Max Cavalera Reveals the Song He's Proudest of Writing | Page 2 | Revolver

Max Cavalera Reveals the Song He's Proudest of Writing

Surprisingly, not a Sepultura classic
killer be killed max cavalera SHINN 2020, Travis Shinn
photograph by Travis Shinn

Between Sepultura, Nailbomb, Soulfly, Killer Be Killed and his many other projects, Max Cavalera has a wealth of great songs to be proud of. But what single composition means the most to the Brazilian metal pioneer from his prolific catalog? While most fans might likely expect him to select one of Sepultura's classic anthems, Cavalera instead pinpoints the first-ever song from his debut post-Sepultura band, Soulfly: "Eye for an Eye."

"It was the hardest song to write, but the most powerful, too, because it was a weird time," he tells Revolver of the raging opening cut off Soulfly's 1998 self-titled album. "I was really disillusioned with the breakup with Sepultura, and to get back in the world, that's my response to the world, especially the people that wrote me off, that, "You're done." It's a big-ass statement song. It's still great. We still close almost every [Soulfly] show with it."

He adds, "I gotta think, if that first Soulfly record was a shit record, I wouldn't even be talking to you right now. I'd be in the food truck. Or murdering people. ... That record had to be good. That record had to be strong. That record had to be super powerful from the get-go, and it was all that. And it was in a time where people still bought CDs, so it went gold in America. Which is crazy that we got a gold record for Soulfly. It was like, Wow, life-changing. And it launched Soulfly's career. So 'Eye for an Eye.' Definitely, the most proud song that I've done is 'Eye for an Eye.'"

Cavalera's pick came up in a joint interview with his youngest son and bandmate in the thrash supergroup Go Ahead and Die, Igor Amadeus Cavalera. You can watch Max share his thoughts on "Eye for an Eye" at the 25:55 mark below.