I catch up with Max Cavalera in Las Vegas, where he is wrapping up the first part of the Chaos AD tour in America. He is excited about the new Soulfly record and is eager to get back out on the road to tour it. There is a show with Massive Attack in Brazil for Cavalera and Chaos AD, followed by the commencement of the Soulfly Favela Dystopia Tour, which will feature Go Ahead and Die. “We’re very excited to get back on the road,” Max says. “Next year will be all pretty much a lot of touring and a lot of festivals.”
Discussing the physical demands of touring, Max explains that he does not worry much about recovery or vocal health, despite getting older. “I never took vocal lessons or learned how to sing. I just know that my voice does that. I sing a certain way, and it works, and I don’t worry about it if it’s working and I don’t fuck with it, you know.
“I do feel a bit better health-wise than I have felt in a long time. That’s a good thing for me for this year. And I feel very inspired as well from the new record [Chama], and the tour is amazing”.
Max’s positive outlook is infectious. Even a bout of flu was quickly shaken off. “I did get sick on the Chaos AD tour for a week,” he says. “I had a weird, weird flu, a fever and everything, but it went away after a week. Man, one of those things you just kind of roll with it.”
He is clearly enjoying life and is enthusiastic about the joy that playing the Chaos AD tour is bringing. “I forgot how much people love this record and how much fun it is to play this album live. It’s really cool and really, at this point in my career, I just want to do things that give me that kind of joy, and this is one of those things that does that. And I’m very excited for the new Soulfly as well.”
I ask Max about the shows and whether they are attracting an audience range which pleases him. “Yeah, we do,” he says. “And that’s one of the coolest things about it. All these young guys, 12, 13, 14 years old, they love they love the material. Then you get guys that were there at that time that saw us during the Chaos tour, and they saw us with Pantera, and they saw us with Ozzy.
“I think it’s cool, it’s very nostalgic. The Chaos AD Tour is very nostalgic in a way that it really brings people back into a time. The concerts feel like you’re transported back to 1995. Just the whole excitement of the festivals we did this year with Slayer and Lamb Of God, those felt really old school for some reason.
“It felt like back in the day, when we played with Pantera and Biohazard, and with Ozzy and stuff. But yeah, I love that. I love meeting young fans and meeting the older guys as well who have followed me throughout my whole career.”
I tell Max I’ve just seen the Testament / Obituary / Destruction show. “I like that,” he says, “and I think it’s cool the bands are doing that. That’s a cool bill with Destruction and Obituary. Right here, we’re in the US with Fear Factory and Genocide Pact. Of course, Fear Factory was on the original Chaos Tour back in ’94 with Fudge Tunnel and Clutch.
“I love that. I love the nostalgic feeling, and the young guys get to see something they never thought they could see. And the old guys get be kind of a prick. ‘Yeah, they were better before or whatever.’
“It doesn’t matter to me what they think. I love what I’m doing right now. I enjoyed the fuck out of it. So, it really doesn’t matter.”
I mention that Nervosa were also on the bill. “That’s good,” Max says. “That’s definitely a cool Brazilian band. All girls. That’s a cool bill. We’re looking forward to doing more of that next year. Hopefully, get some packages going for Europe as well, and I’ll come back to Europe with Soulfly and Chaos AD with some package.”
I have had the new Soulfly album Chama for a few days and can only describe it as brutal. It appears that after all this time, Max is still excited about making new music, telling me that he embraces both criticism and praise, especially when feedback is genuine.
He finds making records deeply fulfilling and feels that the latest Soulfly release is special, describing its creation as unorthodox, with his son Zyon producing and contributions from several guest artists.
“I enjoy the criticism, especially if it’s coming from the right place, from the heart,” Max says. “I don’t take it to heart. I enjoy harsh criticism. I think it’s good for you, too. You know, not everybody can love you what you do all the time. But on the other hand, I love what I do. I totally love making records.
“And I think this Soulfly record to me feels new, it feels different, it feels special. It feels like a new beginning in the band. I don’t know if it’s because of the way it was done. It was a completely unorthodox way, having Zyon produce the album and having a lot of really cool different guests on the album and really thinking outside of the basics in some of the songs. Just going for it.
“I think that the record is real heavy, has a real heavy groove in it. That trademark groove from the beginning of the early days, together with some percussion, so it feels cool, it feels exciting. I think Chama has got something extra in it that I am totally thrilled about it.
“On top of that, I mean the whole thing about the record being named after Alexis [‘Poatan’]Pereira’s catchphrase Chama and having him just won a fight the other day, and he’s back at the top of the world as a UFC fighter.
“One of the questions after the fight was some guy asked if he knew that Max has named his record after your catchphrase, and he knew about it, which made me very happy. It was cool. And the timing couldn’t be better, like it was meant to be one of those things, like the universe is lining up in a certain way.
“But yeah, I feel very excited and inspired by this record, and I think a lot of Soulfly fans are going to love it. But I think a lot of young new fans are going to also enjoy this record.”
Reflecting on Soulfly’s sound with Max, I tell him that the new record harks back to the attitude and vibe of the first album, though sonically it is distinct and harder, containing heavy grooves and tribal influences reminiscent of earlier Soulfly work.
Tracks like Ghenna, Favela Dystopia, and Chama showcase some of the heaviest riffs Max has written, blending organic instrumentation with studio techniques to create a dense and innovative soundscape.
“I think the record is more influenced by the early stuff,” Max says, “more in terms of attitude and vibe than musically, actually. I think sonically they’re quite different. And I think that, for me to try to really recreate the first one, that would be very difficult. It was a different time in my life, and it was a totally different situation.
“So, I like that musically, this record is quite different from the first one. It’s much harder in a way. I think there’s a lot of really heavy moments on this record to me, stuff like Ghenna and Favela Dystopia, even the closing track, Chama, has some of the heaviest groove riffs I’ve written for a long time.
“I just feel that the attitude reminds me of the first and second Soulfly records and that’s what I was looking for. The attitude was that kind of inspiration from how I was feeling at that time, as far as attitude goes, more than anything else. In terms of noise, the recording is full of really heavy machinery, almost like Nailbomb, Godflesh material mixed with tribal material.
“Combining tribalism, indigenous stuff with new technology, there are things that you can do in the studio that we did with pedals. I mean, it’s all organic, nothing’s fake. It’s all really done by us and the instruments and pedals and everything like that.
“But it was really a trip to make this record and layer all these sounds. I mean, if you listen to a song like No Pain = No Power, the end of it, there’s a lot of really creepy noises going on that I feel is very cool and that makes the record stand out.”
Max tells me that Nihilist has been played live a few times, alongside Favela Dystopia. We explore Nihilist a bit further, with it being a tribute to LG Petrov, the name coming from the Entombed legend’s first band. With vocals from Nailbomb’s Todd Jones, it’s one of the most intense songs on Chama.
“To me, it is a very cool one,” Max says, “very suited to those Swedish Death Metal origins and dedicated to LG. Having Todd as a guest vocal was cool. A Soulfly mix going into Entombed territory. I don’t think a lot of people saw that coming, and I think that’s what makes this record a bit unusual. Songs like that that come out of nowhere and give you that kind of vibe.”
Discussing his songwriting philosophy, Max explains that he writes organically without imposing restrictions, allowing the music to develop naturally. Storm The Gates originated from an older riff and evolved into a classic Soulfly track with signature percussion and heavy grooves.
He enjoys that fans respond enthusiastically to such material, but he also strives to include diverse songs on the album to avoid repetition. “I mean, like a lot of stuff, I let it happen naturally. And Storm The Gates was a good example. It’s an older riff. I had it laying around since the beginning of the 2000s.
“Once we started working on that song, it was one of the early songs we would work on the album, and I remember talking to Zyon about it, that this one feels like an old Soulfly song. Or this song could have been released on Primitive, or could have come out on Soulfly 1, and it would not feel out of place.
“It would fit in perfectly with the rest of the record. So that was cool, kind of like we made that song with all the percussion on top of it, and the heavy grooves and the riffs and the vocals. It felt like a real classic, almost like a signature Soulfly song.
“I love when it dropped. When we dropped that song, a lot of fans lost their mind. It was really cool. It was like, this is what I’ve been waiting for. Finally, Max is giving us something that reminds us of the old tribal Soulfly stuff. But you know, to me, I wouldn’t be satisfied just doing that. That’s why now we have No Pain = No Power and Black Hole Scum. There’s so much more on the record.”
Storm The Gates is the perfect track to really kick the album off after the Indigenous Inquisition. It really rips your face off and gets your attention straight away. “I think so,” says Max. “I think it’s one of those tracks that we worked on, and it felt right from the beginning. It felt old school enough, but also with the new element of noise on top of it, which was the combination of Zyon producing and Arthur mixing.
“Yeah, I think, overall, it was the perfect track to open, to start the Chama campaign. We’re going to release the third one now. We’re going to release No Pain = No Power, which might be the most different out of the three singles.
“I think now with that one, people definitely get a broader idea of what this album really is about. It’s actually quite different than what people are expecting. And I’m excited for that. I think what motivates me is that they’re going to be surprised about some of the stuff on this record as well.”
With time up, there is time to briefly hear touring plans with anticipation for Soulfly’s return to Europe. “Yes, we’re coming, man,” Max says. “Hopefully for some festivals. So yeah, let’s keep my fingers crossed and hopefully like a headline European tour as well.”
Soulfly release Chama on 24 October 2025 via Nuclear Blast. Pre-orders are available from soulfly.bfan.link/chama.
