Soulfly parted ways with longtime guitarist Marc Rizzo in 2021. The split was hardly amicable, with Rizzo saying Soulfly didn't support him throughout the pandemic and Soulfly's Max Cavalera claiming Rizzo was "trying to get fans to be against me and make him the victim." The band temporarily recruited Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares for live shows and, despite still not having filled Rizzo's spot, will release Totem on August 5.
Now in an interview with Joshua Toomey of the Talk Toomey podcast, Cavalera said Rizzo's departure and the ensuing drama influenced the creation of Totem. Cavalera added that he's obviously he's pissed about the way things went with Rizzo, though he's certainly stoked about how Totem came out.
"Whenever [anything] like that happens, it's an opportunity to do something different, bring in new blood. Especially [with] Soulfly, there's always been that kind of motto of changing people from time to time. I love that the record had a little bit of struggle related [to it]. Those are some of my best records — the ones that are not easy sailing; they've got drama in it. And Totem is full of drama. The whole Rizzo thing was its own soap opera. It's, like, c'mon, man.
"So I saw this as an opportunity to do a couple of things. And we took the opportunity, as much as we could, by having Dino playing live [with Soulfly]. It was incredible. We're still jamming with him right now. And then on the record itself, I had the opportunity to work with the Eternal Champion guys, which I'm a big fan. And they kind bring that old-school heavy metal vibe to the solos — Arthur and John Powers. And I love it; I was totally on board with it. It sounded different, fresh and new and exciting. The stuff with Rizzo kind of was always the same — a lot of the stuff was sounding a lot the same — and this is new and different and exciting. And I felt fucking great when I was working on the songs and I would hear the solos coming in, and it was different and exciting. We just did whatever we could for the record.
"So there was a bit of a struggle because of the whole Rizzo thing, and that's kind of worked in the favor of the record, I think. 'Cause you don't wanna fuck with me, man. You don't. You fuck with me, yeah, there's payback. I just kind of go in that fucking warrior mode and get angry and pissed off and good shit comes out of it, musically talking. So the record has that little bit of anger, a little bit of fire."
Totem was recorded at Platinum Underground in Mesa Arizona by John Aquilino and Arthur Rizk with assistance from John Powers. The album was produced by Max alongside Arthur Rizk (Kreator, Power Trip, Code Orange) and features additional guest appearances from John Powers (Eternal Champion) and Chris Ulsh (Power Trip). Arthur Rizk was also responsible for playing lead guitar on the record. The artwork for the album was created by James Bousema.
Totem is out August 5. Pre-orders are available here.
