Max Cavalera and his son Zyon have commenced the songwriting process for the next SOULFLY album, tentatively due in 2021. “This record, we’re actually working more together than ever,” Max told Pete Bailey of Primordial Radio (see video below). “And it’s really great, because I get to really explore the strengths that [Zyon] has as a drummer. He’s a very unique drummer — he has a lot of energy, and he’s mostly not really a technical drummer, but a very powerful, energetic drummer. And I want to really embrace that side of it.
“My wish would be to make a SOULFLY record that feels a little bit like a compilation of my whole career, that goes through all the stages and showcases a little bit of everything,” he revealed. “So you have a really full, diverse record that has everything and encapsulates everything from the early days to the thrash days to the tribal stuff — it has everything.”
Max also talked about his plans for the next in an ongoing series of self-titled SOULFLY tracks.
“I was thinking about even experimenting more with those, maybe record them in a different country,” he said. “There’s always a possibility of getting different instruments involved, so I’ve been thinking about maybe record something in Northern Africa, have something really exotic for the album — very tribal and exotic and different, that a lot of people don’t do these days.
“On [2018’s] ‘Ritual’, I did a thing with the [Native American] Navajos here in Arizona, so they were involved in the record. But I have a lot of connections in really cool countries like Egypt and Tunisia. It would be kind of cool to maybe expand more of that — maybe in a SOULFLY instrumental song, have one that’s very much influenced by that… And then I always am very keen on the collaborations too. I’m looking forward to the next SOULFLY collaboration. I haven’t thought about who I’m gonna ask to be on the record.”
Max‘s side project KILLER BE KILLED has just released its sophomore album, “Reluctant Hero”, via Nuclear Blast. He is joined in the supergroup by Troy Sanders (MASTODON), Greg Puciato (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN), and Ben Koller (CONVERGE, ALL PIGS MUST DIE, MUTOID MAN).
This past June, SOULFLY released a new digital EP, “Live Ritual NYC MMXIX”. The effort was recorded at The Gramercy in New York City on February 11, 2019 while SOULFLY was on tour in support of its most recent full-length album, “Ritual”. The audio for the EP was mixed and mastered by Charles Elliott (ABYSMAL DAWN) from Tastemaker Audio. Cover artwork was comprised of live photos taken by Rodrigo Fredes.
“Ritual” was released in October 2018 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2015’s “Archangel” was produced, recorded and mixed by Josh Wilbur (KILLER BE KILLED, LAMB OF GOD, GOJIRA).
