Max Cavalera has been writing songs ever since he was a teenager, and he's taken influence from nearly everything. And after so many projects—Sepultura, Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, Killer Be Killed, and Nailbomb, just to name a few—one wouldn't be surprised if Cavalera would have a tough time identifying a single song as his crowning achievement. But, in fact, that's not the case at all. Although, he was let off a tad easy by Revolver in a recent conversation, where he was asked to speak specifically to Soulfly.
"It's got to be 'Eye For An Eye'," Cavalera said. "The reason is it was done in an extremely hard situation. I'd just got done breaking up with Sepultura. I was on my own, and I didn't want to play music. I was done with music. I was like, 'Fuck this. It's too much heartbreak. It's not worth it, man.'
"But little by little I got back in the groove, and there were a lot of really, really cool people that inspired me, like my wife and some label people like [Roadrunner Records A&R man] Monte Conner. And little by little I got my courage back. I got my mojo back, and that's the first song I wrote."
Of course, before that, Cavalera had a little warm-up session in the studio with none other than the Deftones, as Cavalera explains.
"Actually, the very first thing I recorded after splitting from Sepultura was [Deftones'] 'Head Up'. But after that I went into [album mode]. I made a demo — it was a drum machine demo that had 'Eye For An Eye' and 'No' back to back. And I flew to New York with this demo like a weapon… Like, yes, I've got something here. This shit is killer. And I knew it was powerful and good. And we played [it] for Monte in New York. At that time, he was at Roadrunner, and it blew his mind. Even though it was a drum machine, he felt the power of the song."
Cavalera concluded by saying, "The cool thing about 'Eye For An Eye,' to me, is that if you are on a desert island and you have a guitar with only one string, you can play 'Eye For An Eye.' So it's caveman shit, man.”
I don't know much about cavemen, but I know this much—"Eye for An Eye" is a certified banger, and I can remember feeling that power that Cavalera speaks of the first time I heard it. Go ahead and get yourself some of that vibe right now with the video for "Eye for An Eye" just below.
Last month, Soulfly was given the key to city of Albuquerque, New Mexico by its metalhead mayor. And they will continue to tear up cities across the US on a massive tour happening right now. You can check out all confirmed tour dates below.
Soulfly, Bodybox & Half Heard Voices
2/25 Mechanicsburg, PA – Lovedrafts [Tickets]
2/26 Pittsburgh, PA – Crafthouse [Tickets]
2/28 Columbus, OH – Skully’s Music Diner [Tickets]
3/1 Flint, MI – The Machine Shop [Tickets]
3/2 Battle Creek, MI – The Music Factory [Tickets]
3/3 Joliet, IL – The Forge [Tickets]
3/4 Belvidere, IL – The Apollo Theatre [Tickets]
3/5 St. Paul, MN – Turf Club [Tickets]
Soulfly, Bodybox & Drift
3/7 Omaha, NE – Waiting Room [Tickets]
3/8 Springfield, MO – Outland Ballroom [Tickets]
3/10 Denver, CO – HQ [Tickets]
3/11 Greeley, CO – Moxi Theater [Tickets]
3/13 Billings, MT – Pub Station [Tickets]
3/14 Great Falls, MT – The Newberry [Tickets]
3/15 Spokane, WA – The Knitting Factory [Tickets]
3/16 Seattle, WA – El Corazon [Tickets]
3/17 Portland, OR – Bossanova Ballroom [Tickets]
3/18 Eugene, OR – WOW Hall [Tickets]
3/19 Reno, NV – Virginia Street Brewhouse [Tickets]
3/21 Petaluma, CA – The Phoenix Theater [Tickets]
3/22 Roseville, CA – Goldfield Trading Post [Tickets]
3/23 Santa Cruz, CA – The Atrium @ The Catalyst [Tickets]
3/24 San Francisco, CA – DNA Lounge [Tickets]
3/25 Fresno, CA – Strummer’s [Tickets]
3/26 Ventura, CA – Ventura Music Hall [Tickets]
3/28 Palmdale, CA – Transplants Brewing Company [Tickets]
3/29 Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom [Tickets]
3/30 Pomona, CA – Glass House [Tickets]
3/31 San Diego, CA – Music Box [Tickets]
4/1 Tempe, AZ – The Marquee Theatre [Tickets]
