How Max Cavalera Lost his Son and Birthed Soulfly

If you open the booklet of the 1998 Soulfly debut album, you’ll see that Max Cavalera made a dedication to a number of people, but most notably to Dana Wells, his stepson.

He wrote, “‘Bleed’ and ‘First Commandment’ are dedicated to the people involved in the murder of Dana Wells and the cover-up of his death. You know who you are. Judgement is coming.”

And when you look at the art work of the CD, you see a heart with wings over a lotus flower with the words, “In Loving Memory Dana.” This is actually a picture of the tattoo that Dana’s mother, Gloria Cavalera has on her back.

So what exactly happened to Dana and the Cavalera clan?

Overview

The report from the Phoenix police stated that on the morning of the 16th of August 1996 at 1:43AM, Dana Wells was driving a 1995 Hyundai Accent when he lost control of the vehicle and collided into a tree.

An eyewitness driving toward the accident saw two cars speeding beside one another. A green car was to the right and a white car with a black pinstripe on the side was beside it in the center lane.

The eyewitness saw the green car slide, hit a tree and flip over. The white car kept driving.