Max Cavalera : Well, the musicians are Marcello, a good brasilian friend of mine, Jackson who plays the guitar from "Chico Sience", and Roy from Shelter, who is a popular drummer in Hardcore. I choseed them cause they are the right people.  

AA : What kind of ideas do you want to transmit with the name of your band?

Max : The general idea is to represent the phase i'm entering right now, with the new group, the attitude, the spirit. It's the belief in my music and it's my future, mixing elements, but played with energy, fury, anger, together with creativity. Attitude is the nearest word for what i want in this name.  

AA : Could you describe the album, the songs, and what you put into?

Max : No!... It's too hard, because there are very different stuffs. Over all the album is about finding new ways of recreating what i was doing with Sepultura, but without imitate. The album has very different moods, like "As For An Eye" or "The Song Remains Insane" which are kinds of discharge.  

AA : Are the lyrics more personal than on your previous records, less political?

Max : Yeah, it's more personnal, cause it's a much more deeper subsjects album! Except from couple of subjects like slavery (Quicombo), or prejudice (Prejudice)...  

AA : About "The Song Remains Insane", it has the same lyrics as "Attitude", no?

Max : Yes. In fact, there are three songs in one. There is "Caos" (Ratos De Porao) which lasts 14 secondes, then there is "Attitude" the short and hardcore version, which lasts about 1 minute, and finally, there is "The songs remains insane" which is not a cover song, as the 2 others, and which has no lyrics, just "the song remains insane...". It's just a fucked up crazy idea.  

AA : There are a lot of guests on the album. Could you tell us who they are, and what they brought to it?

Max : The idea was to make a bi-cultural record, like Roots, on which we worked with indians. I came with the idea which originated from Rap and Hardcore musics, where many musicians mix or play with others without any problem, to create a kind of tribal or friendship community beetween the bands. I think it's cool cause they're struggling to continue to play music just as I am. They are Fear Factory, Deftones, Limp Bizkit, Dubwar, and Mario Caldato, from the Beastie Boys. They all enjoyed it, it's cool.  

AA : Do you have any ideas yet for the first video?

Max : Not yet, but soon for sure, maybe Bleed or Eye For An Eye.  

AA : Tommorow you're going to play "Head Up" with the Deftones on french TV. Will you play this song with them on stage this year?

Max : Yeah, I planned to come back in March or April, with the album, and we've been talking with the Deftones and my band, to come back together, and with an Hardcore band. We accept propositions (showing Benoit's "Vision of Disorder" T-shirt).  

AA : Vision Of Disorder???

Max : Yeah, it would be very cool. It would be definitively like taht. A strong HArdcore band in first, then the Deftones, and then us.  

AA : Did you played Head Up on a TV Show before Paris?

Max : No, this is the first time on T.V., but we played it "live" twice in Phoenix (for the SOULFLY / D-Low show, and at a Deftones show).  

AA : Who had the idea to compose Head Up?

Max : Chino invited me to make a song, then I came with the subject (Dana), and the music.  

AA : And what about your side project with the Deftones?

Max : Yes, we'll do it, but not before next year. 1998 will be a year of touring.  

AA : What kind of musical orientation will you bring to this project?

Max : Chino and I, are really in kinds of stuff like "Will Haven". He'll sing with a crispy voice. It's gonna be less Deftones, less singing and more screaming, with more energy.  

AA : About yor live projects for this year, could we hope to see you at the Ozzfest, or some festivals??

Max : Yes, we're working on it rigth now. I want to play in the festivals and the small clubs. Festivals are great because you have all these people in front of you, but small clubs are more intense.  

AA : About the World Cup, France 98, do you think that Brasil will win?

Max : No, I think it will be Nigeria.  

AA : Currently, what kind of music are you listening to, and which is the last album you bought?

Max : Well, I'm listening to Fear Factory, Will Haven, Strife. The last album I bought is Hatebreed. it's one of my favourite rigth now, their music is really intense. I'm also listening to different music, like for example "Up Bosso And Out", from England. They make a really weird music, but it's not hardcore. They recorded with peruvian indians, as we did on Roots with the Xavantes, but they use electronic sounds. It's a very interesting band. And what else... I'm also listening to the new Deftones of course, and the new Dubwar. It's not out yet, but it's a great album.  

AA : By the way, did you kept some contacts with the Xavantes tribe, and have they heard about the success of "Roots" ?

Max : Yes, and they are very happy and proud about it.  

AA : What do you think of the current evolution of Metal, with new sounds, new instruments, like Techno-Trash?

Max : I think there are good and bad things. The future is in bands like Fear Factory, Will Haven, Hatebreed, which are real, more than bands which play Rock, like Metallica. I think that it's already over. Maybe they're selling more, but i don't find anything interesting in their music any longer? According to me, the future in Heavy music, is the mixing of different styles and in the attitude.  

AA : Do you think that your music is an influence for the young open-minded guys who listen to metal music, like for example with the use of new sounds or instruments .

Max : Yes, I think they like it, cause it's different. I like what is different and try to experiment new instruments and new ideas, but in the same time, i never forgot my roots which are agression, intensity, and heavy. I think fans like that, enjoy listening to the album cause there's a lot of new thiongs.  

AA : Through your music they discover new sounds?

Max : Yes, but it's still so heavy. You don't need to loose the heaviness to bring new things. You can always be powerfull, and even more, with certain drums for example. The drums used on the new record are called "slave-drums" in Brasil, cause there were used by slaves 300 years ago, and there are still played today by oppressed people. A Hardcore band which is really pissed-off is like a slave playing drums. He's really mad or angry about a situation or something...  

AA : About the Spoken Words you gave in Brussels and Amsterdam in last September, did you enjoyed this experience, and do you want to renew it in France for example.

Max : I think it would be really cool, cause it's the occasion to see different level and to reach a talking level. Afterwards, everybody can come and shake hands or take pictures. But I don't think I'll do a tour, cause it would become... not boring, but premeditated. I need to be excied and if I repeat it too much, I would probably loose the "fire", and I don't want that. But it would be cool to do it once in France.  

AA : Do you want to reform Nailbomb later?

Max : I don't know. Maybe. Biut we are going to play Nailbomb songs with my new band on stage : "Wasting Away" and " Cockroaches".  

AA : By the way, do you plan to play really old Sepultura songs on Tour?

Max : Yes, stuff like Inner Self, Septic Schizo, Troops Of Doom, which will always be part of my career! Just look at the lyrics of Inner Self and you'll understand.  

(interview by Benoit "Benzine" fanzine, and Thy', Fab' & Guillaume from Arising Attitude).