That Time Max Cavalera Shaved His Head for a Metallica Record

In a new interview, former Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera has revealed that he really, really likes Metallica. The Brazilian singer and guitarist spoke with 96.7 KCAL-FM and ended up talking about Metallica, as tends to happen. When asked by the host what song by Metallica he’d be most interested in covering, Cavalera had an answer right away (via Blabbermouth):

“I would love [to do] ‘Ride The Lightning’, the title track [of Metallica’s second album]. It’s a sick song. The riff is sick. The lyrics are sick. ‘Flash before my eyes, now it’s time to die.’ It’s, like, ‘Aaarrrgh.’ So good.”

Cavalera went on to reveal just how much he loves Metallica. As a teenager in Brazil, it wasn’t easy to get imported albums and Cavalera had a family member who wanted to steer him away from the dark side by convincing him to cut his hair.

“I had a cousin that was trying to make me go to the straight and narrow. He was, like, ‘You’ve gotta cut that long hair. I’ll give you whatever you want. I’ll buy you an imported record.’ And I was, like, ‘The hair will grow back again.’ So I shaved it. I shaved my head. That copy of “Ride The Lightning’ was worth it. It’s a record that’s worth shaving your hair for.

“I love that record. I love the old-school stuff. And if I ever have a chance, that’s a great song to do a cover song… It’s a sick song. I love it, man. I love it. It’s so heavy.

“Metallica rules. What can you say?”

It’s pretty hard to picture Max Cavalera without hair—the 53-year-old musician literally grew a singular dreadlock from 1997 until 2020, causing some internet kickback in the process.

In case you missed it, Metallica dropped new song “If Darkness Had a Son” yesterday.