"I believe Cavalera Conspiracy is more than a project, but less than a band."

An honest and friendly conversation with Max Cavalera about his reunion with Igor after a 12-year-long period of separation, the birth of Cavalera Conspiracy, the truth behind their debut album "Inflikted", the possible future reunion of the good ol' classic Sepultura line-up... and more.

Vassil Varbanov: Hey, Max, how are you?

Max Cavalera: I'm ok, man, how are you doing?

V. V.: Good! After so many Soulfly shows in Bulgaria, when's gonna be the next Max Cavalera concert here?

M. C.: I hope soon, because I love Bulgaria, and I had a great time every time I've been there. This year I'm divided between two duties - the Conspiracy with my brother, and also Soulfly that will come out later in the year - so I've got two albums coming out and I'll tour a lot.

V. V.: You're with Igor again. Is there anything that hasn't been said about that reunion?

M. C.: It's been a lot of excitement, the album came out yesterday... I don't know what hasn't been said... maybe some personal things... One of the reasons we got back together is that Igor became more family-oriented. He's got a new son who's only a year old - his name is Antonio, which is my middle name and my grandfather's name - so I credit some of the reasons for the reunion to the birth of his son, because he wanted me to see his son. He felt that he couldn't bring a new son to the world and not have him know me, because I'm the uncle. He loves sharks, so I nicknamed him TubarГЈo, which means "shark" in Portuguese, he-he!

V. V.: We know your dad Graziano was Italian and was working in the Italian embassy in Brazil. Which part of Italy was he from?

M. C.: He was born in a little town at the border of Italy, which was in Yugoslavia at that time, but he grew up near Rome, and after World War II the family went to Brazil.

V. V.: Do you have family in Italy?

M. C.: Yes, I have some family near Rome and also in Venice. I visited them a couple of years ago with Soulfly and it was great to meet some of my uncles. They were a little bit terrified by my look, ha-ha!

V. V.: I believe most of the Cavalera Conspiracy interviews are done by you and not by Igor. Why?

M. C.: Igor is doing most of the Brazilian interviews as he lives there, and I'm more in charge of the international talking. Everything in Cavalera Conspiracy is divided 50:50 - I and Igor do everything, which is cool, as that's the way it should be. And we're really happy we're playing this type of metal again.

V. V.: Is Cavalera Conspiracy just a project or it's a real band?

M. C.: We're not sure yet, because what we make is very different from everything. I believe it's more than a project, but less than a band. I you could think of a medium term... Nailbomb was a project, as we never toured and stuff, and with Conspiracy I wanna tour. I want people to see me and Igor on stage again, as it's a magic thing, really powerful. So we're gonna tour a lot and make more records, however done in a different way - we're not let it turn into a real band, because we have separate lives, and I also love Soulfly, which is my main thing.

V. V.: Cavalera Conspiracy features also Marc Rizzo of Soulfly, and also a French guy, Joe Duplantier of Gojira. Please tell us more about him.

M. C.: The idea was to bring something new and unexpected to the table. When I got hold of the Gojira CD, it felt very, very different, like "This will work for us." It was kind of an adventure for us, as we didn't know Joe before. I just knew he was a huge Sepultura fan who plays in a good band. It was sort of dangerous and exciting to bring a guy you don’t know into the camp, but it worked out, as he's a cool guy and a great musician.

V. V.: Joe co-wrote the song "Ultra-Violent" with you, and he plays the bass on the whole record except for this very track where you've got Rex Brown (Down, ex-Pantera). It's a bit confusing...

M. C.: Joe is originally a guitar player in Gojira, so... It was a bit like Nailbomb, where I and Alex Newport played bass. Most guitar players can't play bass. That's not the case with Joe, but on this specific song he wanted to play the guitar. I agreed and we invited Rex to do the bass. Cavalera Conspiracy is more of a punk mentality project where you do what you want, not what you're told to.

V. V.: To what extent does the so-called Latin metal differ from the Anglo-Saxon one?

M. C.: I think metal is feeling the same in the whole world in general. I've always said that metal is the best son of rock'n'roll, like the black sheep in the family of rock music. As for the Latin roots, they do exist in the form of a little bit more percussion oriented things and stuff, but on this record, for example, I think there's very little Latin influence - just straightforward metal. When people do too much Latin it's not good, you know, so sometimes I back away from that. Maybe later we'll do some more Brazilian-style things, but at the moment I and Igor wanted to do a pure, raw metal record.

V. V.: I asked you this question as we're having a very famous Mexican band playing in Bulgaria in April - Molotov.

M. C.: Yes, I met them in Mexico - they're cool guys. I haven't seen them in a long time, but I remember meeting them back in the Sepultura days.

V. V.: In this connection, I'm sure a big part of the world is thinking of a Sepultura reunion with you and Igor. Would this be possible?

M. C.: It's possible, but I don't know neither when nor how. A couple of years ago, if somebody told me I'd be talking with Igor again, I wouldn't have believed him, and you see we're together again now, so yes, it's definitely possible. I make jokes about this Sepultura reunion saying that I'm waiting for the end of the world, so we can be the opening band for Armageddon, ha-ha!

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock