– By Chad Thomas Carsten –
Max Cavalera is a pure metal machine! He always working on a wide variety of projects. It’s almost as if Max is capable of making records during sleep. Every release that Max puts out becomes a personal fan favorite and each release forever stands against the test of time! Nailbomb’s “Point Blank” record is proof of that. “Point Blank” is a beautifully crafted chaotic mass of pure metallic industrial; a record that continues to gain new fans throughout the metal and industrial community every single day. Don’t miss out on Soulfly performing Nailbomb’s “Point Blank” all the way through because it’s the type of record that’s meant to be seen by thousands of heavy music fans worldwide!
It’s been over twenty-four years since Nailbomb dropped their first and only record “Point Blank”. How satisfied are you with the final outcome of the LP?
Max Cavalera: Very happy! Especially because it was never intended to be a real project. It started as like a fun thing with Alex (Newport) and then it eventually turned into an album and we had a lot of fun making the record. It was really a lot of punk rock, metal, industrial themes going on. And now over twenty years later, to get to play that stuff live, it’s even more fun, man! It’s amazing we get to do that with older recordings and get to take it on tour and present it to the people. Even with like the newer generation, some kids weren’t even born when the Nailbomb record came out and they come to the shows and they just love it! Ya know, it’s really cool to see that!
For those who are unfamiliar. Can we dive into some back history of Point Blank and its controversial cover art? Did the lady survive?
Max Cavalera: The album came out in 1994. It’s really a mix of styles, mostly metal and punk and industrial. It was our take on industrial music. At that time we were listening to a lot of Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Young Gods, Front Line Assembly, Tragic Impulse, etc. It was our own version of it. Me and Alex’s version of industrial metal and the way we see it. We had a lot of punk stuff on it because we were listening to a lot of punk and a lot of metal because of me and Sepultura and Alex being from Fudge Tunnel. There is plenty of metal between us, so as I’ve said, it’s a fun record. A lot of cool samples from a lot of cool movies and a lot of great riffs from the whole era of punk, metal, and industrial at the time. We just wanted a shocking picture. We loved the Rage Against The Machine album cover from the first record where the monks on fire. We told our label that we wanted to do something like that. We used that as a reference/idea. We got in touch with Alternative Associated Press and they sent us a bunch of black ‘n’ white pictures from a lot of war pictures. One of the war pictures was that one of the lady with a gun pointed at her head. We thought that represented the music of the album because it’s very aggressive, very war-like, but also black ‘n’ white with a punk kind of feeling. We just wrote Nailbomb (logo) with military letters. I think it’s great, but it’s really shocking and really brutal. But we found out later that the lady in the picture never died. The soldier never shot her Which is one good thing about that picture is that she never died right there.
When first founding out that your single “Wasting Away” was featured in the 1995 Nicole Kidman film “To Die For”; how did you react to that?
Max Cavalera: It was crazy! I knew that some of my stuff was used in movies before, but that was actually a request from the director. He loved Nailbomb and was a big fan of that record! He used the whole song pretty much. I watched “To Die For” a couple of times and it’s so cool to hear “Wasting Away”. The whole song plays when the kids are bashing out the cars in a junkyard. It’s a pretty a dark movie too. It’s dark with the wife killing the husband and it’s a wicked crazy story. I’m glad Nailbomb got to be part of it. It’s definitely cool! I like when music and movies combine like that. It’s the same with music and sports. When they combine it’s always pretty cool!
Which track from “Point Blank” challenges you the most vocally?
Max Cavalera: Vocally? Uh, it’s really kind of a direct album. I think that it’s not really that much of a challenge vocally. The ones that I sing the most like “Wasting Away”, I have more lines on it and it’s pretty cool. “World of Shit” and “For Fuck Sakes” are cool too. “Wasting Away” I really combined with Alex and we go back and forth with each-other and so I don’t get to sing on the whole song like Soulfly or Cavalera Conspiracy. On that one, I only sing a couple parts and then (live) my son Igor sings Alex’s part. It’s a lot more fun doing it that way to me as a singer. A lot easier going to do it that way.
I’m sure you get asked this a lot. Do you think Nailbomb will ever put out another record?
Max Cavalera: I don’t think so. Me and Alex pretty much murdered the project.
It was pretty much Alex’s idea at the time. If it was up to me I would have probably continued because I love Nailbomb and I love the whole idea! I liked it a little more and that’s probably why I’m doing these live shows right now. Probably not Nailbomb but I definitely will continue doing projects like Killer Be Killed and probably do a different project with a different name in the near future. Continue doing different stuff with different people. That’s always to me there is a lot of fun on that and you get a lot of knowledge and wisdom from projects and you also broaden your musical ideas a lot when doing those projects.
Why should fans not miss out on Soulfly performing Nailbomb live?
Max Cavalera: I think it’s a really good line up. My son’s doing all of Alex’s parts. Alex doesn’t want to play live, he’s kind of done playing live, wants to be a producer. So we got Igor (my son) to do all his parts and it sounds great!
I think we really turned the Nailbomb material kind of an organic thing with Soulfly behind it and we turned all the songs that were a little bit more electronic into real songs that a band can play, but we still have the samplers on top of it. So it still has the original vibe from the original recording.
Since you’re now on the road what’s one major thing not do when on tour?
Max Cavalera: Be careful with drinking and with weed when crossing into countries, especially when going into Canada. When going into different countries, try not to get too crazy and don’t get into fights with other people. Just the regular stuff, but most of the time it’s fun, man! We always have a really good time on the road. I love the fans and I love playing for them every night. I like everything about touring. I love seeing different places, seeing different people, and eating different foods. You gotta be adventurous to live this lifestyle and we love it!
Any final thoughts regarding “Point Blank”?
Max Cavalera: It’s a beast of an album!” It’s great! It was meant to play live. This record was created with a really ferocious, very energetic, very aggressive, very angry, attitude. It was just so cool to make punk, metal, and industrial like that and survive the times. It’s as relevant now as it was over twenty years ago. The proof is the people that come to see it because they want to see it and I think it’s a very strong record that will keep surviving the times.
Remaining tour dates for Soulfly performing Nailbomb
3/1/2018 – Upstairs Cabaret – Victoria, BC
3/2/2018 – Astoria – Vancouver, BC
3/5/2018 – Dickens – Calgary, AB
3/6/2018 – The Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB
3/7/2018 – The Exchange – Regina, SK
3/9/2018 – Pyramid Cabaret – Winnipeg, MB
3/10/2018 – Crocks – Thunder Bay, ON
3/13/2018 – Mavericks – Ottawa, ON
3/14/2018 – Foufounes Electriques – Montreal, QC
3/15/2018 – Rock Cafe Le Stage – Trois-Rivieres, QC
3/16/2018 – L’anti Bar & Spectacles – Quebec City, QC
3/17/2018 – The Opera House – Toronto, ON
3/18/2018 – London Music Hall – London, ON
3/20/2018 – Chop Shop – Seabrook, NH
3/21/2018 – The Lost Horizon – Syracuse, NY
Vandala Magazine 