Max Cavalera recently spoke candidly about one of the most painful chapters in his life, sharing how Deftones helped him navigate grief and darkness after the death of his stepson. In an interview with Louder Sound, the Soulfly frontman recalled creating his first album following his departure from Sepultura and the loss of his stepson, Dana Wells, who died in a car accident.
Cavalera explained that working with Deftones became a crucial turning point during this deeply traumatic time. “It was a really weird time for me. It was my first album since leaving Sepultura and the first album after the death of my stepson, Dana [Wells, who was killed in a car accident two years earlier],” Cavalera said. “The first thing I did after that was work with Deftones, who were friends of Dana. They were there at his funeral – Chino [Moreno, frontman] was actually one of the pallbearers.”
He described how this collaboration became the foundation for Soulfly and the emotionally charged song “Bleed.” “They invited me to sing the song Headup on Around The Fur, and that is when I came up with the word ‘Soulfly’ [‘Soulfly / Fly high / Soulfly / Fly free’]. It all just started from there,” he continued. “I put the first Soulfly album together pretty quickly; I had demos like Eye For An Eye and No Hope = No Fear, but while we were in the studio I felt that I needed to pay more respects to Dana. So, I thought of Bleed, because that was how we were all feeling. We were all still suffering, still bleeding, from his death.”
Cavalera went on to discuss the emotional weight behind the song’s lyrics. “It was built on this really cool groove, but it was the lyrics that made it really heavy. Lyrics like ‘See a mother cry, see a brother cry’… that’s the shit that went on in my house,” he said. “I would walk around and see Gloria [Cavalera, Max’s wife] crying and I would see the kids crying. It was fucking a rough time, man. I had to put it into the song.”
He credited Deftones with helping him find his way out of a dark place where he had lost his drive to make music. “Six months before, I was angry about Dana, angry about Sepultura. I’d been living in a dark room, drinking and taking drugs and I was done with music,” he revealed. “My heart was too broken to think about it – I just told everyone to fuck off, and that I just wanted to get drunk. If it wasn’t for Deftones, I don’t know what I would have done. It was tough and hard to make, but it was great catharsis and a great therapy for me.”
The tragedy that defined this pivotal period in Cavalera’s life occurred on August 16, 1996, when Dana Wells died in a car crash in Phoenix, Arizona.
According to the Phoenix New Times, Wells lost control of his 1995 Hyundai and hit a tree around 1:43 a.m. The police report concluded that Wells was responsible for the crash, though his mother, Gloria Cavalera, has long held different views about the circumstances of his death.
The collaboration with Deftones on “Headup” from their 1997 album Around the Fur was more than just a musical partnership—it was an act of solidarity. The raw intensity of the track merged both bands’ sounds and symbolized friendship amid grief. This connection with Chino Moreno and Deftones helped Max transform pain into creativity, ultimately inspiring the birth of Soulfly.
As noted by DC Heavy Metal, Soulfly’s self-titled debut album was released in 1998, marking Cavalera’s rebirth after leaving Sepultura. The record fused metal with tribal and world music influences, serving as both a cathartic release and a statement of resilience. The song “Bleed,” with its tribal rhythms and fierce vocals, stood out as a deeply personal tribute to Dana Wells and a powerful example of how Cavalera turned tragedy into artistic strength.
This interview sheds light on one of metal’s most emotionally charged albums and the friendship that helped an artist find his way back from despair.
