Sepultura – Andreas Kisser

Sepultura. The number of thrashy, metal related words that come to mind when you hear that band’s name is in no small number. They are considered to be one of the pioneers of thrash metal and it was an absolute honour to have a chat with the ingenious guitarist, Andreas Kisser – brilliant musician and a fantastic person – on behalf of Metal Obsession. Skyping with me happily from his home town in Brazil, Andreas updated me on the current scene with Sepultura, and what the band is up to. “We’re touring. We did a European summer tour with lots of festivals. We then did China and some shows around Brazil. We’re not really working on new material right now but we have a new DVD coming out in September which is the show we did in Rock In Rio festival last year with a percussive group from France called ‘Les Tambours Du Bronx’. There is still lots of places to go with ‘the Mediator’ tour, but early next year we’ll start putting some ideas together.”

Speaking of ‘The Mediator’, we started chatting intensely about the band’s 2013 release, ‘The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart’ which is an absolute ripper! Andreas explained to me the writing process, how it came together, and the intriguing album title. “We didn’t want to do a thematic album like we did with ‘Divine Comedy’ and ‘Clockwork Orange’ so we picked up the books and we really did chapter by chapter, inferenced by the storyline. This time I was just inspired by the phrase itself that comes in the movie Metropolis. This phrase is very powerful because it shows that we need to be careful not to lose our human ability, not to be complete robots. I think the movie shows how society is enslaved by work – no pleasure no fun – except for a few people in the gardens of Eden; they are enjoying life, and we see that a lot today. So not being too attached to the movie, it’s more about us talking about what we really like to talk about: the stuff that we see every day. There’s politics, religion, natural phenomena. But really, that phrase was definitely the main inspiration.”

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrcfKU7zDYc

Sepultura have described this album as ‘darker, more brutal, and more sinister’ so Andreas gave me his thoughts on that and his opinion on the direction in which the band’s music is moving and whether the changes are intentional or spontaneous. “ A little bit of both! We wanted to do something more thrashy. Some elements we used to have on older albums – kind of a thrash feeling – with the bands that we used to listen to those days, but a lot of spontaneous stuff too because we practice a lot. We record the practices and lots of the stuff that comes from the practice are from jamming and it might turn out to be a song, etc. But you know, I think the new line up is the main factor. [There’s] new energy, new possibilities on drumming which helped us to write stuff, [and it’s] more intense and extreme.”

That last statement left me curious so I asked about the new drummer Eloy who seems to fit right in with the band since he joined them in 2011 and whether he found it challenging initially to adapt to the Sepultura style.

“Not really. He’s a metal drummer and a huge Sepultura and Igor Cavalera fan.  He knew the music, he likes the history of the group and he definitely had the metal in his blood. That’s the style he really enjoys. He can play very difficult stuff quite naturally; he’s a machine! It’s insane and very enjoyable to watch him play!”

Moving on to the production side of things, Sepultura worked with Ross Robinson on this one, after having worked with him on their most loved album, ‘Roots’. Andreas was so genuinely happy to have worked with him again for the new album and had some really nice things to say about the metal mastermind. We also talked about the general writing process. “It was really great to have a chance to work with him again. He’s a great friend. We respect each other so much and it was great to go to the States and stay at his home studio which is a beautiful place. He focuses on the recording 100% and is a very organic producer who gives lots of value for the moment. Even if there are some mistakes here and there he gives a lot of value for the feeling, for the first expression. [It’s] very artistic. It was definitely the right time to be back and working with him again and I’m very happy with the album, for sure.”

We also talked about the band’s writing process and how they progress when putting together an album. “I write some demos at home and we start with two or three ideas on my demo. Eloy has some loops for drum ideas so we started from there and it took no more than two or three months to write everything. We’re really fast: everyday really flowed and then it took a month or so to record. Honestly, we never really like to spend too much time in the studio; we like to keep thing as alive as possible.”

‘The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart’ out now via Nuclear Blast Records

Andreas may be the face of Sepultura, but he is a busy man and has a lot of other things happening including another melodic metal band, and what’s probably my favourite thing about him, the hosting of his own radio show with son Yohan!

“I also work with other musicians and write music for other projects.  Right now I’m working with De La Tierra, a heavy metal group that sings in Spanish, and the band is a mixture of a Brazilian, two Argentineans, and one Mexican. It’s interesting and very different from Sepultura musically with more melody!  And yes! The radio show is a great opportunity I got two years ago from Radio Rock in Sao Paolo which came back because it wasn’t there during the 80s and 90’s. It changed for dance and techno stuff. It was horrible. But the owner of the radio station gave me 1 hour a week to host a heavy metal show. I have freedom to do whatever I want. From hardcore to melodic to punk, I open the doors for them to talk about their band, play their music, and talk about their history. I play everything: lots of classic rock, the most extreme metal and doom. It’s great also that I have my son by my side. He can bring his own input from his age. He’s 17, plays guitars, has his own band, so yes, it’s really good!”

This band has been around for 3 decades now and that is no small feat. It takes a lot to keep a band going strong and I asked Mr. Kisser what his thoughts were on the journey so far and it’s really inspiring what he had to say. “It’s a beautiful story with beautiful history. 30 years of a Brazilian band from South America to conquer so many different things and play around the world. It feels great to still be here with the new album and a great label. The momentum is great, we’re touring everywhere. We’ve had bad moments as well but we celebrate the day – the present of the band – we respect the past but we’re not locked there. We are still very much focused on what we’re doing here and now.”

Speaking of touring, Sepultura’s Australian tour is not far off and the band is set to make a triumphant return after nearly ten years. Andreas was extremely happy and talked about the last tour and his sheer excitement to be heading back. “I t’s great to finally the chance to go back. The momentum is right. It’s great to be back, of course. We’re gonna play some of the new stuff but also lots of the older music because we’d like to celebrate our 30 years together and we’ve got lots to play that we didn’t get to the last time –  lots to show the Australian fans. We love the country, love the place, always had great experiences, and we’re very happy to be back!”

And with that came the end of an awesome conversation with one of metal’s greatest guitarists. Andreas had one last thing to tell all the Aussie Sepultura fans: “They can expect lots of positive energy, a celebration of 30 years of Sepultura. We’ll play as much as we can; the most we can. We’re really happy that we’ll be back!”

Sepultura are touring Australia this October via Metropolis Touring! Click here for details.

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