Soulfly tests its metal at Big Easy

Max Cavalera surely has been the topic of many water cooler debates.

The topic is heavy metal history, of course. The debate: exactly how great is this guy?

There’s little debate about Cavalera’s profound impact on the genre — it’s groundbreaking. As the original frontman of the Brazilian death metal band Sepultura, Cavalera helped change the genre in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Back then, pop metal in the vein of Bon Jovi, Poison and Guns N’ Roses was dominating the charts. And although still widely popular, metal institutions such as Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath were seemingly the genre’s old guards, sitting still instead of progressing.

Today, Cavalera spends the majority of his time focusing on Soulfly, a project he founded in 1996 after splitting from Sepultura, and which appears at the Big Easy Concert House on Wednesday at 8 p.m.

And since Soulfly’s inception, much of the debate concerning Cavalera’s greatness focuses on his new directions. While still heavily rooted in disciplines of speed and death metal, Soulfly has been a stylistically assertive metal band, featuring shifting lineups, various lyrical directions, and myriad world music-based influences.

Soulfly’s 2000 release “Primitive” even featured nu-metal and g-core tendencies, which didn’t go over with many longtime metal fans doubling as Cavalera enthusiasts.

For any disenfranchised Cavalera fan, Soulfly’s 2003 release “Prophecy” should have resolved the majority of your issues. Although still noticeably modern and experimental (at one point, “Prophecy” even features elements of dub reggae and Caribbean percussion), “Prophecy” once again showcases Cavalera’s grasp of straightforward metal. It is also a personally daring effort; the song “I Believe” serves as an open confession to Cavalera’s faith in God. So back to the question, exactly how great is this guy? With respect to his faith, it’s probably not appropriate to dub him a metal god. But Cavalera’s often been tagged “The Bob Marley” of metal. And following “Prophecy,” the shoe definitely fits.