalera announced that his mother Vania had died.[16]
Cavalera has collaborated with many different artists while in Sepultura and Soulfly. In 2003, he joined forces with former Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters' frontman Dave Grohl to produce "Red War" for the self-titled release of Dave Grohl's metal project Probot.
Musicians
Cavalera has worked with the following musicians:
Tom Araya (Slayer) – guest vocals and bass on "Terrorist", on Soulfly's Primitive
Chino Moreno (Deftones) – guest vocalist on "Pain" from the album Primitive by Soulfly and also "First Commandment" on Soulfly's debut self-titled release; Max performed guest vocals on the Deftones song "Headup" from the album Around the Fur
Benji Webbe (Dub War, Skindred) – vocals on "Quilombo" and "Prejudice" on Soulfly's debut album and vocals on the track "Blow Away", on reissues of Soulfly
Matt Young (King Parrot) – vocals on "Live Life Hard!" from Archangel by Soulfly
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