Ex-Soulfly Guitarist Marc Rizzo Re-Joins Ill Niño

Two months after splitting from Max Cavalera’s Soulfly after twenty years, guitarist Marc Rizzo has apparently re-joined his old band, Ill Niño.

Of course, this isn’t quite the Ill Niño of which Rizzo was a member at the turn of the century. Current and former members of the band spent a good part of 2019 and 2020 in a heated lawsuit over ownership of the group’s moniker. That ultimately resulted in a settlement, with original singer Cristian Machado and guitarists Ahrue Luster and Diego Verduzco ultimately leaving to form a new band, Lions at the Gate. The current iteration of Ill Niño longtime members Dave Chavarri (drums), Lazaro Pina (bass), and Daniel Couto (percussion) along with with new singer Marcos Leal (Shattered Sun) and new guitarists Jess Dehoyos (Sons of Texas) and Sal Dominguez (ex-Upon a Burning Body).

Rizzo revealed his return to the Ill Niño fold during a livestream this past Wednesday, October 6.

As part of the announcement, Rizzo said that the reunion “just goes to show that things can happen when everybody can meet up and talk and keep it between dudes. Don’t bring in managers and people’s freakin’ girlfriends and wives.” Given the dramatic circumstances under which he split with Soulfly, this seems like a fairly obvious dig at Gloria Cavalera, Max Cavalera’s wife and manager.

Here’s a transcript of the announcement:

“We will be announcing it soon, but I’m doing some recording for the new Ill Niño record. And I’m super excited, man. It’s a different band. It’s not the band it was, obviously, for obvious reasons, from back when I was in the band, in 2002, when I left. A lot of things have changed. So I’m excited to work with these guys. It’s great to reconnect with Laz [Pina, bass] and Dave [Chavarri, drums] and work with the new singer Marcos [Leal], who’s an incredible singer. So I’m stoked, man. We’re gonna record this new record. I’ll probably — well, I AM gonna do a tour with them soon, and we’ll see what the future holds, man. They’re gonna be announcing this very soon, and I’m very excited. Yes, I’m rejoining the band, which is awesome. I’m very excited to reconnect with my friends.

“Everyone loves a good reunion, and the fact that me and Ill Niño are working together again, it just goes to show that things can happen when everybody can meet up and talk and keep it between dudes. Don’t bring in managers and people’s freakin’ girlfriends and wives. You can have a reunion. And when dudes get in a room and just talk and work out anything from the past, good things can come out of it. So that’s what’s going on.

“More importantly than all that is the music. This new Ill Niño record is the best shit they’ve ever done. Again, the new singer Marcos is one of the best singers in metal. I mean, this kid is spot-on. He writes great stuff. He can sing; he can scream. So, this is really good stuff, man. I’m really excited.”

Rizzo previously appeared on Ill Niño’s two best-known albums, Revolution Revolución (2001) and Confession (2003).

You can watch the video below.

[via]