Max Cavalera: Roots tour is best chance of Sepultura reunion

Max Cavalera
Max Cavalera (Image credit: Getty)

Max Cavalera says the Return To Roots tour is the “closest” thing fans will see to an original Sepultura reunion.

The singer and guitarist left the band acrimoniously in 1996 and he still doesn’t speak to his former bandmates, Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr and Andreas Kisser – so he says there’s little chance of a classic lineup comeback.

Cavalera tells Pollstar: “We don’t really keep in touch. It’s really kind of a separate world of what we live in and what they live in.

“We just decided to do the tour, because it was me and Igor because we were there from the beginning and we think it’s really cool for the fans to see that we are doing this. I don’t think there will ever be a reunion, so I think this is the closest to a reunion that we’ll ever get to see.”

Last month he expressed his regret that he didn’t fire his two colleagues and keep the Sepultura name he co-founded – though he admitted that it was a “difficult period” in his life for him.

Cavalera also reveals there are further projects down the line for Cavalera Conspiracy and his other bands, Soulfly and Kill Or Be Killed.

He says: “We are commemorating 20 years for Soulfly next year, so we’re going to try to release a record. We’re going to work on a new album.

“Hopefully we’ll be in the studio sometimes before the middle of the year so the album can come out before the end of the year. I was hoping to do a little bit with Killer Or Be Killed too, because that’s another cool project that I think we need to do something a little bit more with.

“Maybe the year after next year, we’ll work on another Cavalera Conspiracy record, our fourth one. So there’s a couple of things planned.”

The Return To Roots tour continues in Chicago on October 6.

Max and Igor Cavalera Return To Roots remaining tour dates 2016

Oct 06: Chicago Reggie’s, IL (with Combichrist, All Hail The Yeti, Oni)
Oct 07: Detroit Harpos, MI (with Combichrist, All Hail The Yeti, Oni)
Oct 08: Dayton Oddbodys, OH (with Combichrist, All Hail The Yeti, Oni)
Oct 09: Pittsburgh Rex Theater, PA (with Combichrist, All Hail The Yeti, Oni)
Oct 10: Ottawa Mavericks, ON (with The Black Dahlia Murder, Allegaeon, Oni)
Oct 11: Toronto Opera House, ON (with The Black Dahlia Murder, Allegaeon, Oni)
Oct 12: Montreal Les Foufounes Electriques, QC (with The Black Dahlia Murder, Allegaeon, Oni)
Oct 14: Quebec City Imperial Theatre, QC (with Allegaeon, Oni)
Oct 15: Worcester Rock N Shock Festival, MA (with Combichrist, All Hail The Yeti, Oni)
Oct 16: Cleveland Agora Ballroom, OH (with Combichrist, All Hail The Yeti, Oni)
Oct 17: Sauget Pop’s, IL (with Combichrist, All Hail The Yeti, Oni)
Oct 20: Los Angeles The Regent, CA (with All Hail The Yeti, Oni)
Oct 21: Tempe Club Red D-Low Fest, AZ
Oct 23: Sacramento Aftershock Festival, CA

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Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.