As the music industry continues to grapple with the rapid encroachment of artificial intelligence, Max Cavalera is drawing a line in the sand. The former Sepultura frontman and current Soulfly leader, renowned for his prolific history of collaborations, recently appeared on the “RRBG” podcast to offer his take on the controversial technology. While he remains open to the idea of living alongside AI, he adamantly argues that algorithms can never replicate the intangible magic of human chemistry.
Cavalera‘s primary critique centers on the inability of software to capture the spontaneous energy that occurs when musicians get in a room together. He specifically pointed to his past work with heavyweights like Dino Cazares (Fear Factory), Chino Moreno (Deftones), and Tom Araya (Slayer) as examples of lightning that a machine cannot bottle.
“That’s one of my arguments with people about this whole A.I. s**t. To me, that’s like what A.I. cannot do,” Cavalera told the podcast (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “You can’t really put people like me and Dino, or me and Chino, or me and Tom Araya, and you get a cool song out of it. A.I. can never do that. And they won’t be able to do it. They’ll do a false Xerox of it, but it’s not the same… I don’t give a s**t what people say. It’s not the same, man, and it will never be.”
Despite his skepticism regarding creativity, Cavalera isn’t calling for a total boycott of the technology. Instead, he expressed a cautious optimism that humanity can find a way to use these tools without losing its identity.
“My hope is that we can coexist with this thing; that’s my wish. ‘Cause I think some of it can be good, if it’s done the right way,” he explained. “I think we’re gonna actually learn to coexist with this A.I. technology and see where it goes from there. But the soul of the person, yeah, that’s a unique thing. Your heart, your passion, that’s a human thing, man.”
Proving that human creativity is alive and well, Soulfly recently unleashed their thirteenth studio album, Chama, which dropped on October 24 via Nuclear Blast Records. The release was followed by a busy autumn on the road, with the band wrapping up their “Favela Dystopia” West Coast tour alongside Go Ahead And Die just last month.
Chama Tracklist:
- “Indigenous Inquisition”
- “Storm the Gates”
- “Nihilist”
- “No Pain = No Power”
- “Ghenna”
- “Black Hole Scum”
- “Favela / Dystopia”
- “Always Was, Always Will Be…”
- “Soulfly XIII”
- “Chama”
