Soulfly

Foundation of the group (1996)

Brazilian vocalist and guitarist Max Cavalera founded Soulfly after leaving Sepultura in 1996 .

1996-1997 was extremely difficult for Max. He left the Sepultura group, one of the founders of which he was, in protest at the dismissal of his wife, as well as the group’s manager, Gloria Cavalera, by the rest of the team. In addition, he was experiencing the tragic death of his adoptive son and one of his best friends, Dana Wells. In 1997, Max began creating a new musical project, which later became known as Soulfly . The first line-up included, in addition to him, New York drummer Roy Mayorga , guitarist Jackson Bandeira and bassist and former Sepultura road technician Sello Diaz . On the band’s website, Max Cavalera said he founded the band “with the idea of ​​combining sounds and different religions . ”

The first performance of an unnamed band was a concert in Phoenix , Arizona , dedicated to the memory of Dana Wells, Max's adopted son, who died in August 1996. The concert took place exactly one year after the death, on August 16 , and was called the Soulfly Show .

Soulfly (1997-1998)

On October 1, 1997, work began on material for the first album at Indigo Ranch , California . The process was led by producer Ross Robinson . In addition to the main cast of Soulfly, many of Max's friends took part in the recording: Dino Casares, Burton Bell, Christian Walbers ( Fear Factory ), Fred Durst and DJ Lethal ( Limp Bizkit ), Chino Moreno ( Deftones ), Benji Webbe ( Dub War , Skindred ), Eric Bobo ( Cypress Hill ) and others. Inviting musicians from other groups to record an album later became a tradition for Soulfly.

On the 31st of the same month, the musicians left the studio already with tracks ready for mixing. Then Max went to New York , where Andy Wallace took up the processing of the material. Thus, in January 1998, the record was ready for replication, packaging and delivery to stores. It only remained to give a name to the group. As a result, Max, through the French television channel Canal +, unveiled the name of his team, “Soulfly”. This happened immediately after Max’s performance with the Deftones band in 1997 , together with the musicians of which he recorded the song “Head Up”, which was included in the Deftones album “ Around The Fur ” and dedicated to the memory of the deceased Dana.

In this thing there was an expression - “soulfly” (Russian - flight of the soul). It dawned on me right away, it was like a lightning strike: here it is, the name of the group! “Flight of the soul” - only this phrase can accurately determine all our creativity, the whole concept of the group.

Max Cavalera

The album was released on April 21, 1998 on Roadrunner Records and reached 79th position on the Billboard 200 chart. After recording the album, Jackson Bandeira returned to Brazil (in addition to Soulfly, he played in the band Nacao Zumbi), and his place was taken by Logan Mader ) from Machine Head . In the same year, Soulfly played at the Ozzfest festival on the main stage with the bands Ozzy Osbourne , Megadeth , Tool , Limp Bizkit , Sevendust and Coal Chamber . After the tour, Logan Mader was replaced by Mikey Doling , guitarist for Snot .

After the May concerts in 1999 in St. Petersburg and Moscow , Max Cavalera, together with his wife Gloria and children, went to Siberia , to the city of Omsk to his mother’s sister.

Primitive (2000-2001)

The band’s second album, “ Primitive, ” with the biggest influences of new metal, appeared in 2000. It turned out to be the group’s most successful album and reached 32 numbers on the Billboard in the [USA] and 11 places on the charts in England . During the recording, Joe Nunez , a drummer from Chicago, replaced Roy Mayorg with drums. Like the previous album, "Primitive" was helped by guests from various groups - Cory Taylor ( Slipknot , Stone Sour ), Sean Lennon, Chino Moreno ( Deftones ), Tom Araya ( Slayer ), Grad Ivneyl ( Will Haven ) and other musicians. Produced the album Toby Wright . Neville Garrick, who worked with Bob Marley for a long time, took part in the development of the art design of the album.

3 (2002)

Max Cavalera produced the third album himself, it was released on June 25, 2002 and reached 46th position on the Billboard 200 chart. When recording the record, the composition of the group was not changed, Roy Mayorga returned to the drums. Also included were Christian Machado of Ill Niño , Danny Marianino of North Side Kings, Wiley Arnett and Greg Hall of Sacred Reich , and Max's nephew Richie Cavalera )

The album was given the strange name 3 :

Definitely around number 3 there is some kind of magical aura. This is probably one of the reasons why I immediately settled on the name "3". Plus, I was always a fan of third albums, whether it was Metallica - “ Master of Puppets ” or Black Sabbath - “ Master of Reality ”, these works were really powerful. I hope Soulfly can do the same. For me, the most important thing is to be honest, to be real. Regardless of whether I touch the fragile sound of “Soulfly 3” or the brutal sound of “Call To Arms”, the main thing is that I am very truthful until the end of each song. This is what I believe in. I continue to live when I write sincerely, I write what I feel most strongly. Like it or not, agree or not, but this is how I feel, and this is how it should be. Each album must be different. I think this is what makes Soulfly interesting, we don’t try to repeat the same things all the time.

Max Cavalera

The tour in support of the album lasted more than a year, the group toured North America and Europe, playing on the same stage with In Flames , Slayer and Will Haven . In September 2003, after the tour ended, Daling, Diaz and Mayorga left Soulfly, leaving Cavalera its only participant.

Prophecy (2003)

In October 2003, Cavalera assembled a new Soulfly squad. Joey Nunez returned to the drums, the new guitarist was Mark Rizzo , a former Ill Nino member. Two bassists participated in the recording at the same time - David Ellefson , an ex-member of Megadeth , and Bobby Burns from Primer 55 . So Max tried to combine the old and new metal schools on the album.

Max Cavalera explained on the band’s website that he wants to play with different musicians on each album:

So I am going to do further. I never wanted Soulfly to be a band like Metallica , consisting of those very four guys. With each new Soulfly album, we have changed the line-up and most likely we will continue to do so

Part of the album was recorded in Serbia, with local musicians from Eyesburn (track “Moses”). Denny Marianino and Asha Rabouin also participated as guest vocalists. The album was produced by Cavalera himself.

Prophecy was published on March 30, 2004, and in April of that year reached 82 on the Billboard 200 and top of the Australian Top 50 charts. The next world concert tour was held with the participation of Black Sabbath , Ill Nino and Morbid Angel .

In February 2005, Soulfly released their first DVD , titled The Song Remains Insane . It was a biographical look at the group, which contained concert performances by the collective around the world, interviews and all the video clips of the group at that time. In August 2005, Roadrunner Records re-released the band’s first self-titled album to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the label.

Dark Ages (2004-2007)

In December 2004, recording of the fifth Soulfly album, Dark Ages, began . At the same time, tragic events happened with relatives of the Cavaliers: on December 8, during a concert in Columbus, Ohio, Max's close friend, Pantera guitarist Darrell Abbott ( Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott ) was shot dead. On December 10, the 8-month-old grandson of Max and Gloria Moses died. In the process of recording Dark Ages, Cavalera visited Serbia, Turkey, Russia, France and the USA, where he recorded various tracks with local musicians. The main composition of the Soulfly of the Dark Ages period: Cavalera, Rizzo, Nunez, Burns. Also involved were David Ellefson , lead singer of Eyesburn Coyote, Billy Milano (Stormtroopers Of Death), Pavel Pate Filippenko (FAQ), and Richie Cavalera (Incite). October 4, 2005 the album was released. Many critics have called Dark Ages the return of Max Cavaliers to the thrash metal roots of the early days of Sepultura . The subsequent concert tour was supported by bands such as Deftones, Korn , Throwdown, Skindred. Soulfly visited North and South America, Europe, Russia and Australia.

On August 17, 2006, Soulfly won the 10th Annual D-Low Memorial show . For the first time since Max left Sepultura , his brother Igor Cavalera performed on the same stage with him. The brothers performed one of Sepultura 's main hits, Roots Bloody Roots and Attitude.

After the concerts in support of Dark Ages, the band members focused on third-party projects. Cavalera, together with Matt Tuck, vocalist of Bullet For My Valentine , participated in the recording of Apocalyptica 's single “Repressed”, in January 2007 he visited Russia, where he was noted on the album of the Moscow group FAQ, played in Serbia together with System Of A Down . Mark Rizzo, with his project in the style of flamenco metal ( flamenco-meets-shred metal ) traveled to North America. Bobby Burns acquired a studio in Orlando and also worked on solo projects (Love Said No, King Street).

Conquer (2008)

On July 29, 2008 , the sixth Soulfly album was released, which was named Conquer .

Omen (2009—2011)

On November 6, 2009, SOULFLY entered the Edge Of The Earth studio in Hollywood, California to begin recording their seventh album, called Omen . The album was released on May 25, 2010 at Roadrunner records . ^[7] There are two guest vocalists on the album. Greg Pusiatato , the lead singer of The Dillinger Escape Plan , is involved in the song “Rise of the Fallen”, and Tommy Victor from Prong performed the vocals in the song “Lethal Injection”. The group recorded with producer Logan Mader (also known for working with Cavalera Conspiracy , Gojira , Devildriver ). For the special version of the album, several bonus songs were recorded. Soulfly re-recorded Sepultura 's song “Refuse / Resist” together with Zion Cavalera, and also a cover of the Excel song “Your Life, My Life” was recorded.

In July 2010, bassist Bobby Burns left the band. In his place came Johnny Chow, known for working with the Cavalera Conspiracy and Fireball Ministry . ^[8] In the second half of 2010, Soulfly went on tour in Europe and North America. ^{[9] [10]}

In the summer of 2011, former Static-X bass player Tony Campos joins the band as a regular member. He replaces Johnny Chow on this post. In August 2011, David Kinkade of Borknagar joined the group, replacing Joe Nunez.

Enslaved (2012)

March 13, 2012 released the 8th Soulfly studio album, titled Enslaved .

In October 2012, it became known that David Kinkade leaves the group after the tour. ^[11] During a North American tour in early 2013, Max's son Zyon Cavalera will play drums. ^[12]

In May 2013, the group announced the transition to the label Nuclear Blast , on which the group plans to record their ninth album.

Savages (2013-2014)

An album called "Savages" was released in early October 2013 at Nuclear Blast Entertainment . The CD is produced by Terry Date, who is known for working with Pantera , Deftones , Soundgarden, and many others. The drums on the new album were recorded by Max Cavalera's son, Zion, who joined the group as a touring musician during a North American tour.

In the spring of 2014, Soulfly, together with Korn , presented their new album to the Russian public. As part of the tour, the musicians performed in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Minsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Ufa, Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh, Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar.

Archangel (2015)

Ritual (2018)

The first two Soulfly albums are in the style of the popular nu-metal in the late 1990s ^{[13] [3] [6] [1]} Since the beginning of the 2000s, the group began to systematically make the sound heavier, adding groove metal to its sound ^{[14 ] [2]} . On the fifth and sixth albums ( Dark Ages and Conquer ) the sound of the group deviated to the junction of groove and thrash metal ^{[3] [4]} . In subsequent albums, death metal elements were added to this combination, music became more aggressive, and sound more dense.

The main themes of the lyrics are issues of religion and human spirituality, war, violence, aggression, slavery, hatred and anger.

Also in the work of Soulfly trends of South American tribal music are traced. ^{[6] [4]}

Timeline

• Soulfly (1998)
• Primitive (2000)
• 3 (2002)
• Prophecy (2004)
• Dark Ages (2005)
• Conquer (2008)
• Omen (2010)
• Enslaved (2012)
• Savages (2013)
• Archangel (2015)
• Ritual (2018)

• Official Soulfly Website
• The official Soulfly Myspace page
• Soulfly at allmusic.com
• Soulfly on discogs.com
• Soulfly Lyrics
• Soulfly's Profile at Last.fm
• Soulfly on zvuki.ru