Max and Iggor Cavalera decline to perform at Sepultura's last concert.] - Guitar | Technique

According to Sepultura’s long-time guitarist Andreas Kisser, the band’s founding members Max and Iggor Cavalera have turned down the chance to feature at the extreme metal outfit’s farewell show later this year.

The Cavalera brothers founded Sepultura in 1984, and hired Kisser as an additional guitarist three years later. The trio worked together until 1996, when guitarist Max left following a fallout with his brother. Then, in 2006, drummer Iggor left the band and rekindled his relationship with Max in Cavalera Conspiracy.

Article continues below

Given the fact Sepultura’s very existence is so closely intertwined with the Cavalera duo, fans hoped they’d make an appearance when the group perform their swansong show in São Paulo later this year.

“We did invite the Cavalera brothers. I spoke to Iggor personally on a phone call a few months ago and we started some communication. Even our managers went to talk to their management and stuff. But, they don’t want to be a part of it, and that’s OK. It’s a choice.”

Kisser got in contact with Cavalera because he knew what their inclusion for that final show would mean to the fans. “It would make sense to have a celebration at the end, for the fans, and just to enjoy ourselves onstage.”

Arranging a Sepultura reunion – even one for a farewell show – was always going to be tricky. Not least because Max Cavalera has offered mixed messages when discussing the prospect in the past.

In June 2024, Max had said he was open to a reunion “as long as we do it the right way”. However, just two weeks later, he dashed all hopes, saying, “The more the time passes by, the more I feel that I don’t need to [reunite with Sepultura]. The real reunion is between myself and Iggor, and I did that. It’s pure magic and amazing what we’re doing right now.