SEPULTURA Guitarist Talks Upcoming Album, Recording With DAVE LOMBARDO, Covering DEATH

JacksonGuitars.com recently conducted an interview with guitarist Andreas Kisser of Brazilian/American thrashers SEPULTURA. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

JacksonGuitars.com: What can you tell us about working with producer Ross Robinson?

Kisser: We're working with Ross again after doing the album "Roots" with him in 1995, and since then, we hadn't had the chance to work with each other. We finally got the opportunity because we're signed with Nuclear Blast after Roadrunner went away. Many of those people that were with Roadrunner are now with Nuclear Blast. So, old friends that used to work with SEPULTURA are now working with the band again, and that's very exciting. Ross is one of the best producers around for this style of music. We know each other so well, and the stuff we are doing right now is really mind-blowing. I'm really happy with it so far.

JacksonGuitars.com: We heard you've been working with SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo. How did that happen?

Kisser: Dave was with his dog and two kids walking around the beach, and he's good friends with Ross. He was in the neighborhood, and Ross said, "Why don't you come by and play on the SEPULTURA album?" He said, "Why not?" It was amazing, man. Two drummers, no cymbals. With just the drums themselves, it sounded very heavy. He's one of our biggest idols, and it's such an honor to have him with us on this album. And the way it happened was so natural, like friends just coming together.

JacksonGuitars.com: What direction did you want to take this album?

Kisser: I write stuff all the time — riffs or ideas on an acoustic guitar. But we really started working on this album in February of this year, so it was pretty quick. We have Eloy Casagrande as our drummer, and he's 22 years old. The guy's a beast. One of the best drummers I've seen on the planet Earth. He has this metal blood that has so much energy and brings so many possibilities for riffs and stuff like that. It is a SEPULTURA album, but like every SEPULTURA album, there is something different. I think the main difference now is the drummer. It's the first time we've worked in the studio with him. It's been almost two years [since the last album], and it's very exciting.

JacksonGuitars.com: You're going to include a bonus track covering DEATH's "Zombie Ritual". Why that song?

Kisser: Without DEATH, there wouldn't be a SEPULTURA — especially in the beginning. The very early albums — like "Morbid Visions" and "Schizophrenia" — there's a lot of influence from Chuck Schuldiner and his riffs. You can hear that very clearly in our early music. And we never really had the opportunity or idea to play that. We really play our idols, like BLACK SABBATH or MOTÖRHEAD and some Brazilian stuff, but because we covered so many different bands, I think it was time for this tribute to this great band.

Read the entire interview at JacksonGuitars.com.