Cavalera is a name with its fingerprints all over the history of heavy metal, an inspiring family legacy built upon decades of musical aggression, starting all the way back in 1984 in Brazil with Sepultura.
Over the last couple of years, Max and Iggor Cavalera revisited their first three releases, Morbid Visions, Bestial Devastation, and Schizophrenia, re-recording them for Nuclear Blast Records with a new level of intensity that impossibly captures the raw, youthful and trademark sounds of these iconic and pioneering releases. This month will see them bring the songs that laid the groundwork for not just their own legacy, but that of both the death and thrash metal genres, to Australia for a series of live offerings that will add yet another chapter to their non-stop commitment to extreme metal.
HEAVY caught up with Max Cavalera for a chat so good we have had to split it over two weeks…
"Nostalgic brutality brother," he smiled when asked what delights Cavalera have planned for us. "Let me break it down for you why I say nostalgic brutality. It's because it's the closest thing you can get to 1980s Brazil extreme metal scene. Morbid Visions, Bestial devastation, Schizophrenia… it's the brutality of those records, the way they're meant to sound, the way we meant them to sound. Just like the re-recordings, except it's live. It's all real, live shit. No gimmicks. No other crap. It's plug your amp and go."
In the full interview, we discuss the set list in more detail, including potential cover songs and new tracks from re-recorded albums. Max shared his emotional experience of performing alongside family members, highlighting the unique chemistry between seasoned and younger musicians, and likening their bond to a "mafia" that ensures a lasting musical legacy. He also elaborated on the motivation behind re-recording classic albums, driven by a desire to enhance sound quality while maintaining the raw essence of the originals, identifying Schizophrenia as the standout performance and Morbid Visions as his favorite for its sonic qualities.
Max introduced the other members of the band besides himself and Iggor, their plans on how to re-record those three classic albums to improve on the originals, what things they focused on and more.
In part 2, coming next week, we talk about his mindset going into the studio, any difficulties he may have faced, what memories revisiting the albums brought back, having his son with him for the new recordings and plenty of other stuff.
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