MAX CAVALERA explains why now is right time for him to bring NAILBOMB back for more live shows
13-01-2025
In a new interview with Australia’s The Rockpit, Max Cavalera spoke about his decision to revive his NAILBOMB project for a November 9, 2024 performance at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe, Arizona as part of the SOULFLY-headlined “Max Cavalera Dynasty Show”. In October, it was announced that NAILBOMB will also perform at this year’s Alcatraz festival in Kortrijk, Belgium and at the Bloodstock Open Air festival at Catton Park in Derbyshire, United Kingdom.
NAILBOMB‘s lone studio album, 1994’s “Point Blank”. “Point Blank” saw the then-SEPULTURA frontman team up with FUDGE TUNNEL‘s Alex Newport for a dense, industrialized offering that included a variety of samples and punk rock influences.
Regarding the decision to bring NAILBOMB back, Max said: “NAILBOMB kind of came out of nowhere. We realized that this is 30 years since ‘Point Blank’ came out, and it came out the same year as (SEPULTURA‘s) ‘Chaos A.D.’ So we thought we’d kind of celebrate also that, because that NAILBOMB record is very special for me. It taught me a lot. It taught me about (how to) be more free in the studio, be less fearful, experiment with different sounds and sonic ideas and not be afraid of technology and industrial elements, (and) actually combine all that. So I carry that NAILBOMB record real close to my heart in many ways. It’s a very, very cool record that it has aged very well too. If you put the record on right now, it sounds amazing today as it did (back then). And the topics are so relevant right now — ‘World Of Shit’ and ‘Religious Cancer’ and ’24 Hour Bullshit’. It’s now, man. It’s what the world is at right now. It’s crazy that it’s more relevant now than when we made the record. So we’re gonna work a little bit touring some festivals in Europe with NAILBOMB.”
Cavalera went on to say that “Point Blank” is “definitely one of my favorite albums that I was part of. And, yeah, it’s cool that in my career, I get to do these things. To me, it’s really cool. ‘Cause I get to make new music with SOULFLY and KILLER BE KILLED and GO AHEAD AND DIE, which I will do more music with them. But I also get to celebrate some of my old stuff as well. I don’t forget about those either, ’cause those are very special. So it’s cool. I get to really enjoy all the creative forces in my life and put them into action. Instead of just looking at them as something that just happened in the past and doesn’t happen anymore, I get to actually do things with them that makes it exciting to be a musician.”
SOULFLY headlined the “Max Cavalera Dynasty Show” on November 9, 2024, at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe, Arizona. Also appearing at the event was Max‘s long-running project NAILBOMB, with three guitarists, Max, Max‘s son Igor Amadeus Cavalera and Travis Stone. The three previously took part in the CAVALERA “Third World Trilogy” tour in Europe. Travis is also the guitarist of PIG DESTROYER. Johny Chow, formerly of STONE SOUR, FIREBALL MINISTRY and CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, handled the bass duties for NAILBOMB. Alex Cha, of PIG DESTROYER, was on sampler and Adam Jarvis, of MISERY INDEX and PIG DESTROYER, bashed the drums. Max and Igor Amadeus Cavalera were also seen playing with their other bands, GO AHEAD AND DIE and SOULFLY, as well as HEALING MAGIC. Richie Cavalera brought the raw power of thrash to the stage with his band INCITE. The phenomenal bass player Jackie Cruz of GO AHEAD AND DIE, who captivated everyone in America earlier this year on the GO AHEAD AND DIE debut tour, appeared with her band JADE HELM.
According to Setlist.fm, the setlist for the NAILBOMB portion of the show was as follows:
01. Wasting Away
02. Vai Toma No Cú
03. 24 Hour Bullshit
04. Guerrillas
05. Blind And Lost
06. Sum Of Your Achievements
07. Cockroaches
08. World Of Shit
09. Religious Cancer
10. Sick Life
Fan-filmed video can be seen below.
Earlier this month, it was announced that NAILBOMB will perform at next year’s Alcatraz festival in August 2025 in Kortrijk, Belgium.
When the Tempe show was first announced in August, Max said in a statement: “I’m looking forward to playing with SOULFLY on the LAMB OF GOD Headbangers Boat, going to the Dominican Republic and back. We will be crossing the Southern-most moshpits of America to reach the cruise! The tour wraps with the ‘Dynasty’ show.
“Super excited to present the ‘Max Cavalera Dynasty Show’ in our hometown! This is a family steeped in the legacy of metal! Making this night unforgettable will be the special rare appearance of NAILBOMB! Maybe in the future, I’ll even be able to bring this package to the tribe and other parts of the world!”
The sonic love child of Max and FUDGE TUNNEL‘s Alex Newport, this 1994 one-off album from their NAILBOMB union showcased dense, industrialized heaviness, seething with all-out punk aggression. In 13 tracks, the revered duo — crediting SEPULTURA alumni Andreas Kisser and Igor Cavalera, as well as FEAR FACTORY‘s Dino Cazares as players on the final product — managed to make an angry masterpiece that meets in the middle of what both SEPULTURA and FUDGE TUNNEL were doing at the time. But as for the visual representation of “Point Blank”, the war-time photo of a Viet Cong woman with a gun to her head proves just as striking as the devastatingly heavy music within its sleeve.
Max told TeamRock in 2016 about “Point Blank”: “It’s just such a pissed-off album. Me and Alex were pissed at everything and decided to make a real fuck-the-world ‘hate project.’ It is one of the most ‘fuck-you’ albums of all time; it aims at everything, and destroys everything. So, that’d be cool — to be remembered as a person who came here to fuck shit up, NAILBOMB‘s perfect!”
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