Cavalera Conspiracy return to Las Vegas – DTLV

March 29, 2025 – I’ve been fortunate to see the Cavalera brothers hit the stage several times within the last few years, along with Max Cavalera’s Soulfly back in 2020 before the world shut down in the midst of Covid. The last time I saw them prior to this night, was in the fall of 2023, and I swear it didn’t feel that long ago, but maybe that’s just because their energy and performances are so solid and they stick out in my mind. There’s only a handful of bands that tend to leave that kind of mark on my memory.

This night, hosted at Backstage Bar & Billiards in Downtown Las Vegas, gave us a crushing six band lineup that filled the venue and had the fans pouring in all over the place. The touring bill consisted of Dead Heat (CA), Necrot (CA), and of course, some of Brazil’s finest, based in AZ, Cavalera. (Their bills always say Cavalera, but I know they often present themselves as Cavalera Conspiracy.) Opening up the show for us were three bands that we’ve covered a couple of times, Haddonfield, Madzilla, and Body of Filth.

Openers

Haddonfield was first up, and I’ll admit that I can’t recall seeing them perform before this evening, despite being friends with a few of the guys. (Don’t hate me for that, life is crazy and busy.) But my good friend and colleague Christina had caught them when they opened up for Demon Hunter a couple years back. They’ve since re-arranged their lineup and presentation, but I’d say they did a bitchin’ job at kicking things off for us. The venue was quickly filling up as they dominated through their 25 minute set.

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Madzilla came on next, and I’m pretty sure they had their set cut short because of some stage and set up hiccups that could be seen prior to them getting started. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen these guys, they were an opener on that Soulfly bill that I mentioned up above. They also have had some shifts in their lineup, introducing a bitchin’ new guitarist, Sarah Dugdale. (We saw her perform with Buried by Vengeance last year, opening up for Goatwhore.) If you know me you know I’m a girls girl and I fucking love to see women thrashing it up with the best of them, and I’m really excited to see her growth within this band.

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Body of Filth was our third and final local opener, and what can I say about these guys that I didn’t say the last time I covered them at Eagle? They brought out the pool toys, had a mosh contest, and kept the crowd dirty and rowdy, which is just how we like our beatdown here in Vegas! They get better and better every time I see them, and I highly recommend checking them out if you’re into more of the hardcore fused metal.

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All in all, our Vegas bands slaughtered their opening spots, and it’s always so cool to see these bands from my hometown up on these stacked tours. Do me a favor, and go follow the links to their socials to keep up with them. Vegas has such an incredibly diverse and healthy music scene and there is something for everyone, so go find your new local favorites!!

Onto the main touring lineup:

First on the touring bill was Dead Heat. These guys are a good embodiment of some of the modern crossover that we’ve seen come out through the last decade. The Metal Archives lists their starting point at 2016, though the lineup there doesn’t match the line up that I saw this evening at BBB. It looks like they were missing a member. That’s okay, though. They brought a very intense and high energy set. I’m not a professional when it comes to reading facial expressions and body language, but it almost seems as though the singer was wanting more crowd participation than he was getting. And honestly, bro… same. Sometimes the metal shows don’t get rowdy enough when there’s a crossover or more hardcore based band on the bill.

I have long said that the metal scene needs to take a hint from the hardcore scene. The hardcore scene shows up and throws down. Lets. Get. It. Together.

At any rate, I enjoyed Dead Heat, and I would love to see them again in the future, possibly on a more hardcore based bill where they can really shine fully.

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Next up we have Necrot. These guys are more along the likes of death metal and just like Dead Heat, are coming to us from our neighbors to the west, California. By this time in the evening, BBB was nearly full, and it was becoming difficult to move around the venue, with the exception of the pockets of space back near the entrance and the merch tables, and the corridor that leads to the restrooms. I squeezed into the tight pit area inside the barricade that separated the crowd from the stage. Necrot delivered a blistering and intense set that was sure to satisfy the crowd- it satisfied me as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not much into death metal, ha!

If you enjoy the likes of most modern death metal, such as Skeletal Remains or even a more old school vibe, like Morbid Angel or Autopsy, I’d say Necrot would be right up your alley and you should go check them out!

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Just to preface this last set, Cavalera are a SOLID group. So the possibility of me repeating thoughts from past reviews could happen here. It’s not intentional, but like I mentioned above, these guys just happened to leave an imprint on my mind that I haven’t shaken these last 5 years.

Prior to the guys taking the stage, the entire room felt like a time bomb ready to erupt. I could feel the energy behind me building, and people impatiently yelling in excitement. Once they were all ready to go, the stagehand/roadie for Cavalera said that he hoped we were ready for a good time, because they happened to not have too great of a day. And ya know, it happens. We understand that. (Downtown was also a mess this night, police and traffic everywhere. There’s always traffic on the weekends, but the traffic this night was even more of an inconvenience than normal.)

Upon first glance, it looks as though Cavalera have kept the same lineup from a few years ago when I saw them perform a complete Sepultura set at House of Blues. (This is cool, I like the consistency.)

This night was yet another intense rendition of Sepultura songs, which, let’s be honest here… the people who are coming to see Max and Iggor Cavalera ARE old school Sepultura fans. I can’t imagine anybody who’s a fan of that music left unhappy. The guys powered through song after song, as the crowd roared and sang with excitement.

Towards the end of the set, band members from Dead Heat and Necrot took the stage to perform a cover of Motorhead’s “Orgasmatron”, a real treat for all those in attendance!

It was once again, a solid and enjoyable night for metal here in the Las Vegas Valley, and just like the times before, I’ll always look forward to the next time. Make sure you’re following the Cavalera dudes everywhere. They are always on their grind and are very active. You don’t want to miss them when they hit your city!!