Massimiliano Antonio "Max" Cavalera (Portuguese pronunciation: [masimiliˈɐnu ɐ̃ˈtonju kɐvɐˈleɾɐ]; born 4 August 1969) is a Brazilian musician.

[2] He currently plays in the heavy metal bands Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, Killer Be Killed and Go Ahead and Die.

His later albums, starting with Dark Ages, began to incorporate lyrical themes of violence, warfare, anger and hatred.

I mean if you look at Christ, He was hanging around with the lowlifes, prostitutes and the losers you know, not going around with those high society motherfuckers you see trying to sell Jesus today!

"[citation needed] Of enduring influence to his music, is the untimely death of his stepson, Dana Wells, who was killed in a car crash[7] after the release of Roots in 1996.

He reunited with his brother Igor, in their band Cavalera Conspiracy, and wrote and performed on Soulfly's Conquer, released in 2008.

[8][9] Cavalera appears in the 2009 video game Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned as himself on the ingame radio station LCHC.

In 2013, Cavalera released his autobiography, titled My Bloody Roots; his co-writer was the British author Joel McIver and the book's foreword was written by Dave Grohl.

Three of his sons are also active in music, with Richie fronting Incite and Igor and Zyon performing in Lody Kong.

[15] In 2022, Cavalera attracted criticism after a 2014 clip resurfaced of him telling a Moscow crowd that he supported the internationally unrecognised Russian annexation of Crimea.

[20] On July 15, 2022, Demon Hunter released their single "Defense Mechanism" featuring Cavalera.