SEPULTURA Guitarist: 'I Don't Think You Can Ever Be Afraid To Risk Your Own Art'

Rob Lyon of Hi-Fi Way: The Pop Chronicles recently conducted an interview with guitarist Andreas Kisser of Brazilian/American metallers SEPULTURA. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Hi-Fi Way: The Pop Chronicles: How would describe [the new SEPULTURA album] "Machine Messiah" and how does it compare to the rest of the discography?

Andreas: "Well, it feels like a new chapter, especially in the last thirty years. The last two years, we have spent touring playing lots festival and visiting new places and it felt like we had been celebrating the last thirty years. We played a lot of songs that we haven't played in a long time and it is great to look back and see how beautiful our career has been. It feels great now that after the celebrations it felt like the time was right to do something new. That is why we changed producers and really use our musicianship at the highest level to the best that we can. We incorporated a lot of new elements in to the recording, and it was exciting with everyone bringing in new possibilities in to the mix. The band tried a lot of things and explored everything. I think that is the secret to SEPULTURA and why we are still here. We have a great set up with the label and the album release and it is hard not to be excited with everything that is going on in SEPULTURA."

Hi-Fi Way: The Pop Chronicles: Can you put the change in sound down to anything in particular? Experience? Influences? Or is it that the way it happened organically?

Andreas: "I think it is an actual evolution. We are almost on stage every day, and if you look at how many shows we have played in the last three years and the places we have visited, [it] gives us the opportunity to collect new information, interests and ideas which is really motivating so when we go in to the studio we can try out a few things. Every time that we perform the old songs, we tackle them with a different attitude to push them to higher limits. I like to think of it as the artist Pablo Picasso. If Picasso followed the rules to go a certain direction because of tradition and everything, would that have given him new possibilities? I don't think you can ever be afraid to risk your own art, or otherwise we would be copying or producing something that would have already been done before."

Hi-Fi Way: The Pop Chronicles: What sorts of problems did you encounter in making "Machine Messiah"?

Andreas: "Nah, man, it was great, and we didn't have any problems that stopped the recording. We didn't need any psychiatrist in the studio or anything! We were all very focused and heading in the same direction. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. It was never easy, as it was a very demanding album to record. That was one of our biggest challenges, but we did prepare ourselves physically and mentally to be ready to record, to express, to enjoy which is very important. To be in the studio for five months and to get a point of view across, it was important for us to be happy and on the same page. Recording in Sweden and having full support is amazing and preparing ourselves for the hard work made the process easier."

Read the entire interview at Hi-Fi Way: The Pop Chronicles.