PREVIEW
SOULFLY
Wednesday, April 23
MacEwan Hall (U of C)
Max Cavalera could have picked a far gloomier name for his band than Soulfly, given the tragic circumstances that engulfed his personal and professional life at the time he began the project.
It was almost seven years ago that Brazilian metal icon Sepultura, founded by Cavalera and his brother Igor, suddenly cracked along an unseen fault line, and Cavalera parted on unfriendly terms, ending a 14-year relationship. Earlier that same year, his stepson Dana died in circumstances that remain suspect (there are allegations of murder).
A less resilient person would have succumbed to depression and retired from music and public life. Instead, Cavalera buckled down and put together Soulfly as a spiritual and emotional outlet, releasing three albums since 1998.
"The name was a dedication to Dana, and (to) all the souls of the people who are no longer with us in flesh," says Cavalera, who adds that he would rather the past immortalize the past in song than swallow the pain and confusion that comes with the loss of loved ones. "Their presence is in the spiritualism that comes through in our songs."
While Sepultura broke ground by merging political and social issues with blistering, tribal-influenced metal, the group was never an overtly spiritual or introspective band. Soulfly, on the other hand, sees Cavalera approach songwriting on a level that actively engages and experiments with more soulful concerns – their albums are peppered with religious references.
"I believe in God and I’m a spiritual person," says Cavalera. "But I don’t follow one religion. I try to be really open-minded and look upon all different books and different theories from all around the world to apply to my life. I admire someone like Zapata, in Mexico, and at the same time, think Gandhi is great as well. It’s all part of the same search that everyone pursues, to find the truth and what we are looking for in life."
For Cavalera, part of this search required getting directly in touch with his culture’s tribal heritage. Thanks to Sepultura’s success and its reputation for social integrity, he was afforded a rare opportunity to spend three days with the Xavante, one of Brazil’s proudest, most warrior-minded indigenous tribes and the last to be pacified by the Brazilian government. The lessons of the experience have had a lasting impact, according to Cavalera.
"In many ways, they are much more advanced than us," he says of the Xavante. "Not in terms of technology, but in the actual connection with nature and life. They live longer than us – they have less stress, less disease."
A history of government interference and increasing commercial encroachment on indigenous land has meant that this way of life is becoming obsolete, a reality of progress in modern Brazil that Cavalera laments.
"Unfortunately, Brazil, like many other nations, is under some illusion of materialism," he says. "It’s nothing we can really do much about: a little kid wants to buy Nike, he wants to buy Puma – you try talking to them about the trees and the history, and they don’t care about that stuff. It’s part of globalization, it’s happening everywhere."
But Cavalera tries to carry a more enlightened outlook in both his personal life and Soulfly’s music, which complements jarringly heavy metal riffs and deep, guttural vocals with the rich textures of history and defiance found in Brazilian tribal rhythms and percussion. However, Soulfly shows signs of branching out into other traditions on their latest release, Soulfly 3.
"There’s a huge mix of European, African and indigenous culture in Brazil that we were exposed to as kids – everything from samba school to tribal drumming," says Cavalera. |
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