Massimiliano Antonio "Max" Cavalera is a Brazillian singer, guitarist, and songwriter who currently
plays in heavy metal bands Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, and Killer Be Killed.
In 1984, he co-founded the acclaimed heavy metal band Sepultura with his brother Igor
Cavalera and played as the band's lead singer and rhythm guitarist until he left in 1996.
Cavalera was also involved in a short-lived side project called Nailbomb.
Life and career His father, Graziano Cavalera, was an employee
of the Italian Consulate in São Paulo and died at 40 years of age and is buried in Belo
Horizonte; Max was nine when his father died.
Max'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 America, something that Cavalera himself says he does
not understand: When asked in an interview whether he was
a Christian and whether Soulfly was a Christian band, he said:
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."
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."
Of enduring influence to his music is the untimely death of his stepson Dana Wells,
who was killed 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.
In November 2011, Cavalera announced that he is working on an autobiography, for publication
in 2013: his co-writer is the British author Joel McIver and the book's foreword has been
written by Dave Grohl.
During an interview with Metal Shock Finland, Andreas Kisser described Max's autobiography
as science fiction.
Personal Cavalera, a dedicated football fan who supports
Brazilian football club Palmeiras, still lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife Gloria and
his 5 children, Zyon, Igor, Richie, Jason,and Roxanne—Richie, the eldest, was adopted
by Max.
Zyon, Igor and Richie have all collaborated with Max in his various projects, particularly
Richie, who has contributed vocals to albums by Cavalera Conspiracy and Soulfly, and played
occasional guitar on Nailbomb's live album Proud to Commit Commercial Suicide, credited
as Richie Bujinowski.
The 3 sons are also active in music, with Richie fronting Incite and Igor and Zyon performing
in Lody Kong.
In 2012 and 2013 Zyon toured with Soulfly after David Kinkade's retirement.
Instruments With Sepultura, Cavalera played a B.C.
Rich Warlock, and now plays a custom ESP 6 String signature guitar.
Designed to his specifications and based on the Viper design, the guitar features a Seymour
Duncan SH6 Distortion pickup.
A budget version is sold under the LTD moniker.
Another signature guitar produced by ESP, based on the AX model, is white with a Soulfly
logo inlays.
He also used a series of Gibson SG guitars during his later years in Sepultura and on
the first two Soulfly albums and the tours that supported them.
For 2011, ESP did a new signature model for Max, called the Max Cavalera EX, which consists
in a single Seymour Duncan distortion and Soulfly logo inlays.
He plays through a Peavey 3120, and also used Peavey 6505.
Cavalera's own guitar is only strung with four strings, as he has claimed that he never
used the highest two strings.
Besides the guitar, he also plays a berimbau, a Brazilian one-string instrument, a sitar
and sometimes percussion on stage and studio recordings.
Collaborations 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:
Cavalera appeared in The Scorpion King in an off-camera role, providing the guttural
screams for Dwayne Johnson.
He also appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned as a DJ for the
radio channel LCHC.
Discography Sepultura
Bestial Devastation EP Morbid Visions
Schizophrenia Beneath the Remains
Arise US#119 Third World Posse EP
Chaos A.D.
US#32 US Gold Refuse/Resist EP
Roots US#27 US Gold The Roots of Sepultura
Blood-Rooted US#162 Under a Pale Grey Sky
Nailbomb Point Blank
Proud to Commit Commercial Suicide Soulfly
Soulfly US#79 US Gold Tribe EP
Primitive US#32 3 US#46
Prophecy US#82 Dark Ages US#155
Conquer US#66 Omen US#73
Enslaved Savages
Cavalera Conspiracy Inflikted US#72
Blunt Force Trauma US#123 Killer Be Killed
Killer Be Killed' References
External links Soulfly
Cavalera Conspiracy Max Cavalera at the Internet Movie Database
Phoenix New Times article on Max NY Rock interview
Asice.net interview