ANDREAS KISSER: SEPULTURA Fans Who Don't Give Current Lineup A Chance 'Are Missing Out'

SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser was interviewed on a recent edition of "The Classic Metal Show", which is heard live on Saturdays from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. EST at TheClassicMetalShow.com. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

Asked why he still answers questions from journalists about the classic lineup of SEPULTURA even though it's been twenty years since Max Cavalera left the band, Andreas said: "I try to be polite, I guess. [Laughs] But I don't mind. It's part of our story, of our career. It's a shame that people still have some type of… I don't now… animosity or whatever. Maybe that's not the right word. But they don't respect what happened after Max left. And then ten years later, Igor [Cavalera, drums] left. I mean, we went through phases and stuff, but we are here because of all of that, opportunities that opened. And I respect everything that [happened] with SEPULTURA. We play songs from 'Bestial Devastation', from 'Morbid Visions'; we respect the whole history. We respect the fans. It doesn't matter what kind of label, what kind of lineup, we play it all, because we areSEPULTURA and we represent everything that happened with this band throughout history. And if people have some doubts and some suggestions or whatever about it, I mean, I don't agree, of course, with all those comments and whatever, but I respect them all. They might as well speak up what they think, especially nowadays with the Internet and everything; everybody says whatever they want. We are used to that. It's part of our daily routine, I guess."

Kisser went on to say that SEPULTURA fans who won't give the band's current lineup a chance are "missing out." He explained: "They're stopped in time and expecting something that doesn't exist anymore. Move on. Respect what's going on today in the present. You don't have to be a SEPULTURA fan, but don't try to make this our fault."

He continued: "You see in rock and roll and metal history in general so many different lineups for so many people. If you take the family from DEEP PURPLE and BLACK SABBATH, how many bands came from those bands: WHITESNAKE, RAINBOW… I mean, you name it. So many different projects between musicians. Like [Ian] Gillan with BLACK SABBATH doing 'Born Again' and stuff. Who gives a shit, man? It's musicians having a great time. Doing that doesn't kill what they did in the past with Ozzy [Osbourne] or [Ronnie James] Dio or whatever. And this is only one example. You can put VAN HALEN or GENESIS or, you know, whatever band [went through] big changes, especially singers and stuff. But that's art. Like I said, again, a new opportunity, new possibilities, and that's great for everyone."

Kisser added: "People have a tendency to be so radical about some things that they almost try to be our boss or something: 'You shouldn't do that, 'You cannot do that.' Like they have some type of 'metal law' [laughs] that we are breaching. But throughout the history, you see every band going through different motions and trying things. Like JUDAS PRIEST going for 'Turbo', for instance, and METALLICA [with] 'Load' and 'Reload', and [their collaboration with] Lou Reed. You don't have to like that, but at least you have to respect that, because otherwise METALLICA wouldn't be now here with 'Hardwired' and playing stadiums all over the world."

SEPULTURA's latest album, "Machine Messiah", was released on January 13 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was produced by the band and Jens Bogren (SOILWORK, OPETH, KATATONIA, AMON AMARTH) of Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden. The CD's cover artwork was created by Filipino artist Camille Della Rosa.

SEPULTURA will join veteran San Francisco Bay Area metallers TESTAMENT on a North American tour later this month. Additional support on the trek will come from PRONG.