Max Cavalera

“I liked Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Melvins. I didn't really care much for Pearl Jam.”

“I see metal as really connected to tribalism. Like, even the way we dress and the way we love the music and are part of a movement, it's like we're part of a certain tribe, and we're proud of that.”

“Argentina has the best fans actually. They're amazing over there. Just loud and passionate and they sleep outside the hotel.”

“Doom was one of my favorite crusty punk bands.”

“I must have a good chemistry to play because I play every day with the same people. It has to be there. It's essential for a band like Soulfly.”

“I love history and I love watching history movies, stuff like 'Ben Hur' and 'Lawrence of Arabia' and 'Doctor Zhivago.'”

“We treated 'Psychosis' like a labor of love from the beginning, from the selection of riffs - I spent like a month just doing riffs for the record.”

“It's hard to get at first. I think the first time you listen to 'Chaos A.D.,' you're not sure exactly what you just heard. You're just kind of confused. I don't think people fell in love immediately with the album. It was a learning process.”

“I think Sepultura, I have to say 'Refuse/Resist' is one of my favorite riffs. It's really energetic and I love the song. If you were to find a way to put the word 'chaos' into a song, it is the riff of 'Refuse/Resist.' It's chaotic, catchy, and heavy.”

“Roots' was the first album on which I recorded a berimbau. After that, I recorded it a bunch for Soulfly and other projects. I really enjoy the instrument even though it's only one string. It's really unique-sounding. It's very striking, and you know right away that it's a berimbau - it's one of a kind.”

“Music is never-ending, that's what I love about it. Even after we're dead, this music will still exist... that's the best bit. That's metal.”

“I never think about retirement or anything like that.”

“I think the older I get, the more psycho I get.”

“With 'Psychosis' we didn't want to have any silence on the record so the whole record plays like this one song. We have noises and feedback and samplers and ambient stuff. Prurient did some stuff for the record which was great.”

“We normally use Peavey amplifiers, and I use an ESP guitar with two Boss pedals: a flanger and a big wah pedal. My sound is pretty much the sound that comes out of the Peavey with the gain all the way to the top so there's a really heavy distortion sound that comes from the amplifier.”

“If you do it with passion - you just have to have passion for what you're doing - and sometimes you've gotta go into these unknown territories and just see what happens. And don't be scared of it, don't be afraid - just go for it.”

“I don't deny the influence from the first Korn record, which was something we listened to and liked a lot. I liked the rawness of it, and what Ross Robinson did on it, which was why we ended up recording with Ross.”

“I really don't like writing lyrics. It's totally a mandatory thing. It's like homework.”

“I really love history. When I was a little kid in Brazil, it was my favorite subject in school. I always did really well in it.”

“A lot of what we sing concerns the Brazilian way of life. The stuff I write is reality, everything I see. That's the stuff I want to sing about.”