Soulfly Photo: Misty Johnson

“Papi’s gotta go to work,” Max Cavalera tells his granddaughter as he hands her to his stepson and her uncle Richie. She is then taken to the front of the bus to be entertained by her grandmother — Cavalera’s wife/manager, Gloria, and the rest of the family.

The Sepultura founder (and metal’s coolest grandfather) has been in the back of the bus watching movies and spending time with his little two-year-old angel. When this Brazilian thrash pioneer hits the road, it’s a family affair. Hell, even Richie’s band, Incite, is an opening act.

You would think a man that has been through as much as Max would be a pain in Richie’s neck every night, nit-picking everything he does. “The best advice I ever gave Richie,” Cavalera says, “Is to never take my advice.”

On the second night of the outing for this year’s Soulfly release, Conquer, Max is full of cheer despite the grueling schedule — over thirty dates straight with no night off. Maybe the optimism is because it kicked off here in The Lone Star State (in Dallas last month). “Texas has a great metal scene and it’s good to start off the tour strong,” he asserts. “Then we go up to New York, to Florida, and back to Phoenix. After that, we go to Europe where we have fifty shows without a day off.”

“I like to tour,” he gleams.

In addition to his appetite for the road, Cavalera stays busy recording as well. He reunited earlier this year with his brother, Igor (Sepultura drummer), to form Cavalera Conspiracy. Also on tap is a collaboration with Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hutz and System of a Down’s Daron Malakian, scheduled for sometime in 2009.

“Everybody knows me as the jam guy,” he proclaims. “I will work with everybody — death metal to thrash to hardcore. I’ve even got David Vincent from Morbid Angel on the new album.”

Conquer sees Soulfly coming full circle by striking a perfect balance between the tribal grooves of the self-titled debut and the breakneck tempos of Dark Ages. “The groove parts are more groovy,” he explains, “the heavy parts are heavier and the thrash parts are more thrashy.” He notes the album was nearly named The Great Depression because, as he states, “it’s where we are today.”

Soulfly has seen lots of personnel changes, but Conquer marks the third with the current lineup of guitar whiz Marc Rizzo, Bobby Burns (bass) and Joe Nunez (drums). “Once somebody in the Soulfly camp is no longer willing to do what’s required, they can’t be here. This is busting ass, and you can’t be a rock star,” explains Cavalera. “These guys are willing to do it. One day we may play in a toilet and the next may be in front of 100,000 people.”

Inside The Granada Theater, the crowd is gathering and chants of “Soulfly! Soulfly! Soulfly!” pop up. Little do they know their hero could very well be in the back reading a book to his granddaughter or maybe even changing diapers.

After a bruiser of a set from Incite, Soulfly takes the stage and it looks like a bomb went off. The Granada has never shaken with this much intensity. There are mosh-pits breaking out, crowd surfing and it’s raining beer. The set is peppered with classic Sepultura songs like “Roots Bloody Roots” and “Refuse/Resist.” The crowd is eating it up, and everything is going great.

Something is missing, though. The coconut on his famed one-string berimbau is broken. It has been a staple of live shows for years, but tonight there is only the drum circle. No one seems to notice — they are entranced by the tribal rhythms. When asked about the pronunciation of this monotone traditional Brazilian instrument, Cavalera quips, “I call it a beer bong. Because that’s two things a roadie should always have in hand — a beer and a bong.”