Soulfly

Since the 1980s Max Cavalera has supplied aggressive, sharp-edged guitar riffs, first as a co-founder of the pioneering Brazilian thrash outfit Sepultura and later as the driving force behind Soulfly, whose sound proves more introspective yet equally severe. Soulfly surfaced in the late 1990s with an attack rooted in several strains of metal alongside worldbeat elements, pulling strongly from groove, thrash, nu-metal, and Brazilian tribal traditions. The self-titled Roadrunner debut from 1998 earned gold status and opened the door for later releases such as Conquer in 2008, Archangel in 2015, Ritual in 2018, and Totem in 2022, each receiving both critical praise and solid sales. Across more than twenty years Cavalera has remained the sole unchanging member amid repeated lineup changes.

After departing Sepultura at the end of 1996, Cavalera quickly launched his next project. In addition to walking away from one of the era’s biggest heavy-metal acts, which he had helped start in the early 1980s, he was also coping with the loss of his closest friend and stepson Dana Wells. Turning to music to ease his depression, Cavalera assembled a group that featured Roy “Rata” Mayorga on drums, formerly of Thorn, Jackson Bandeira on second guitar, formerly of Chico Science, and ex-Sepultura roadie Marcello D. Rapp on bass. The resulting self-titled album appeared in spring 1998 and later achieved gold certification.

Soulfly’s second record, Primitive, reached their highest chart position to date when it surfaced in 2000 and included contributions from Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour, Sean Lennon, Chino Moreno of Deftones, and Tom Araya of Slayer. Cavalera produced 2002’s III, which introduced guitarist Marc Rizzo and contained the ballad “Tree of Pain,” written as a direct tribute to Dana Wells. Prophecy arrived in 2004 with an entirely refreshed lineup and a noticeably spiritual outlook, while Dark Ages in 2005 adopted a darker, more ferocious stance shaped in part by the deaths of Cavalera’s eight-year-old grandson and close friend Dimebag Darrell.

Cavalera began working with his brother and former Sepultura drummer Igor in 2007 under the name Cavalera Conspiracy. The pair made their first stage appearance that August, supporting Soulfly, and issued the Roadrunner album Inflikted the following year. Soulfly’s sixth studio album, Conquer, followed in July 2008 and featured guest vocals from Morbid Angel’s David Vincent and Throwdown’s Dave Peters. Omen appeared in 2010, then Enslaved in 2012, the latter emphasizing death-metal leanings through appearances by Dez Fafara of Coal Chamber and Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation. That same year the band mounted the “Maximum Cavalera” tour, presenting three acts all fronted by Cavalera family members: Soulfly, Incite, and Lody Kong.

For the next release Soulfly left longtime label Roadrunner for Nuclear Blast and brought in Cavalera’s youngest son Zyon on drums. Savages, produced by Terry Date, came out in October 2013. Recording for the follow-up began almost at once with producer Matt Hyde, yielding Archangel in 2015. Clocking in at just over thirty-six minutes, the album proved their shortest to date and marked the final appearance of longtime bassist Tony Campos, who departed for Fear Factory soon afterward. Ritual, the eleventh full-length, returned in 2018 to the heavy, groove-driven attack heard on earlier works such as Primitive and III. Max and Zyon spent two years composing the twelfth groove-metal statement, Totem, whose intense yet uplifting character marked the first Soulfly album since 2002 without longtime guitarist Marc Rizzo, who exited in 2021; the record surfaced in 2022.