Cavalera Brothers Snubbed In Sepultura 40th Anniversary Celebrations

It looks like Brazilian heavy metal icons Sepultura won’t be celebrating their 40th anniversary with founding members, the Cavalera brothers, Max and Igor, who departed the band in 1996 and 2006, respectively.

Speaking in an interview on the Sonoros Podcast, guitarist Andreas Kisser addressed potential 40th-anniversary plans for the band, which rapidly approaches 2024.

When asked whether Max or Igor would partake in any future milestone gigs, Kisser responded, “No! What for, bro? To spoil the party?” making any reunion ideas a firm no. You can watch the entire interview below.

The most well-known and commercially successful Sepultura albums include 1996’s Roots, 1993’s Chaos A.D., 1991’s Arise, and 1989’s Beneath The Remains – all starring the Cavalera brothers.

Max Cavalera abruptly left the band in December 1996. He was grieving the passing of his stepson, Dana Wells, when his bandmates asked for his wife and band manager, Gloria Bujnowski, to be fired.

According to the group, Cavalera was receiving special treatment, and they felt neglected (AllMusic biography, RockSound magazine). Max Cavalera reportedly felt betrayed by the turn of events and performed his final show with Sepultura on 16 December 1996.

Cavalera said in an Exclaim feature on the timeline of Sepultura: “I started Sepultura back in the day. I used to write that name on my schoolbooks. What I'm going through now is like watching my own son die. I cry every day; I feel hurt, sad, angry; it's like half of me has died.”

Igor Cavalera left Sepultura in 2006 after the band released their tenth LP, Dante XXI. After his departure, no original members remained in the band.

At the time of his departure, the Cavalera brothers resolved a decades-long feud and started the band Cavalera Conspiracy. Igor Cavalera left the band due to “artistic incompatibility” after previously sharing that he’d temporarily leave for the birth of his fourth child.

Igor Cavalera works with the bands Absent In Body and Petbrick, both of whom released new albums in 2022. The most recent Cavalera Conspiracy album, Psychosis, was released in 2017. Max Cavalera’s main band is Soulfly, who released their twelfth album, Totem, in 2022. The band also appeared at last year’s Good Things Festival.