Few names in the history of heavy music carry the weight, legacy, and sheer intensity of Max Cavalera. From the primal roar of Morbid Visions and Bestial Devastation to the evolution through Schizophrenia, Arise, and Chaos A.D., the Cavalera brothers carved their names into the bedrock of extreme metal. Now, decades later, Max and Iggor Cavalera have gone full circle — revisiting and re-recording those landmark albums with a fresh ferocity that captures the youthful rage of the originals while unleashing them through modern production firepower.
As the Cavalera brothers prepare to bring these reimagined classics to Australian shores this January 2025, I caught up with Max to talk about rediscovering his early work, the process of re-recording, and his long-standing love affair with Australian metal fans.
“You sleep when you’re dead”
When it comes to motivation, Max Cavalera doesn’t need to look far. His life is a constant blur of riffs, tours, and creative restlessness.
“I gotta stay busy, man,” Max laughs. “You sleep when you’re dead! I can’t think of a better way to start the year than with an Australian tour. I think it’s one of the first times I actually get to start the year down there — open the floodgates for what’s gonna be a great metal year for all of us.”
For Max, Australia holds a special place in his heart — not just as a touring destination, but as a second home of sorts. “Australia is beautiful, man. The landscape, the people, the cities — Melbourne, Sydney — they’re amazing. The metal community there, it gets better every time I visit. You guys even made the whole world jealous when Killer Be Killed only played live in Australia,” he chuckles. “I still get shit from Brazil for that.”
And of course, it wouldn’t be a proper trip Down Under without one thing:
“I gotta get a Harry’s Tiger Pie, man! Every time I’m in Sydney, that’s a must,” he laughs. “We should probably put that in the rider.”
Re-recording the chaos
So what drives an artist like Max to go back and re-record the albums that shaped his career? The answer lies somewhere between unfinished business and fan energy.
“We were playing the old songs live with Iggor and saw the reaction from fans,” Max explains. “And honestly, I always had a bit of a frustrated relationship with those early records. They were great, but we had no money, bad studios, bad engineers. They didn’t sound good. The spirit was there, but not the sound.”
That frustration eventually turned into inspiration. “I always wondered — what would these albums sound like if they were recorded with real gear, real guitars, real drums? That’s what we did. We kept the original spirit — the anger, the speed, the brutality — but gave it the sound it deserved.”
The re-recording process was as old-school as it gets. “We didn’t use Pro Tools or all that digital bullshit,” Max says proudly. “Me and Iggor tracked live together. Real drums, real riffs, no copy-paste. We didn’t want a soulless clone — we wanted it to breathe. That’s how you keep the energy alive.”
And that energy has found new life with the next generation. “Playing these songs now with my son Iggor Amadeus and Travis — the young blood — it’s killer, man. Me and Iggor are the old guys, and they bring that fire. It’s a perfect chemistry.”
Keeping the spirit intact
Even with the improved sound, Max was careful not to tamper too much with the originals. “The hardest part was not changing things,” he admits. “You get the temptation to modernize or add stuff — but that’s how you ruin it. The songs were killer the way they were. We just played them better, recorded them better.”
That respect for the originals even carried over to the artwork. “The first covers were done by friends who weren’t professional artists. Morbid Visions — the devil was cross-eyed, man,” Max laughs. “Now, with Eliran Kantor, we got to pay tribute to those classics but make them look as badass as they always should’ve been. The new Schizophrenia cover especially — that guy in the straightjacket looks properly psychotic now!”
Revisiting the underground
Returning to these early songs also reignited memories of the Brazilian underground days that birthed Sepultura. “It made me respect the songwriting of that young kid I used to be,” Max reflects. “We didn’t know what we were doing — the lyrics were written in Portuguese and then translated, so nothing rhymed. It broke all the rules of songwriting, and that’s what made it punk as hell.”
Songs like Funeral Rites, Mayhem, and Antichrist have taken on new life in the live set. “We even recorded Schizophrenia a little faster,” he says with a grin. “It just felt better that way — like those old live shows when everything was just slightly out of control. And I love that Iggor kept the original ‘machine gun’ drum beat on Antichrist. That was before blast beats even had a name! That’s history right there.”
“It’s all about the feeling”
For all the decades and projects — Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, Killer Be Killed, Nailbomb — Max’s approach to writing riffs hasn’t changed one bit.
“I still write the same way, man. I don’t read music, I don’t even know what tuning I’m in half the time,” he laughs. “It’s all by feel. When a riff hits you in the gut and you know it’s gonna destroy live, that’s the magic. That’s what keeps me going.”
And that magic will soon be unleashed across Australia — with the Cavalera brothers ready to bring their early chaos back to life for fans old and new.
“I can’t wait, man,” Max grins. “It’s gonna be loud, fast, and full of memories. See you all in January.”
You won’t want to miss this once in a lifetime experience of rejuvenated extreme metal history.
DESTROY ALL LINES presents
CAVALERA Third World Trilogy Australian Tour Dates
Friday January 17 – Liberty Hall, Sydney
Saturday January 18 – The Tivoli, Brisbane
Sunday January 19 – Northcote Theatre, Melbourne
Wednesday January 22 – The Odeon Theatre, Hobart
Thursday January 23 – Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide
Friday January 24 – Metropolis, Fremantle
General Public On sale: Friday November 1st – 12:00pm (local time)
From: https://www.destroyalllines.com/tours/cavalera
