Former Soulfly Guitarist Marc Rizzo On Departure: “There Was No Way I Could Mentally Be Healthy On the Bus… It’s Just Better for Everybody”

Grywnn, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
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On Monday, it was revealed that longtime Soulfly guitarist Marc Rizzo had parted ways with the band due to what frontman Max Cavalera described as “personal reasons,” and would be replaced by Fear Factory’s Dino Cazares on the band’s upcoming tour. Now, Marc has done an interview in which he asserts that it was his own mental state which caused the split.

Speaking to Sofa King Cool, Marc said, “I did what I had to do. And a lot of musicians…some people made out. Some people got these loans, and they made out, and they made money. Some people didn’t. And then there was people like me who were basically a hired gun and treated like a hired gun during this whole pandemic. We had to fend for ourselves.

“That’s where the decision came where, six months into being home during COVID, I was, like, ‘Man, I don’t wanna do Soulfly. I just don’t see the point.’ After 18 years of giving my heart and soul and my loyalty and being away from my family three or four months at a time, giving up my personal life, I was, like, ‘This just doesn’t make sense anymore.’ Especially at my age, 44 years old…but it is what it is, man. That’s life.”

Marc went on to say that he had a meltdown surrounding his role in the band: “After the year I had, there was no way I would have been able to get back on that bus with everybody. There was no way. I was not in the state of mind to get back on a bus with a bunch of people that I haven’t even talked to in a year, let alone other things. I knew I couldn’t get on that bus. Honestly, I basically had a meltdown about everything about a month ago…I’ve been through a lot of shit, man — a lot of shit…There was no way I could mentally be healthy on the bus with everybody. There’s no way. And trust me, out of respect to them, they probably would not wanna be on a bus with me either. I can have meltdowns from time to time. So it works for everybody both ways. I’m definitely in a better headspace now. It’s just better for everybody.”

You can watch the whole interview below:

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Words by Chris Krovatin