Soulfly’s Max Cavalera Just Cut Off The Dreadlock He’s Been Growing For 20+ Years

Stefan Bollmann, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons
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For us metalheads, it can be hard to let go and start over. We’re so focused on defending the old school and staying stalwart that we can get stuck in our ways for too long. But it’s important not to get too bogged down in keeping tradition alice, especially when living through history the way we are right now. Well, Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera has decided to be an example of how one can make a drastic change — by lopping off the dreadlock he’s been growing for the last two decades and change.

Fans of Soulfly have undoubtedly seen Max’s giant dread swinging around behind him as he’s headbanged onstage in the past. But today, Gloria Cavalera, Soulfly’s manager and Max’s wife, posted the following picture to her Instagram, featuring Max’s massive lock severed from his head (and seemingly reaching out for it).

Take a look:

View this post on Instagram

It must be snowing in hell today!

A post shared by Gloria Cavalera (@gloriacavalera) on

You’re wondering how it smells, right? That’s okay, we all are.

If you want to know how Max grew such a stately length of lock, a 2011 interview dug up by Blabbermouth will shed some insight: “Just leave it there, and it grows, and leave it alone. I wash it. It’s clean. I did find food one time. I opened one of them up and found some macaroni or cheese or rice. I think my wife was going through the dreads and [she said], ‘There’s some food in here, right?’ A stash from tour.

“But, yeah, I just let it grow. I’ve been growing it since 1997. That’s when I started. I never stopped. There’s been rumors that I cut it off. Sometimes fans come to me and say, ‘Hey, man, let me see your dreads. Oh, they’re still there. I heard that you cut it off.'”

Just a reminder that there are Soulfly fans out there in their 20s who weren’t even conceived when Max started growing this lock.

Now, fans are left with the inevitable question: when will the lock go to auction? How much will it sell for? Will it be sold loose, or will it be encased in quartz? And what happens if you break off a bit and smoke it?

More as we know it.

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Words by Chris Krovatin