Max Cavalera: New Soulfly Album ‘Enslaved’ Captures ‘Sepultura Sound’

Soulfly are set to release 'Enslaved' on March 13 and according to frontman Max Cavalera, the band cast a pretty wide net of influences while recording their eighth studio album. He even draws parallels to his former band Sepultura.

The concept behind Soulfly's new album 'Enslaved' is anything but new, as Max Cavalera tells Noisecreep, he first thought of the idea more than a decade ago. "The idea of slavery as a concept to me has always been a very unique thing. I actually first had the idea 15 years ago and it seemed like a powerful metal concept," says Cavalera. "I remember reading a poem in an old book, a cry for justice from someone being owned and abused, a slave, and my mind just took off from there."

Fans of the band may be surprised by the increased brutality of the new material, which Cavalera attributes to Soulfly's new rhythm section. "The adding of our two new players, Tony [Campos, bass] and David [Kinkade, drums], makes for a pretty brutal outfit. This made me feel like I was sort of getting back to the Sepultura sound."

The Soulfly frontman also drew inspiration from his heavy metal peers for their upcoming eighth disc. "I've also been listening to a lot of heavy music lately, Morbid Angel, Oceano, which got me back into a more old school groove." explains Cavalera. "[The 'Enslaved' track] 'American Steel' is my personal tribute to my personal love of American heavy metal. Seriously, man, I would not be here without Ted Nugent, KISS, Van Halen, Metallica."

'Enslaved' is set for release on March 13 and Soulfly will begin an extensive tour in Puebla, Mexico on March 15.