Soulfly has long been known for its crushing records and Savages is no different. With their first salvo for Nuclear Blast they have made a massive impact on the metal scene and Savages will be one of THE talked about metal records of the year. Max Cavalera, the legendary front of Soulfly, took the time to take the fans inside Savages for a personal look into its creation.
An interview with Max Cavalera of Soulfly.
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal Exiles: You did the Maximum Cavalera Tour with your kids and now they are performing on the new Soulfly album, Savages. As a dad, how did it feel to see them come alive in the studio with you?
Max Cavalera: It was very exciting. Zyon did some shows with us in South America and it was great because he brought a lot of energy and young fresh blood to the band. He asked me if he could do the drums on the new record so I gave him the change and he was great. We worked on the new record at home for two months, analyzing the drum beats and riffs and creating the backbone of the album which was very necessary to make the album very special.
Metal Exiles: When you decided to work with him how much of the album did you have written and did you take into consideration that he was a younger drummer when you created his parts?
Max: I liked the energy he gave off, the kind of hunger that the young musicians have like I did when I was 20 and I wanted to explore that. I already had written a lot of riffs and when I found out that I was working with Terry Date I got really excited so I wrote about a thousand riffs and started separating the best ones. Zyon and I went into a room together to start developing them into songs together as a team and we had a board on the wall with the names of the songs and he was recording them onto his cell phone so he could remember what he wanted to play later. The whole process of jamming with him in his room and building the backbone of the record proved very essential for what Savages would become later.
Metal Exiles: You also had Igor sing on the album as well. Was his contribution just for Bloodshed?
Max: It was just the chorus for bloodshed but I needed a punk vocalist for the chorus and I was missing a punk vocalist to go with my vocals for the chorus. I knew Igor had a great punk voice so I called him because I knew it would be cool to sing with my son on the song.
Metal Exiles: To me this is the most brutal but yet atmospheric album you have done to date. Do you think having Terry Date in the producers chair had a lot to do with that outcome?
Max: Yes, big time, especially with the sound of the record, It was all Terry. He gave the new album the best sound it could possibly have. We worked very hard on the lyrics and choruses especially with songs like Masters Of Savagery, Bloodshed and El Comegente; they all have catchy choruses that people can sing to. There are also the diverse musical pieces like the end of El Comegente with its flamenco outro, the Soundgarden vibe at the beginning of Ayatollah. There are also the various noises between the tracks, the NIN type machinery sound. When you put it all together it makes Savages very interesting to listen to.
Metal Exiles: Do you think your fans will be shocked to hear some of the progressions that you have taken with this album?
Max: I think so but Savages is a fan oriented Soulfly, it was done with the fans in mind. Some of the fans wanted that Soulfly groove back from the early albums as well as going to heavier extremes. Savages has the best mix of the Soulfly styles.
Metal Exiles: You have wanted Terry Date for a while and he has mixed some of your previous records so why has it taken so long to get him as a producer?
Max: Timing has never been right but he has done a great job with the albums he mixed. For some reason we felt that this was the right album for Terry to do and I am glad we went with him because he did a great job.
Metal Exiles: In the past you have taken your fans on weird journeys with your lyrics. What did you want to focus on with this album?
Max: The idea of Savages was that with all of our progress and technology we are all still killing each other, decapitating, blowing up marathons, doing all of these savage acts so at heart we are all still Savages. A lot of the lyrics are based around that theme even though this is not a concept record. It is almost like there is something wrong with us, like we are born with Savagery in us and we cannot get rid of it.
Metal Exiles: On a personal note, if you did not have the Soulfly outlet, do you think you would be on that level?
Max: I think anybody is capable of anything; you just have to put them in the right situation. I think everybody has the savage element in them; anybody is capable of taking another person’s life. I can write angry stuff with the brutal riffs and it works for me.
Metal Exiles: What do you want the fans to take away from the album?
Max: To analyze where we are. They did a study where they found out that the smartest people did not listen to classical, they listened to metal. The gifted people are the ones who listened to metal. With the lyrics I have penned for this album and my previous ones maybe I can pick their brains a little bit, make them think.
Metal Exiles: The lead guitar is very ethereal on this album and we have Marc Rizzo to thank for that. Now you have had a revolving door in Soulfly since the beginning but marc has been a mainstay for almost 10 years. What keeps him in the fold for so many records?
Max: Marc is a great guitar player, I love having him in the band and I like to think of us as partners. We are the backbone of Soulfly. I can be a sloppy guitar player, play open rhythms and Marc holds down the fort with tight rhythms and leads. Soulfly goes through a lot of members but when I found Marc I really wanted to keep him in the band as he is a great guitar player and has a great personality to.
Metal Exiles: The leads on this record are some of the best he has done. What kind of freedoms does he have on doing leads on your records?
Max: All of the freedom in the world, Marc can does anything he wants. I am not even in the studio when he records his solos, that’s how much I trust him. I am always blown away at the stuff he comes up with and sometimes I am shocked at how cool the stuff he comes up with is. My favorite solo on the new record is the one on Bloodshed as it has a killer Randy Rhoades vibe to it.
Metal Exiles: What kind of tour are we going to see behind Savages?
Max: We are going to go out and try to mix it up well with the new stuff and hopefully upen with Bloodshed. We will be playing what the fans want, they will not walk away from a Soulfly show disappointed.
Savages lives up to its name and will long be remembered as the definitive Soulfly record.
Official Soulfly Site
BUY Savages!
BUY Savages On Vinyl!!
An interview with Max Cavalera of Soulfly.
By Jeffrey Easton
Metal Exiles: You did the Maximum Cavalera Tour with your kids and now they are performing on the new Soulfly album, Savages. As a dad, how did it feel to see them come alive in the studio with you?
Max Cavalera: It was very exciting. Zyon did some shows with us in South America and it was great because he brought a lot of energy and young fresh blood to the band. He asked me if he could do the drums on the new record so I gave him the change and he was great. We worked on the new record at home for two months, analyzing the drum beats and riffs and creating the backbone of the album which was very necessary to make the album very special.
Metal Exiles: When you decided to work with him how much of the album did you have written and did you take into consideration that he was a younger drummer when you created his parts?
Max: I liked the energy he gave off, the kind of hunger that the young musicians have like I did when I was 20 and I wanted to explore that. I already had written a lot of riffs and when I found out that I was working with Terry Date I got really excited so I wrote about a thousand riffs and started separating the best ones. Zyon and I went into a room together to start developing them into songs together as a team and we had a board on the wall with the names of the songs and he was recording them onto his cell phone so he could remember what he wanted to play later. The whole process of jamming with him in his room and building the backbone of the record proved very essential for what Savages would become later.
Metal Exiles: You also had Igor sing on the album as well. Was his contribution just for Bloodshed?
Max: It was just the chorus for bloodshed but I needed a punk vocalist for the chorus and I was missing a punk vocalist to go with my vocals for the chorus. I knew Igor had a great punk voice so I called him because I knew it would be cool to sing with my son on the song.
Metal Exiles: To me this is the most brutal but yet atmospheric album you have done to date. Do you think having Terry Date in the producers chair had a lot to do with that outcome?
Max: Yes, big time, especially with the sound of the record, It was all Terry. He gave the new album the best sound it could possibly have. We worked very hard on the lyrics and choruses especially with songs like Masters Of Savagery, Bloodshed and El Comegente; they all have catchy choruses that people can sing to. There are also the diverse musical pieces like the end of El Comegente with its flamenco outro, the Soundgarden vibe at the beginning of Ayatollah. There are also the various noises between the tracks, the NIN type machinery sound. When you put it all together it makes Savages very interesting to listen to.
Metal Exiles: Do you think your fans will be shocked to hear some of the progressions that you have taken with this album?
Max: I think so but Savages is a fan oriented Soulfly, it was done with the fans in mind. Some of the fans wanted that Soulfly groove back from the early albums as well as going to heavier extremes. Savages has the best mix of the Soulfly styles.
Metal Exiles: You have wanted Terry Date for a while and he has mixed some of your previous records so why has it taken so long to get him as a producer?
Max: Timing has never been right but he has done a great job with the albums he mixed. For some reason we felt that this was the right album for Terry to do and I am glad we went with him because he did a great job.
Metal Exiles: In the past you have taken your fans on weird journeys with your lyrics. What did you want to focus on with this album?
Max: The idea of Savages was that with all of our progress and technology we are all still killing each other, decapitating, blowing up marathons, doing all of these savage acts so at heart we are all still Savages. A lot of the lyrics are based around that theme even though this is not a concept record. It is almost like there is something wrong with us, like we are born with Savagery in us and we cannot get rid of it.
Metal Exiles: On a personal note, if you did not have the Soulfly outlet, do you think you would be on that level?
Max: I think anybody is capable of anything; you just have to put them in the right situation. I think everybody has the savage element in them; anybody is capable of taking another person’s life. I can write angry stuff with the brutal riffs and it works for me.
Metal Exiles: What do you want the fans to take away from the album?
Max: To analyze where we are. They did a study where they found out that the smartest people did not listen to classical, they listened to metal. The gifted people are the ones who listened to metal. With the lyrics I have penned for this album and my previous ones maybe I can pick their brains a little bit, make them think.
Metal Exiles: The lead guitar is very ethereal on this album and we have Marc Rizzo to thank for that. Now you have had a revolving door in Soulfly since the beginning but marc has been a mainstay for almost 10 years. What keeps him in the fold for so many records?
Max: Marc is a great guitar player, I love having him in the band and I like to think of us as partners. We are the backbone of Soulfly. I can be a sloppy guitar player, play open rhythms and Marc holds down the fort with tight rhythms and leads. Soulfly goes through a lot of members but when I found Marc I really wanted to keep him in the band as he is a great guitar player and has a great personality to.
Metal Exiles: The leads on this record are some of the best he has done. What kind of freedoms does he have on doing leads on your records?
Max: All of the freedom in the world, Marc can does anything he wants. I am not even in the studio when he records his solos, that’s how much I trust him. I am always blown away at the stuff he comes up with and sometimes I am shocked at how cool the stuff he comes up with is. My favorite solo on the new record is the one on Bloodshed as it has a killer Randy Rhoades vibe to it.
Metal Exiles: What kind of tour are we going to see behind Savages?
Max: We are going to go out and try to mix it up well with the new stuff and hopefully upen with Bloodshed. We will be playing what the fans want, they will not walk away from a Soulfly show disappointed.
Savages lives up to its name and will long be remembered as the definitive Soulfly record.
Official Soulfly Site
BUY Savages!
BUY Savages On Vinyl!!
