Elevated soul

>> New metal innovator Max Cavalera keeps his chin up

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

In 1996, Brazil's Max Cavalera and his "tribe" Sepultura knocked the metal world on its ear by releasing Roots, an album rife with aggression, mixed with Brazilian percussion, traditional instruments and field recordings of the Brazilian Xantes tribe.

After Roots Cavalera had a much-publicized falling-out with his former band, which includes his brother Igor, and ceased working with them before quickly forming his current project Soulfly. Since Roots, Cavalera has been wearing the weight of being an innovator in metal, but insists he isn't worried about the pressure.

"I think that's what keeps me going," he says. "I have to be honest with myself and make the best record I can. Then I can only hope that Soulfly fans will like it."

His influence on the current crop of nue-metal riding the charts (Limp Bizkit, Korn, Slipknot, Deftones etc.) is undeniable. Instead of crying blatant thievery, Cavalera had Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst and Korn's Jonathan Davis make appearances on Soulfly's first record. On Soulfly's current CD Primitive, Slipknot's Cory #9, Slayer's Tom Araya, members of the Deftones and even the unlikely Sean Lennon are included as guests. "I think music is like a circle and if people are influenced by me then that's great," he says. "I'm influenced by people like Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix and Black Sabbath. That's how we grow as artists."

What is really fuelling Cavalera's innovation this time around is not flirtations with Brazilian percussion or turntablism, but rather the message of hope that lies behind the maelstrom of angst and aggression. Unlike the digruntled majority of the metal world, Soulfly strives for positivity and truth. On Primitive, Cavalera is not blindly lashing out, but the messages aren't candy-coated either. "I think a lot of bands have too much anger and fake aggression," he says. "I didn't feel like making a negative album. I'm more interested in turning something negative and making it positive. I would like to touch people and help them get through life."

Cavalera's current outlook could be attributed to the long healing process he is still undergoing. After the unsolved murder of his stepson Dana, which coincided with his split with Sepultura, tragedy once again struck Cavalera when he recently lost his good friend Tunday from the hip hop band Cutthroat Logic. These losses are documented in the song "In Memory Of."

For the first time in a long time, though, Cavalera seems eager to repair the damage with his former bandmates Sepultura. "We're reconciling and we will continue, because it's just better for everyone. It hurts me that we're not the brothers we used to be. That's life, things happen and then they need to be fixed up. As far as me ever playing with them again, who can say? Never say never." :

With Shuvel and Taproot at Foufounes Électriques on Tuesday, August 1, 7:30pm, $25+taxes