When MAX CAVALERA Almost Reunited With SEPULTURA: 'We'll Cross Paths Again'

Max Cavalera is best known for helping create one of Brazil’s most influential metal bands: Sepultura. But in 1996, after years of success, he walked away from it all.

The breakup wasn’t friendly. At the center of it was a conflict over management. The other band members wanted Max’s wife, Gloria Cavalera, to stop managing the group. Max disagreed. Instead of accepting their request, he left the band and cut ties with his bandmates.

After the split, Max started a new project called Soulfly. The band followed a musical path similar to Sepultura’s Roots album, blending heavy metal with tribal rhythms and experimental sounds.

Soulfly’s debut album came out in April 1998. Around that time, Max gave an interview to Bizz Magazine (via LOUDLEGENDS.COM). In it, he opened up about the separation, and said he wasn’t totally against reconnecting with his old band.

“Our relationship was like a marriage,” Max said. “We had a big fight, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends again. The future’s ahead of us. We’ll cross paths again and talk things out. That’s the peace I’m looking for.”

He also mentioned the impact the band’s success had on his relationship with his brother Iggor, who was still in Sepultura at the time.

“We grew up together,” he said. “Of course we were going to fight. Sepultura became a huge business, making millions and selling records all over the world. That messed with our family.”

At the time of the interview, Sepultura was working on their first album without Max. The record, Against, featured new frontman Derrick Green. Max said he was curious about how it would turn out.

“I’m sure it’s going to be a great record,” he said. “But I want to wait and hear it when it’s finished. Fans are the real winners, they’ll have two great albums to listen to.”

It wasn’t the full reunion some fans were hoping for, but it showed a softer side of Max, one open to healing and moving forward.

Nearly 30 years have passed since that interview. Iggor eventually left Sepultura too. In 2007, he and Max formed a new band together: Cavalera Conspiracy.

They’ve been performing and recording ever since.

Sepultura, meanwhile, is now on its farewell tour, Celebrating Life Through Death. As for Max, recent comments suggest he has no plans to rejoin his former bandmates onstage.

The reunion that almost happened stayed just that…almost.

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