{"id":744409,"date":"2026-07-05T10:19:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T10:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/744409\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T10:19:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T10:19:21","slug":"sepultura-the-story-of-roots-and-their-split","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/744409\/","title":{"rendered":"Sepultura: the story of Roots and their split"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sepultura<\/a>\u2019s 1996 album Roots was one of the most pivotal albums of that decade, priming the band for even bigger success – but instead it prompted the departure of frontman Max Cavalera<\/a> and the end of the band\u2019s classic line-up. In 2018, all four members looked back on how Brazil\u2019s greatest band snatched defeat from the jaws of victory,<\/p>\n

Sepultura were one of the greatest and most unexpected success stories of the mid-90s. Four kids from the cultural backwater of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, they journeyed from sub-underground death metal no-hopers into global ambassadors for their home country, and for metal as a whole.<\/p>\n

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The band\u2019s still-explosive 1989 album Beneath The Remains<\/a> served notice of their impending genius, but it was their fifth full-length record, 1993\u2019s Chaos AD<\/a>, that found Sepultura jumping several gears, pushing them far beyond their contemporaries. Its groundbreaking mix of jagged noise and South American influences sounded like nothing that came before it, while frontman Max Cavalera raged against corruption and stupidity with the conviction of a man who had nothing left to lose.<\/p>\n

Latest Videos From Louder<\/p>\n

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The album connected instantly, smashing into the UK Top 20 and the US Top 40 like a Molotov cocktail. Successful tours with the likes of Pantera and Ministry followed.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the making of Chaos AD, we were very focused, very organised, very connected,\u201d says guitarist Andreas Kisser<\/a>. \u201cWe were together, it was a very special moment in Sepultura\u2019s career.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But there were downsides. The pressures of success, and the responsibilities of being flagbearers for a new generation of metal bands soon began to have an effect on the \u2018classic Seps\u2019 line-up of Max, Andreas, bassist Paulo \u2018Jr\u2019 Pinto and drummer, Max\u2019s brother Iggor Cavalera.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of a sudden we\u2019re this really big machine and we couldn\u2019t really comprehend it,\u201d says Max. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know how to deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Sepultura\n<\/p>\n

Sepultura in 1996: (from left) Iggor Cavalera, Andreas Kisser, Paulo Jr, Max Cavalera (Image credit: Mick Hutson\/Redferns)<\/p>\n

On October 1995, Sepultura entered Indigo Ranch Studio in Malibu to record the follow-up to Chaos AD with rising nu metal<\/a> producer Ross Robinson<\/a>. The album built on the indigenous Brazilian influences of its predecessor, simultaneously taking them further away from their death metal past towards an incendiary, groove-driven battery.<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cThere was no pressure on the music side. We\u2019d proved that we could take this thing in any direction we wanted, and it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"The\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n

Iggor: \u201cIt was very early where Max came up with the Roots song, and from then on we were building, thinking about what would be the \u2018roots\u2019 of our music. We did a lot of crazy experimenting.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Andreas: \u201cRoss Robinson had a whole new perspective. He came and showed a lot of new possibilities for us. He really brought that idea of the \u2018Brazilianness\u2019: the jams, the free approach to everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iggor: \u201cHe was pushing a lot of crazy ideas. I remember coming back from the studio with a tape we\u2019d done there, and I didn\u2019t know what we were going to do with it, \u2019cos there was so much going on \u2013 a thousand guitars on a take with noises and percussion, that kind of thing. I was a bit confused.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cThe greatest thing was having the combination of Ross and [engineer] Andy Wallace. Ross recorded it on his own and it sounded like total dogshit \u2013 not for human consumption. We\u2019d send it to Andy. It would be like sending him a diamond covered in shit, and he had to clean all the shit from it to make the diamond shine, which is what he did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paulo: \u201cWhen Andy came into the mix, he knew how to make that really noisy, grungy mass sound good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cIt came out very positive. I think that was a merit of the band \u2013 to funnel the stuff that was going on in our lives into our music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sepultura – Roots Bloody Roots [OFFICIAL VIDEO] – YouTube
\n\"Sepultura<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

Released in early 1996, Roots built on the success of its predecessor on both sides of the Atlantic. But imperceptible fault lines were opening up within the band. On one side was Max and his wife, the band\u2019s manager Gloria<\/a>. On the other were Andreas, Paulo and Iggor.<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cThings had started to go kind of weird before that. When [Max and Gloria\u2019s son] Zyon was born, instead of putting a band on the cover of a magazine, they had Max with his kid. That\u2019s nothing to do with the band. To have a kid is not that special. I have three myself. I love them, but I don\u2019t use them as a trophy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paulo: \u201cI guess things weren\u2019t right when we started to tour Roots. We saw things were not being represented the way the three of us would like. The other party was taking credit for everything and not really giving the rest of the band the credit for what we worked for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cConcepts of what Sepultura should be were changing. Max was already being detached from the unity that we had. It was a lead singer with his support band type of vibe. And Gloria was doing a horrible job \u2013 she was not trying to keep anything together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iggor: \u201cThere was a lot of stupid stuff. Just a lot of drama over nothing. You get to the point where you travel so much, little things can be super- dramatic. It\u2019s like Spinal Tap \u2013 people would freak out over not having the sandwich we wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cWe started seeing all these shady guys in the dressing room, managers meeting with the other three guys, trying to steal the band from Gloria\u2019s management.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cSepultura only works if we are a band, if we can talk to each other and respect each other. We were at a point where we were just going onstage to play, and that\u2019s how they wanted to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Sepultura&rsquo;s\n<\/p>\n

Sepultura\u2019s Max Cavalera live in 1996 (Image credit: Paul Bergen\/Redferns)<\/p>\n

On August 1996, Sepultura arrived in the UK to play the Monsters Of Rock<\/a> festival at Castle Donington, opening for Kiss and Ozzy. They were greeted by the tragic news that Gloria\u2019s son, Dana Wells, had been killed in a car accident at home in Phoenix.<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cWe just arrived in England to play Castle Donington, and we got the news. I was the one to bring the news to Gloria. I took her away from her room and told her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cThe minute we arrived, there was a knock on the door and it was Andreas \u2013 he had this pale, ghostly expression that I\u2019d never seen before, and I knew that something was incredibly wrong. He told Gloria, \u2018Your son died.\u2019 From that moment on, the whole day just spiralled out of control. Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne really helped us a lot, they\u2019re the ones that helped us get back home. Without them, we couldn\u2019t have got home so quick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cWe had a big show, in our heads probably one of the biggest shows in Sepultura\u2019s career, and we decided to go ahead and do the show as a trio. I\u2019m glad we did. There were mixed emotions. A profound sadness for a huge loss, but at the same time playing at Castle Donington. It was very weird. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever experience anything like that again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cI spent the night before the funeral with Jason Newsted, making a cassette tape with Dana\u2019s favourite songs. We put a cassette player on his coffin and we let it play until the batteries ran out. During the funeral there was a jam session between Andreas and Jason, playing acoustic guitar \u2013 they made that for Dana. It was beautiful, really touching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cBut from that point, the whole emotional instability just got bigger. Especially from Gloria\u2019s family.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"A\n<\/p>\n

Rather than bring the two warring factions together, Dana\u2019s death only drove them further apart. The tensions that had been simmering came to the boil post-Donington. Andreas, Paulo and Iggor decided that they no longer wanted Gloria to manage Sepultura.<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cWe had the contract. We had a legal tool on our side, where we could exercise an option not to continue with Gloria because we wanted to change the way Sepultura\u2019s business was done. And they didn\u2019t want to hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cThe other three guys, they just stopped talking to Gloria completely, which was really cold. Who does that? I had my own brother doing that, which was really hard to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paulo: \u201cWe tried to talk to Max but it was hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cYou don\u2019t just change people for no reason. If it wasn\u2019t working, I could see the point of changing: \u2018Yeah, let\u2019s change, we gotta do something.\u2019 But that wasn\u2019t the case at all. We were more successful than ever. It was incomprehensible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cWe had a big fight with Gloria in Buenos Aires [on November 14, 1996]. That\u2019s where Sepultura ended. But we decided to go to Europe to do the tour, to try and make Sepultura possible for another year. It was crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sepultura – Ratamahatta [OFFICIAL VIDEO] – YouTube
\n\"Sepultura<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

Sepultura\u2019s European tour began in Belgium on November 20, 1996, and ended just under a month later at London\u2019s Brixton Academy on December 16 \u2013 the day their contract with Gloria Cavalera ended. Immediately after that final show, all the issues that had been brewing finally came to a head. Interestingly, the former bandmates have very different views on how the show itself went.<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cThe show was fantastic, super-energetic, high energy \u2013 we were playing really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cI know it was great and everything, but it could have been much better if we were a band.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paulo: \u201cIt was a very shitty show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iggor: \u201cAt the end of the show, it was, like, \u2018It cannot continue like this.\u2019 That\u2019s when we took the decision we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cWe terminated our deal with our manager there, and [Max and Gloria] decided to leave Sepultura.<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cI don\u2019t think it was in the dressing room. It was more on the bus ride going to the airport. I probably had a little bit to drink, so I was on the edge. I told them, \u2018If that was how it was going to be, fuck you all, I\u2019m out of here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Iggor: \u201cI don\u2019t know if anyone tried to talk Max out of leaving. It was a lot of turbulent times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cOf course we tried to talk Max out of leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cGloria tried to talk me out of it. She told me go with them. I couldn\u2019t. I just couldn\u2019t. I\u2019m not that kind of person. I cannot fuck people over like that. That\u2019s how great of a person she is \u2013 just go with them, stay with them. I\u2019m, like, \u2018I\u2019m not doing that to you. It\u2019s absurd.\u2019 They had a meeting to try to get me back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cIt\u2019s really hard when you do a meeting with Max and Iggor. You can spend two hours talking, some explanation of stuff, and somehow they leave there and nothing happens. It\u2019s really weird way of doing business.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the shock news of the split between Max and his former bandmates broke, both parties retreated to take stock. Inevitably, the shattered relationship turned poisonous, with barbs thrown in the press. Privately, both parties were facing an uncertain future.<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cI could have gone, \u2018Fuck you all, this is my band.\u2019 I could have if I\u2019d wanted to. It was my band, invented by me, the name and everything. I just felt it was easier to walk away. But it was six months of hell. I lived in my room, just drinking and taking drugs all day long. I didn\u2019t want anything to do with music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cWe were abandoned. We lost everything that took 10 years to build. We had to cancel shows in Australia and Japan \u2013 it was really bad. Bad blood with promoters and everything. All the budgets and big money went to Soulfly. Ross Robinson and Andy Wallace went to Max. We had to rebuild everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paulo: \u201cNobody gave us the credit we deserved. We had to start from scratch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cI didn\u2019t know what they were going to do, honestly. But Andreas is a very ambitious guy. I knew he was probably going to find someone and give it a go. I thought they might even get somebody like Robb Flynn. I was, like, \u2018If that happens, I\u2019m fucked.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cWe wanted to change the name, start something totally different. But slowly we put our heads in place and balanced all the options and talked to a lot of people. We were nine months working to find a new manager, a new singer, a new producer \u2013 to find a new way to keep Sepultura going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cThe hardest part was Iggor, because he was my brother. I was, like, \u2018How could you do that to me?\u2019 I don\u2019t know, man. It had a bit to do with greed, it had a bit to do with human nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iggor: \u2018It was horrible. Me and Max being so close together for so many years, doing our little thing, it was very hard. But anybody who has brothers knows how it is a completely different thing than dealing with a friend. With a brother, it doesn\u2019t resolve just by talking. It needs something extreme to happen so you both understand what was going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Sepultura\n<\/p>\n

Sepultura\u2019s Max and Iggor Cavalera in 1996 (Image credit: Niels van Iperen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

In the race to release an album, Max\u2019s new project, Soulfly, were first out of the gate. Their self-titled debut emerged in April 1998, produced by Ross Robinson and featuring members of Fear Factory, Deftones, Limp Bizkit and Dub War. The reconstituted Sepultura, now fronted by American singer Derrick Greene, followed six months later with Against. Both albums were accompanied by potshots directed at the other camp in the press \u2013 a pattern that would be repeated over the next few years. But further upheaval struck Sepultura in 2006 when Iggor jumped ship to reunite with his brother.<\/p>\n

Iggor: \u201cThe decision to leave Sepultura wasn\u2019t hard. It was harder to continue without my brother. We\u2019d just had a son, and my wife was really sad: \u2018Your brother has never seen our son, that\u2019s not right.\u2019 And I was, like, \u2018She\u2019s right.\u2019 So I reached out and talked to him. That was the first step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cHe came back and apologised. He told Gloria he was wrong, which is great. To admit that he was wrong on that whole thing, it was really cool of him to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iggor: \u201cI flew to Phoenix to hang out with Max. We were influenced a lot by the whole thing with Pantera, the Dimebag thing \u2013 like, \u2018Look, these guys cannot do what we\u2019re doing right now.\u2019 We know how life, it\u2019s super-short. So I was, like, \u2018Fuck it, I just want to hang out with my brother.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Sepultura\n<\/p>\n

Sepultura\u2019s Andreas Kisser and Paulo Jr in 1996 (Image credit: Niels van Iperen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

As both sides warily circled each other with teeth bared, there seemed little chance of a reunion of the classic Sepultura line-up, despite huge offers dangled in front of them by promoters. Then, in late 2010, rumours circulated that the band were planning to reunite. Sepultura released a video statement refuting the rumours.<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cI was trying for it. I thought it\u2019d be very cool. Especially after I saw Faith No More get back together. It\u2019s like, \u2018Why can\u2019t we do the same?\u2019 I actually talked to Andreas on the phone about it, like, \u2018Come on man, let\u2019s do this. Let\u2019s fucking do it. The whole world wants it. It would be a great thing.\u2019 And he agreed with me, then a couple of weeks later it was all back to shit again. So I was, like, \u2018Fuck it, I\u2019m not going to try any more.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cThere\u2019s been many reunion conversations, especially with Gloria. It\u2019s always them approaching us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iggor: \u201cI think there was some talk. But I never sit down with those guys to discuss anything, so I don\u2019t know how serious those things were.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cWe both played at a festival in Germany [in 2009], Sepultura and Soulfly, for the first time. Our bus was parked here and their bus was parked a few metres away. I went out there, Gloria was there. I give her a hug: \u2018Hey, what\u2019s up, how\u2019s it going?\u2019 And since then, she was like, \u2018OK, maybe we could put all this bad stuff back and we could try again.\u2019 It didn\u2019t go further, because it\u2019s something that\u2019s completely out of reality. It\u2019s not a part of what we are. That Sepultura they have in mind, it\u2019s not us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cIt was Gloria\u2019s idea for me and Iggor to tour the Roots album (2017\u2019s Roots Reunited tour). I think a lot of fans just wanted to hear the original voice and original drumming. They didn\u2019t care that Paolo and Andreas weren\u2019t in the picture, which was proven by the success of the tour. It sold out everywhere. It was a great tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cIt\u2019s sad to be dragging up the past. That\u2019s why we don\u2019t spend our time doing tribute tours and shit. We\u2019re very much focused on what we\u2019re doing now, today. We put our energy and efforts into creating a new Sepultura every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"A\n<\/p>\n

Today, the gulf between Sepultura and the Cavalera brothers is as wide as ever. Both camps continue to release albums to varying degrees of acclaim, though with only a fraction of the commercial success they enjoyed with Chaos AD and Roots. When it comes to what could\u2019ve been, all members remain philosophical on the subject.<\/p>\n

Iggor: \u201cI have no idea how things would be if we\u2019d gotten through the problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cI think we would have been extremely big if we had stayed together. Not as popular as Metallica, but popular. But then Soulfly came about, so it was a blessing in disguise. I last spoke to Andreas six years ago, and I\u2019ve not spoken to Paolo once. Never.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cDo I miss being in a band with Max? No. Not at all. I don\u2019t know him today. I don\u2019t know the person he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cThere were some good times, it wasn\u2019t all bad. We actually had a lot of fun. The friendships were cool, you know? I miss that sense of, \u2018We can do it, we can conquer the world.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreas: \u201cThere\u2019s no regret at all. I don\u2019t see why we should be regretful when we are in a better place now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max: \u201cMaybe we should have took a year off and come back better than ever. Maybe we would have found a solution for the whole Gloria thing, the whole management thing. At that time, we were not thinking about that. Hot heads prevailed. Would I have done anything differently? I don\u2019t know. I think it was meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published in Metal Hammer 307, March 2018<\/p>\n

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