Sepultura founders perform songs in Joliet
When Sepultura released 1989’s “Beneath the Remains,” its first Roadrunner Records album, and followed that with 1991’s “Arise,” heavy metal was changed forever.
Not only did the band founded in 1984 by Max and Iggor Cavalera raise the profile of Brazil, where the brothers were born, but those albums continue to influence thrash and death metal.
“Our first idea was just playing for the fun of it because we love metal. We wanted to scream and play angry music,” said Max Cavalera of Phoenix, Arizona.
“I thought, ‘If I could only do this as a job, I don’t have to work a day in my life.’ When you look back on all the struggles that got us to this point where we are now, it’s an amazing journey. I wouldn’t have done it any other way.”
Lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Max Cavalera left Sepultura in 1996 while drummer Iggor Cavalera departed the band in 2006. The brothers have performed together in Cavalera Conspiracy
since 2007 and separately in several musical projects.
“We have that chemistry of brotherhood that’s 50 years in the making. We’ve been jamming probably 40 of those 50 years. It’s a huge bond,” Max Cavalera said.
The Cavaleras’ touring band includes bassist Mike Leon of Soulfly and lead guitarist Daniel Gonzalez of Possessed for the Max and Iggor Return Beneath Arise tour, which stops Saturday at Joliet’s The Forge and features songs from “Beneath the Remains” and “Arise.’ ”
“Both of those records have aged well. They sound amazing still. When you play them with the sound we have today with the heavier guitar and bigger drums, they sound amazing,” said Max Cavalera, who cited “Sarcastic Existence” from “Beneath the Remains” as among his favorites in the set.
“We want to celebrate those records. A lot of the songs were imprinted in people’s DNA for 30 years.”
Max Cavalera recalled recording “Beneath the Remains” at Estúdio Nas Nuvens in Rio de Janeiro.
“I’d never done a nocturnal
album. The studio we chose was the best Brazilian studio but there was a pop band during the day. Our sessions were from midnight to 7 a.m. There’s something about recording thrash and fast stuff at 3 in the morning with a lot of coffee,” he said.
“It was make it or break it. We knew our fate was sealed if we didn’t deliver a
good record so we were all in to make the best record we could. You can sense the desperation when you hear the record. It’s a raw-sounding record. I attribute that to the really good producing of Scott Burns.
“He knows how to produce this kind of music. We knew we had to make something killer. We had to make something with attitude.”
Burns also produced “Arise,” which was recorded at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida. The title track was Sepultura’s first single.
“‘Arise’ was a huge record for us. We did the biggest tour. We went to Indonesia, Russia, Australia, Japan, South America, everywhere in Europe, everywhere in America. A lot of doors opened for us with ‘Arise,’ ” Max Cavalera said.
“We did some cool videos. We got to play Rock in Rio in Brazil for the first time. All those things elevated Sepultura to the next level. People were paying attention to us. It’s more mature than ‘Beneath the Remains.’ The songwriting got better. It’s a bit more refined.
“I have a good spot for ‘Arise’ in my heart because it’s the combination of mixing death metal and thrash metal to almost perfection. That was huge at that time because a lot of bands were just playing death metal or just thrash. We decided to blend those two together.”
Openers for the Southland show include Warbringer, who released “Weapons of Tomorrow” in 2020, and Healing Magic, a two-piece including Max Cavalera’s son Igor Amadeus Cavalera, who is promoting the May 27 release of “Volume I: Fire.”
“It’s so cool to watch him do his thing,” Max Cavalera said.
“My wife, Gloria, always comes on tour with me as manager. We have Iggor’s wife coming as well. It’s a cool family vibe. We’ve had the same crew for close to 20 years. Everybody knows everybody. It’s a fun bunch of people that love what they do.”