THIS IS THE PROPHECY...THE INSPIRATION....Part 1 of a 5 part story...

In 2003, Max, Zyon, Igor, Spanky and me went for a drive to the northern desert of Arizona. Max was looking for inspiration for the Soulfly record he had been planning in his head. We decided to get a room in Flagstaff at the Embassy Suites because they are dog friendly. There are also quite interesting Indian dwellings and geological formations throughout Arizona. We had already hit up the cliff dwellings, the river of lava and the Grand Canyon. We thought we would head towards the Painted Desert and see what we could run into.

Max, Igor, and Spanky resting up before the Big Adventure!

Painted Desert, AZ

We eventually came upon Meteor Crater. We were amazed to learn this was the suspected crater of one of the meteors that changed the entire world's climate and wiped out many species of life forms. It was unbelievably huge!!! Definitely beyond the scope of our imagination!!! It seemed like the kind of place where you were going to get bit by a rattlesnake or scorpion! They had a museum that we spent some time in. I was surprised to see they included moldovite from Czech Republic, of which I have a few pieces.

Back to Phoenix after hitting up the Petrified Forest and several rock formations on the way. The Arizona Desert is serene and magical! Not so with our bedroom.......

Max, Igor, and Zyon

Zyon

Crater site

Max had decided to move from writing the record in the kitchen, to writing it in the bedroom. When I saw the gear going in, I knew it would be quite some time before I would be able to catch a night's sleep in there! Soon, there would only be a crawlspace to grab clean clothes for the day.... I relocated to the living room. Max protested for a couple days but then realized he needed sleep too and before long, he had moved in on the sofa bed too!

Recording setup.. 

I knew things were getting serious in the creativity department when I saw the ESP guitar leaning against the pool fence. It was painted gold...by a cheap can of spray paint...the strings too. Whoa...some deep shizzle was going through Max's brain......again.........

Class dismissed....