When Sepultura's latest album Against was released in the latter half of 1998, I spoke to vocalist Derrick Green at the time. It was an interesting conversation as Derrick hadn't actively toured with the band at that point, only having done the album & even then not being involved with the writing of the songs.
On the other hand, as I write this, the band are currently in Australia, wrapping up a number of dates around the country & while they were in Sydney, I caught up with one of the founding members of the band, Andreas Kisser. An interesting conversation now that the band have been together in their current lineup for a while now. Although only a relatively short call, Andreas was very talkative, especially for a man who had only 45 minutes earlier stepped off the plane from Perth.
I expressed some surprise when first speaking to Andreas as I had been informed that the band had only just arrived in the country. Speaking in a slightly noticeable Brazilian accent, Andreas came down the line.
"Actually, no, we've just got off the plane from Perth. We've been
doing some dates & it's great to be back
in Australia. The audiences here are always very responsive & of
course we always play better when the crowds are so good. Australia
has been pretty good as far as support goes & it's great to see
that the fans enjoy the new album as much as they do."
With the band's breakthrough album Roots still getting airplay on Triple J & the Against album also getting some exposure, I asked how the band fared in regard to airplay in other countries.
"Oh really? Triple J play our music. That's really beautiful. That's pretty rare anywhere. Of course we get played by specialist metal shows, because as our music is very heavy, we don't get very much daytime airplay, I suppose you have to expect that. Still, most of our fans have found out about us through word of mouth from other fans or they've come along to our concerts. In the United States, we are starting to get a bit more support from places & our shows are picking up there as well."
With Andreas one of the founding Sepultura members, I asked how the split with Max had affected the band.
"That's a really hard question you know. When it happened you know, we were all wondering whether it was the end of the band or if we'd go on to do something else. Max was great for the band you have to understand, but when he left, we picked ourselves up & we decided to just go on. It's actually benefitted the band. We've all expanded what we want to do with the band & with Derrick coming into the band, he's added his own part. I guess it's what everyone would call evolution."
Almost any Sepultura fan you'd speak to would mention the Roots album as a turning point for the band's sound & I mentioned the difficulty that must have faced the band recording Against.
"Of course Roots was a huge album for us & I guess that we would always have some pressure on us to bring out another album like it. But we really sort of turned our backs on that album & we decided to start fresh, which has worked out very well. When we started recording Against, we decided not to go back to the sounds we made on Roots, partly because Max had taken that sound with him a little to Soulfly, but also because we didn't want to be seen as copying what we'd already done. It's very tempting to just change the names of the songs & the artwork, but an album of the same things over & over isn't what it's about."
The Against album certainly stands on it's own as a new Sepultura sound, so where will the band be heading from here?
"This goes a little back to my last point in that being in a band is about making new sounds. We all want to expand what we're doing with our playing & our music, you know, learn to play new instruments & change our sound. We don't want to keep putting out albums that all sound the same. I think the fans deserve the best you can be."
Before arriving in Australia, the band had just been to Brazil & I asked how it was returning to their home country.
"It's very good. It had been a long time since we'd really done a tour their like this. We've done some shows in the big cities like Rio & Sao Paolo, but this time we went to a lot of the smaller regions in the North & they hardly get to see any bands so it's great for them. Of course it was great to be back in Brazil but I do now see that we've been very lucky as a band. We've discovered on our tour this time some great bands. There's one band we discovered from Portugal who have a large percussion section on stage with them, they were excellent."
Still with some dates on the tour left to do, Sepultura are looking ahead to when they can begin writing & recording their next album.
"Yes, we're hoping to get started with the next album fairly soon as we stop touring. With a new member in the band I'm sure we'll get some new sounds... or maybe not (chuckles) I laugh because Derrick's sitting right next to me here. I think this sound will show that Sepultura is evolving. I think we can go beyond what we have done before but still have the power we've always had. We're looking to do some more gigs ahead to like coming back to Australia & do the Big Day Out. We are all looking forward to that."
Check out the band's latest album Against through Roadrunner.
