Early Soulfly was nü-metal as hell. The first two albums gave us classics like “Jumpdafuckup” and “Bleed”, and featured a boatload of guests include Corey Taylor, Tom Araya, Chino Moreno, Fred Durst, Dino Cazares, Burton C. Bell, and way more. While an insane guest list remains to be seen for the new stuff, Soulfly mastermind Max Cavalera assures fans that their upcoming material will be more of a callback to those first few records.

“I really liked the early Soulfly stuff because it was more tribal and more groove. And now because I have Cavalera and Go Ahead And Die, I can be as heavy as I want with Cavalera that it leaves me Soulfly to be something quite different,” said Cavalera in an interview with Moshpit Passion. “I can mold Soulfly a bit different now where Soulfly is really kind of like more of a groove-oriented tribal band. And I think that’s really, in a lot of people’s perception, that was the best of Soulfly was like that.

“So, it’s not that I’m jumping on the bandwagon of nu metal; it’s not really that. It’s just that I think that the early Soulfly had some kind of magic that, through the years we kind of lost that magic. And I think we’re trying to bring it back with this new record that is gonna come out next year.”

Cavalera then noted some of his more modern influences, and the fact that the new Soulfly record will be dedicated to his mother who passed away in 2023.

“I think it’s gonna be cool because it’s also influenced by other stuff I’m listening to at the moment, like Kublai Khan and Jesus Piece and Knocked Loose, Judiciary. So there’s really heavy breakdown grooves together with tribal drums. It’s gonna be cool, man. It’s gonna be a real cool album that I am very excited to create.

“And, of course, also the fact that my mother passed away last year, I’m gonna make this album for her. It’s a homage to her. So it’s gonna be also a spiritual record for me because of that. So it’s gonna be a special record, for sure. It’s been [two] years since Totem. Totem was our last record. I think we are inspired to create something special next year.”