almost automatically set out to form his next musical endeavor, the ultra-heavy
. Besides leaving one of the most popular heavy metal bands in the world, which he'd co-founded in the early '80s, he also had to deal with the unsolved murder of Dana Wells, his stepson and best friend. Using music as therapy to overcome his depression,
rounded out the quartet on bass. Their self-titled debut album was released in the spring of 1998. Besides fronting
has branched out into other areas usually not associated with heavy metal musicians. He became a much sought-after speaker at music conventions, as evidenced by his appearances at CMJ's New Music Marathon in New York and Holland's Crossing Boarder Festival, both in late 1997. He also guested on
, and signed on to sing a TV commercial for Sprite in his native land of Brazil.
Soulfly's second album,
Primitive, was released in the fall of 2000. The album was met with a split reaction, and
Cavalera found himself the object of criticism from factions of his fan base. The heavy amount of guest appearances and his preference toward nu-metal lyrics were the main complaints, but
Cavalera maintained pride in his work and kept going, hitting the road and touring behind the album. He handled the production for 2002's
III, and
Soulfly returned again in 2004 with
Prophecy. A year later, Roadrunner reissued their self-titled first album as part of the label's 25th anniversary celebration.
Soulfly's fifth album,
Dark Ages, appeared in October 2005. Continuing his habit of switching up the lineup,
Cavalera was backed this time out by bassist
Bobby Burns, guitarist
Marc Rizzo (ex-
Ill NiƱo), and drummer
Joel Nunez, who had previously played on
Primitive. In 2007
Cavalera began collaborating with brother and former
Sepultura drummer
Igor on a project called
Cavalera Conspiracy. The duo made its live debut that August as the opening act for
Soulfly, and went on to release an album,
Inflikted, for Roadrunner in 2008.
Soulfly's sixth full-length offering,
Conquer, arrived in July 2008 and was quickly followed by 2009's Omen. After the release of their seventh album, the band went through a sting of lineup changes. The first came in 2010 when bassist
Bobby Burns announced he was leaving the band; he was replaced the following year by former Ministry bassist Tony Campos. Drummer Joe Nunez also left the band, and was replaced by Borknagar's David Kinkade shortly before
Soulfly went into the studio to begin work on new material that would eventually become their eighth album, Enslaved, which was released in 2012.
–
Greg Prato, Rovi