Max Cavalera: Jonathan Davis ‘Being Childish’ Over Sepultura’s ‘Roots’ Comparisons

In a recent interview with Team Rock, Korn vocalist Jonathan Davis admitted that at the time of its release, he was rather steamed about Sepultura's Roots album, calling it a "blatant rip-off of Korn." The singer also revealed that he felt that the group had recruited producer Ross Robinson to give the Korn sound to Sepultura. But with time, Davis says he now views Roots as a classic album and feels that his issues back then were just a case of his young brain not being able to handle it.

During a recent appearance on CKRL's Dementiellement Votre show, brothers Max and Iggor Cavalera were asked about Davis' comments. Iggor stated, "I don't see it like that. I think especially the sound of Korn, in my opinion, with the bass, is horrible. We didn't have that; we had a lot of low end and things that the Korn album didn't have. So I don't see why he would be pissed off, because I don't see that much of a [similarity] between the two of them."

Singer Max Cavalera added, "Plus, Korn wasn't the only reason we wanted to work with Ross. He had done a Fear Factory demo that I really liked and had a really raw sound. And he had done a Deftones song on the Adrenaline album that I really liked." He went on to add, "Saying that is like saying Sepultura should be pissed off at Cannibal Corpse because they used [producer] Scott Burns. I'm not pissed off at Cannibal Corpse; I think they're great. 'Cause we were one of the first that used Scott Burns, we should be mad at all the bands that use Scott Burns? That's childish. So he's just really being childish. And I really don't give a s--t about Korn or anybody."

The vocalist added, "We [were] very different from Korn; we have own way of playing and the songs are different. Everything is different. It's just the same guy that recorded [both albums]; that's the only similarity."

As for Roots, Max concluded, "I'm proud of the record. I think it's a great record. It's stood the test of time. It has a great low-end, raw sound. And [mixer] Andy Wallace, on top of it, made it sound completely amazing. And, yeah, I wouldn't change anything. I think it was the right record to make. The tribe stuff was great. The ideas of the album were fantastic. So it was a very pioneering kind of record, because I think it influenced a lot of people in other areas, like in Norway, with a lot of bands."

Hear the Cavalera brothers discussing their Roots album and Davis' comments at this location.

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