Drummer Igor Cavalera recently addressed Sepultura's decision to wear t-shirts with a swastika printed on them very early in their career, as well as why the band stopped, while speaking with Drew Stone on the 'New York Hardcore Chronicles' podcast.
The swastika, a centuries old symbol now associated with the concept of white supremacy and the Holocaust, was seen on clothing in numerous photos of Sepultura during 1984 and 1985, as shown in the images shared on social media toward the bottom of the page.
Looking back at this era, Igor Cavalera, one of the Brazilian band's founding members who exited Sepultura in 2006, explained (transcription via Blabbermouth), "There's some old pictures where I was wearing a T-shirt — not only me, Paulo [Xisto Pinto Jr., bass] [and] sometimes Max [Cavalera, guitar/vocals] — with a swastika on, which a lot of people are, like, 'What the hell were you guys doing?'"