MAX CAVALERA: How LAMB OF GOD's RANDY BLYTHE Ended Up Singing On New SOULFLY Album, 'Ritual'

In a brand new interview with Sweden’s RockSverige, Max Cavalera spoke about Randy Blythe‘s guest appearance on the upcoming SOULFLY album, “Ritual”. The LAMB OF GOD frontman can be heard in the song “Dead Behind The Eyes”, which Max says was written about Cenobites, the extra-dimensional beings who appear in the works of Clive Barker, including the novella “The Hellbound Heart” as well as its semi-sequel “The Scarlet Gospels” and the ten “Hellraiser” films.

Max said: “It was really cool. [Randy is] really tight with [producer] Josh [Wilbur] and Josh has done all the LAMB OF GOD stuff, and he was working on the BURN THE PRIEST record, so I just told Josh to give him the tracks and, ‘Show them to him, and if there’s anything he likes, if he wants to sing on it, it’s all cool.’ I didn’t have a song for him, so he showed him everything and what Josh told me was that they were listening to it, and the minute that song came on, it was nicknamed ‘Bruiser Brothers’, and the minute he heard it, it was, like, ‘That’s it! This is the one! I don’t wanna hear anything else.’ I had already written the lyrics, so I sent him all my lyrics and it was just good to have the Randy voice on it. He’s got a real distinctive voice, really unique and that’s what I like about guys like him. It’s very original and you know it’s him.

“That song, the vocal pattern is really based on [SEPULTURA‘s 1987 album] ‘Schizophrenia’ and ‘From The Past Comes The Storm’. It’s totally influenced by that. When I worked on the song, I worked with my son Zyon and he was listening to ‘Beneath The Remains’ and asking me about songs like ‘Stronger Than Hate’ and all those parts and mesmerized by it, and I was, like, ‘You know what? Let’s challenge this! Let’s make a song like that!’ So I started working with him and added all those parts and it has one of my favorite guitar solos of Marc Rizzo. I gave him a whole section. It was crafted like ‘Ride The Lightning’ era. You’ve got this solid rhythm behind the leads, which not many people do. It can be kind of a headache to put it together and it might take a little time, but I think the final result is fucking awesome.”

Max went on to say that he is hoping to make a video for “Dead Behind The Eyes”, “especially if we can get Randy in it too, and we’d have all of us dress up as ‘Hellraiser’ characters from the movie. I think that would be fucking fantastic.”

Asked if there are any other musicians that he would still like to collaborate with in the future, Max said: “On my bucket list is always still Ozzy [Osbourne] and Rob Halford. That’s like old-school metal that I grew up with. I went on YouTube the other day and watched Ozzy [at the first] Rock In Rio [festival]. I watched it and it was so good. He’s such a madman on that show. That was probably Ozzy at his best. I read his book and he tells the story about how he almost got arrested on the airplane for being drunk. An out-of-control maniac. To work with him would be really cool, as an Ozzy fan. It’s one of those things you don’t wanna push, even though I have met him many times. You kinda gotta wait for the right time and if it is ever gonna happen it will happen. I’m a believer of that. If it’s meant to be, it will be. But I’m really happy with all the collaborations, because to me it’s not about how famous the person is, but about the art itself.”

“Ritual” will be released on October 19 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The follow-up to 2015’s “Archangel” was produced, recorded and mixed by Josh Wilbur (KILLER BE KILLED, LAMB OF GOD, GOJIRA). Cover artwork was painted by artist Eliran Kantor (TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH, SODOM). Additional booklet art was handled by Marcelo Vasco (SLAYER, HATEBREED, KREATOR), who also handled the package design. The album features multiple guests, including Blythe and Ross Dolan (IMMOLATION).