Nowhere man

In a world full of fans, Max Cavalera says he's homeless

by Brian Goslow

It doesn't matter if you call his music hard, hardcore, or heavy metal, or whether the world-at-large gives him the time of day. Max Cavalera doesn't create music to be popular, he makes it to survive -- first with metal legends Sepultura, now with Soulfly, currently finishing up a stint with OzzFest. "It's kind of a weird crowd, a little bit of an asshole crowd that's more interested in partying and shit than the music," Cavalera explains from a room at the Red Roof Inn in Columbus, Ohio.

Soulfly's "The Song Remains Insane Tour," named after a track on their self-titled CD (Roadrunner) and an obvious takeoff on Led Zep's tune, lets them play on their own terms. "It's nice to go and play in front of a crowd that appreciates what we're doing," says Cavalera, whose tour arrives at the Palladium next Friday.

Although he wishes his music were more widely accepted, he notes that many great artists haven't been celebrated in their artistic heyday. "If you trace back music to Bob Marley and Black Sabbath, they were popular but not as popular as they are today. Maybe they were just ahead of their time, and it takes people time to get it. My people are ahead of their time with their interest in me and the research I've been doing."

Jackson Bandeira, a/k/a Lucio Maia, who had played with Cavalera's favorite Brazilian band, Chico Science, performs on Soulfly's debut but remained in Brazil with his new group, Naçao Zumbi, when the tour began. Former Machine Head guitarist Logan Mader currently fills the position. He's joined by ex-Shelter drummer Roy "Rata" Mayorga and longtime Sepultura roadie Marcello D. Rapp on bass. Rapp is fulfilling a lifelong dream. "He just never had a chance," says Cavalera, "but he's always been looking to play. But nobody gave him credit, so I invited him in the band."

The album, which features 15 songs with the hardest-hitting metal you could ever experience, was recorded with the help of members of Fear Factory, Limp Bizkit, Deftones, Dub War, Cypress Hill, and Chico Science. "It wasn't too hard to get together and jam. I explain what the song's about and they put their input in."

Soulfly made their live debut on August 16, 1997, in Phoenix, at a show dedicated to the memory of Cavalera's murdered stepson, Dana "D-Low" Wells. At recent concerts, Dana's little brother has joined Soulfly on stage to sing the rap portion of "Bleed," one of many songs on the disc with a heavy aura of death. The instrumental "Soulfly" celebrates departed loved ones. Asked to discuss how so much tragedy affects his writing process, Cavalera says, "I try just to live and deal with life."

The band have been on the road since April, touring the country, then flying over to Europe, where they played festivals in Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, and in England where they met up with 50,000 fans at OzzFest at the Milton Keynes Bowl. The tour then flew back to the US, and has since played at sell-out shows.

Along with the intense hardcore immediacy of songs like "Bumba" and "Quilombo," the story of slaveman and thirty thousand Zumbi refugees, Soulfly have integrated non-metal sounds, including -- for the first time in Cavalera's career -- sampling on "Bumba" (Portuguese for "big noise") and mixing on "Prejudice," with a distant reggae beat, hardcore vocals, and Jamaican ragamuffin rapping.

Cavalera attempts to address the planet's problems in his songs ("People don't think you can mix words and heavy music"), which carries such ferocity one wonders whom he sees when he's singing in the studio ("Only God, man"). The CD's sleeve features stamps from letters he's received from around the world. "They're just fans who have been writing to me, some of them from jails. The appreciation people show to me, I try to show to them [by printing their stamps] that I appreciate the time they take to write me."

The CD also contains addresses for Rock Out Censorship, the Iggy Diabetes Fund of Phoenix, and Javier La Cruz. "I have a diabetic son, and I have a friend who fights deforestation in Uruguay," he explains."It's there [the address] in case someone feels like writing." It's also a sleeve filled with many, many thanks. "I'm just a grateful person. I was taught that way from birth and I continue to live like that."

While Cavalera's music has provided a home for heavy-music fans worldwide, he claims to be homeless. "I don't live anywhere. I came from nowhere and I'm going nowhere." Don't believe him.

Soulfly are joined by Incubus and Snot for an 8 p.m. all-ages show on August 7, at the Palladium. Tickets are $15. Call (800) 477-6849.