This mighty man is celebrating a birthday today and his name is Max Cavalera.
(Photo: Metalheadzone.com)
Max is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, among others in the following bands: "Soulfly", "Nailbomb", "Cavalera Conspiracy", and "Killer "Be Killed", but he is best known as one of the founders of the band "Sepultura".
He was born on August 6, 1969, in Belo Horizonte Brazil as Massimiliano Antonio "Max" Cavalera.
He founded "Sepultura" in Brazil with his younger brother, the drummer Igor Cavalera, in 1984.
The event that influenced him to form the band was the death of his father who was an Italian diplomat, aged 41, while Max was only 9 years old. Following his father's death, the family's financial situation deteriorated and Max noted that it was at this point of pain and depression that the "metal" came in and helped him deal with the difficulties. He claims that if his father had not died he probably would not have become a musician.
He is the one who gave the band the name "Sepultura" (Tomb in Portuguese), after translating the song "Dancing on Your Grave" by "Motörhead".
He was a member of the band during its heyday until 1996, including four of its masterful albums: "Beneath the Remains" (1989), "Arise" (1991), "Chaos A.D." (1993), and "Roots"(1996).
In the early 90s, he emigrated from Brazil to Phoenix Arizona in the US where he lives with his family to this day.
He married the manager of the band, "Sepultura" Gloria Bujnowski.
He has five children, three of whom are involved in music, the eldest Zyon Cavalera is the drummer of the band "Soulfly".
By the way, Zion's heartbeat when he was still a fetus is heard in the opening of the song "Refuse / Resist" from Sepultura's "Chaos A.D." album.
Max left "Sepultura" in 1996 after band members, including his brother, sought to fire his wife from the band's management staff. It happened right after the death of his stepdaughter from his wife Gloria in a car accident, and Max was very hurt by it and just left the band.
A year later he already formed "Soulfly" with which he has released to date 11 studio albums.
He founded "Cavalera Conspiracy" in 2006 after receiving a phone call from his brother Igor with whom he had not spoken for 10 years. Igor had just left "Sepultura", and he wanted to apologize to him and Gloria. Max invited him to be a guest on a "Soulfly" show. The reconnection between them created an appetite to go back and play together and thus "Cavalera Conspiracy" was born.
Max is known as a guitarist who plays his guitar with only four strings. He simply removed the two high strings, (E and B), and played the guitar in this unique way.
In 2004 he sang and played guitar on the song "Red War" from Dave Grohl's project "Probot".
Max also starred in the movie "The Scorpion King" starring "The Rock". He provided the soundtrack with the roars of the Rock character in the film.