In a new interview with “The Dan Chan Show,” Max Cavalera was asked if he thought the rest of SEPULTURA would continue without him after he chose to leave the group in December 1996.
“I think judging by their personalities, yeah, I [thought] they would carry on,” he responded.
As for how he felt about the other members continuing with the band that he co-founded, Max said: “It’s really mixed emotions, especially because me and Igor being there in the very, very beginning, and nobody that is in the band [now] was there — not even Paulo [Xisto Pinto Jr., bass] was there in the very beginning. So it’s something that feels really personal and sacred that you were there in the very beginning and now you’re not. At the same time, it’s one of those things in life that just happens and you’ve gotta move on with other things.”
“I don’t regret it,” he continued. “It’s like any thing — it ran its course. One of those things, though, I’ll say this, it’s extremely frustrating to me that some of the fans don’t understand, and it’s really easy to blame people for it. And a lot of people end up blaming my wife, Gloria. They always go, ‘She broke up the band.’ And the truth is we grew apart; we started hating each other, man.
“It happened to THE BEATLES and it happened to many other bands — PANTERA. It’s just how it is. We just didn’t find the joy in playing with each other anymore and it was time to move on. So it’s a cheap shot to blame her: ‘Let’s just blame her. She’s gotta be the reason why that happened.’ And it’s, like, no — not at all. We are the reason. I’d rather they blame me than her or somebody else. Blame me for SEPULTURA splitting up. I would much rather prefer that.”
Max left the band in 1996 after the rest of the band split with his wife Gloria as their manager. Igor Cavalera stuck around with the group for another 10 years before leaving SEPULTURA and re-teaming with Max in CAVALERA CONSPIRACY.
