THE BEAST

SOULFLY   leader   Max Cavalera   says that he is "very hurt" by the things the band's former guitarist   Marc Rizzo   has been saying in the press since his departure from the group.

Although   Rizzo 's departure from   SOULFLY   wasn't officially announced until August 7, it was widely speculated that he was out of the group two days earlier when it was revealed that   FEAR FACTORY 's   Dino Cazares   will play guitar for   SOULFLY   on the band's upcoming U.S. tour, which kicks off on August 20 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Max   touched upon   Marc 's split with   SOULFLY   in a new interview with   Heavy New York . Regarding   Dino 's addition to   SOULFLY 's touring lineup,   Cavalera   said (as transcribed by   BLABBERMOUTH.NET ): "I'm hugely inspired and excited and happy that   Dino   is doing this with us.   Dino   is an old friend. Our friendship goes back to the early days of   SEPULTURA   coming to America. I believe we met on the   'Beneath The Remains'   tour. For sure by the   'Arise'   tour we were friends. He tells the story better, but he had to wrestle me [over] the [ FEAR FACTORY ] demo tape that had   'Big God'   on it. I loved it. I was listening to it on his Walkman. I didn't wanna give it back to him. And it was his only copy. And we had to wrestle. He finally got it out of me. But I ended up bugging [then- Roadrunner Records   A&R executive]   Monte Conner   at that time and saying, 'You're a fool if you don't sign this band.' I think I even called them 'the future of metal' at that time. I was, like, 'This is the future of metal.' If you pass on it, you're a fool. And then   Monte   signed them, and the rest is history, as they say."

He continued: "That's why this link, this possibility, the situation that happened and we needed somebody to fill in, I couldn't think of a better person than   Dino   — musically and as a friend. 'Cause we're still very hurt, mostly from the stuff that   Rizzo   has been saying — it hurts us a lot. And it's good to have a friend that you could talk about it. And then musically I think it's insane. To think of songs, especially the songs that have crunchy guitars, I close my eyes and I imagine   Dino 's sound on some of those songs, like   'Downstroy'   and   'Babylon' … 'Cause there's a lot of chugging —   SOULFLY   always had chugging. But   Dino   is a whole another level of chugging. [ Laughs ]"

Last week,   Rizzo   told   Pierre Gutiérrez   of   Rock Talks   that he "got no support from   SOULFLY " during the pandemic. "There was no sort of loans that were taken out for the bandmembers or the crew," he said. "This is just the honest thing of what happened. I had to go back and get a day job. I was doing home renovations, working very hard, 10 hours a day. A [ SOULFLY ] live record came out [last year]. I never saw a dime off that. So, basically, within the [first] six months, seven months of COVID, I just said, 'You know, man, I don't want this anymore. I gave you guys 18 years of my life.' And it was a great time. Back in the good years, it was great. But the last I'd say eight to 10 years have not been very good. [I was] away from my family. Scheduling is crazy. It was impossible to have a personal life, see my family, make plans with my family. So, basically, six months into COVID, it was just, like, I don't even wanna do this anymore. I'd rather just concentrate on my solo project and spend time with my family where I'm happy, where I get my credit for everything I do.

"I put 18 years in," he continued. "It's a long, long time to be in the band. When COVID hit, I felt like, what have I been doing these last 18 years? Normally, you work a day job, you get support during a pandemic like COVID. And I was working very hard. I was doing plumbing, electric. Finally, my very good friend   Nic Bell   at   Godsize Booking , he was, like, 'Listen, dude, I can get you back on the road to the states in America that are open.' So he got me to Montana, Texas, Florida, doing my solo project. And I was able to quit my job and get back on track playing music for a living and making money. Big props to   Nic Bell , 'cause he was one of the few people that supported me during the pandemic and helped me to get back on the road. Again, I got   no   support whatsoever from anyone else. So, it's a good thing. Again, I'm very excited about the future."

Asked if it's fair to say that his decision to exit   SOULFLY   was based on a financial issue,   Marc   told   Rock Talks : "I would say that was one of [the issues] — for this year, yes. There were years that were good financially, but this year — again, there was no loans, there was no, 'Hey, let's do a live video to make money for the bandmembers or maybe let's do a special merch deal.' A lot of my friends, they were doing special merchandise deals. I mean, if you look online,   SOULFLY   didn't do anything for the bandmembers or the crew. It's just not right to do that to people during a time like this.

"So, whatever, man," he added. "They have the right to run their business however they want to, and I have the right to do I want to do. So, again, I'm very excited to do my solo project. That's what got me through COVID, back to being on the road and doing what I love to do as a living. And then this spawned   Tony   [ Campos ,   STATIC-X ,   FEAR FACTORY ] and me finally getting together to do a project that we've always talked about. So we're excited with   HAIL THE HORNS   — we're very, very excited to get that going. I've got my death metal project   REVENGE BEAST . And these were guys that called me. They were, like, 'Hey, what's up, man? How are you? How are you doing?' I never got a phone call from anybody in the   SOULFLY   camp during COVID. It just opened up my eyes this year about what I should be doing in 2021."

Rizzo   also confirmed that he hasn't had a conversation with   Max   since they last saw each at the final pre-pandemic   SOULFLY   show nearly a year and a half ago. "I haven't talked to   Max   since [March] 2020 when we played the   Hell & Heaven   festival in Mexico," he said. "I had no contact with him. I don't think he has a phone, so it's not like I can call him."

Rizzo   joined   SOULFLY   in 2004, and has since appeared on all of the band's subsequent records, including   "Prophecy"   (2004),   "Dark Ages"   (2005),   "Conquer"   (2008),   "Omen"   (2010),   "Enslaved"   (2012),   "Savages"   (2013),   "Archangel"   (2015) and   "Ritual"   (2018). In 2007,   Rizzo   became a member of   CAVALERA CONSPIRACY , the side project of   SEPULTURA   co-founders, brothers   Max   and   Igor Cavalera , and has performed on all   CAVALERA CONSPIRACY   releases including   "Inflikted" ,   "Blunt Force Trauma" ,   "Pandemonium"   and the critically acclaimed 2017 LP   "Psychosis" .

Rizzo   was originally a member of New Jersey Latin metal favorites   ILL NIÑO , appearing on their classic 2001   Roadrunner   release   "Revolution Revolucion"   and the 2003 follow-up   "Confession" .

Via Blabbermouth