I've never really been a huge fan of Sepultura and I'm not sure why. I too, stopped listening to them ever since Max left the band, and I don't own any Soulfly albums either. For me their finest hour would have to be Arise and Chaos A.D. cos I think they really came into their own on those albums. Beneath The Remains was good, but it still sounded generic maybe because of the whole slew of bands that came out from the Tampa, Florida scene at the time having pretty much that same 'Scott Burns' sound. With Roots, you can see Korn's influence infiltrating their music at the time, what more with Ross Robinson as producer and I'm also not really a fan of excessive percussive/tribal influences with metal. So that album left me with a lukewarm feeling at best.
But hey, like anyone else, I'd rather see Max go back to being in Sepultura. It's true, when there is a certain chemistry that sparks some magic in a band, it wouldn't be the same if the line up of that band changes. Chemistry plays a big part in a band.
But Mathematics plays a bigger part in Meshuggah and The Dillinger Escape Plan. :?: