Sepultura have been thrashing hard for 21 years. I had the great honor to go to NYC and meet up with people from SPV and interview guitarist, Andreas Kisser, in person.
A lot of reviewers and fans have been dubbing Dante XXI as “the best thing since Roots”, “Speultura’s comeback album”, etc. Does that make you feel that albums like Against, Nation and Roorback aren’t getting the respect they deserve? Not at all. I mean it’s the same people are raving the last album is the best work for a long time, but I don’t deny Against, Nation and Roorback, the album that drove us to make Dante. It’s the same as saying that Schizophrenia and Beneath the Remains were crap and only Chaos AD and Roots were good. One album builds from another and without Schizophrenia and Beneath the Remains, Roots would never be possible. It is the same way that without Against and Nation, Dante wouldn’t be possible. It takes time to really build something really true. You cannot really exchange singers. It is not like exchanging a valve from an amp. It is like very organic. New characters and new influences and Derrick brought a lot of new stuff for Sepultura. I think it’s cool. It takes time for us to really rebuild everything. When we lost Max we lost a singer, we lost a manager, we lost trust from a label. So we have to rebuild it. It takes time. Finally, we have everything flowing.
How is working with SPV opposed to working with Roadrunner?
I dunno, I think Roadrunner was great for Sepultura and was really bad for Sepultura at the same time. It was too long of a contract. We signed a 7 album deal in 1988. We didn’t know. It was like the crossroads in Blues you sign your soul away. At the same time you get a lot of recognition and stuff. You get caught in a lot of different traps on the contract and stuff. As soon as we left Roadrunner especially after Max left we found a label that was looking towards the future of Sepultura and didn’t care about all the tragedies that we had in our past. That was really healthy for us. Very motivating. I guess we learn from our mistakes and learn from our past and are building something new with SPV.
Do you think SPV spent more time promoting your albums with Derrick on board than Roadrunner did?
I cannot compare both labels. I cannot deny Roadrunner is a great label. We have so much personal relationship with the people there. It was too long. Like I said we signed a contract in 1988 and stayed with them until 2002. It was too much. Especially with the split of the band, they have Soulfly and Sepultura on the same label. They never really accept Derrick as a singer. I guess SPV didn’t have all the trouble from the past and took Sepultura the way we were at the time. I think in a respect in the future it shows we are building something new.
What are your favorite songs from Dante?
Such a short album. I like them all. I think the first song is really great. We’ve been opening our shows with the first song and the reaction has been amazing.
How many songs have you played live from Dante so far?
So far we did the tour with In Flames in Europe and we played 4 songs and our intention is to play a lot more and reproduce the cellos and French horns live probably with samples and stuff. The real aim is to try to reproduce the album in one show. I mean it is 40 minutes long. I think we would be able to do that like Reign in Blood. For instance Slayer did. I think it would be cool to have musicians playing the instruments like cellos and horns and stuff. So, let’s see.
Which songs did you play?
One the tour we played Dark Wood of Error, that’s the first one, Convicted in Life, we played False and Burried Words.
Did you use any sampling for the European tour?
No. We chose more of the “Hell” songs which is more direct and doesn’t have all the extra elements and stuff. But we kept Purgatory to the next level where we are going to have all the samples and the instruments that are needed to represent the songs.
Are you touring the US anytime soon?
Yes we have a plan to come to the US in August. We are planning a tour with Hatebreed and some other bands. Like a 4 or 5 band package and put a name on it something like we did with “New Kids on Block” in 1992/1991 with Sepultura, Sacred Reich, Napalm Death and Sick of it All. I think it will be a great package, so probably in August/September we will be in America.
How was your tour with In Flames?
The tour with In Flames was amazing. Especially, because we have Roy on drums. Igor stayed in Brazil with his personal problems and stuff. It was just a great start for this album. The album came out in March and we were in Europe, sold out tour, a lot of young kids that have never seen Sepultura, and Roy did an amazing job. Played better than ever. It was really fun. That’s what it’s all about.
Were there a lot of Sepultura fans there, or was it more fans of the Gothenburg scene?
No, there were a lot of Sepultura flams…flames…(laughs). There were a lot of Sepultura fans. Even though people there were not Sepultura fans, I think came out to be a Sepultura fan because their reaction was just amazing. You can see a Sepultura fan with a shirt or singing the lyrics and stuff. It is like 21 years of career so somehow some Sepultura song became a part of somebody’s life. It is cool to play all the history of Sepultura.
How was touring without Igor?
It was different definitely. I mean Igor chose to be in Brazil and we made the decision together. We cannot force somebody to be on stage if you are not feeling to be on stage. Like I said Roy did a great job and played better than ever. He re-inspired everybody on tour and it was really a great tour. One of the best we ever did.
There were rumors of you playing Ozzfest this year. What happened with that?
They were rumors you know? (laughs)
Were you asked to play the bill?
No. No. I mean this rumors of a reunion with Max has been our life since he left the band. There is nothing going on. We are just so focused with Dante XXI and what we are doing right now. We have a strong album, a live DVD and stuff. We just don’t think about that. It would be great to have a chance to play with Max again, but you got to be not money driven. I think Sepultura is only possible because of the chemistry we have/had with each other. We heard a lot of this lately, but nothing is going on and we don’t think about that at all.
Talk to me about the Convicted In Life music video. I hear it needs to be edited for TV. What is so controversial about it?
Well, you tell me? (laughs) America is crazy. Such a high levels of hypocrisy. The video is pretty heavy, but it is pretty real. If you read the book, The Divine Comedy, you can relate to a lot of stuff that is going on today. It was a book that was written 700 years ago. We show animals being killed for cut. The meat you eat pretty much we are showing where it comes from. It is pretty brutal, but people are still scared to see truth so they just hide behind the media, but that is normal I guess in America. I think Americans are used to that. They live with that fucking censorship all over. It’s almost like Russia today. Even with the anti-terrorist laws and stuff like that. It’s crazy. It doesn’t fit the whole image of Land of Freedom. I knew we’d be censored here, but we have an edit version that is going to run on Headbanger’s Ball and I think it is not going to hurt the whole essence of we want to show in the video.
How was your Headbanger’s Ball appearance?
It was great to talk to Jamey. It’s a good old friend. It was like talking to a friend in front of cameras. It was pretty quick. We talked about all the stuff in our last album and with Igor and etc. It was great.
Was that your first appearance?
Yeah, with Jamey yeah. We were with Riki Rachtman like long time ago. The original Headbanger’s Ball and stuff. Even with Vanessa Warwick in England and stuff. We are old man.
How is your solo album coming along?
Yeah, my solo album. I recorded some parts. It is going to be a double album. One more related to electric guitar and the other one more related to acoustic guitar. More instrumental and stuff. This instrumental album I record a lot of parts already. Hopefully now, with the next two months coming back to Brazil and stuff I will finish the recording and hopefully it will be ready to be released early next year.
Is it radically different than what you are doing with Sepultura?
I will say it is a very different radically sound than I did with Sepultura. Definitely.
I think that is about it.
Cool.
Discography:
2006...Dante XXI
2005...Live in São Paulo
2003...Revolusongs
2003...Roorback
2002...Under A Pale Grey Sky
2001...Nation
1998...Against
1996...Roots
1993...Chaos A.D.
1991...Arise
1989...Beneath The Remains
1987...Schizophrenia
1986...Morbid Visions
1985...Bestial Devastation
Current Lineup:
Derrick Green...Vocals
Andreas Kisser...Guitars
Paulo Jr...Bass
Igor Cavalera...Drums
| TTM reviews of albums by Sepultura: | |
 | 2006 - 'Dante XXI' |
 | 2005 - 'Live in São Paulo ' |
