SEPULTURA's PAULO XISTO PINTO JR. Praises New Drummer GREYSON NEKRUTMAN: 'He's Amazing'

During an appearance on "The David Ellefson Show" podcast, SEPULTURA bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. praised the band's new touring drummer, 23-year-old Greyson Nekrutman, who officially replaced SEPULTURA's longtime drummer Eloy Casagrande in February 2024. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Greyson, he is a great guy. He has a very jazzy, totally different approach. I'm still adapting, learning with him day by day. Eloy was in the band for 13 years. It took me a while to really lock up with him. The easiest one, of course, was Igor [Cavalera, original SEPULTURA drummer], 'cause we grew up together. And then the other ones, I had to readapt, and even the way of playing, just to make SEPULTURA sound right. Each one is very unique and has their own particularities. That's why it's so nice.

"We've done some new recording with Greyson, and it sounds amazing," Paulo revealed. "[It's a] totally different approach, and it was, like, 'Don't try to be that much metal. Just be yourself. Be a jazz player. Try to bring into the metal your own style and you're gonna fly high, dude.' 'Cause he's amazing."

Asked by podcast co-host Joshua Toomey what it's like to have such a young bandmate in SEPULTURA, Paulo said: "Well, it's great, 'cause, it gave us new energy. And it's a way to exchange experience. Even though he's so young, he has his own experience that he can share with us. And to have the chance to be every day on stage, you learn more and more every day. So it's a great exchange, actually. It's beautiful. [I] love it."

SEPULTURA kicked off its farewell tour on March 1, 2024 at Arena Hall in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The sold-out show marked the band's debut performance with Nekrutman, who previously played with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES.

SEPULTURA announced Casagrande's departure on February 27, 2024, explaining in a statement that he was leaving to join "another project", with Eloy later confirming that he is the new drummer of SLIPKNOT.

The news of Eloy's exit from SEPULTURA came just two months after the band announced it would celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2024 by embarking on a "farewell tour" which will cover the entire globe.

In SEPULTURA's statement, the remaining bandmembers expressed their shock over Casagrande's departure, saying they were "taken by surprise" that their now-former drummer would "abandon everything related to SEPULTURA" less than a month prior to the start of the tour.

SEPULTURA is putting together a live album commemorating its last run of shows. The band is recording 40 songs in 40 different cities for what will be a "massive compilation of our best, most energetic moments on stage," according to a statement released by SEPULTURA in December 2023.

SEPULTURA kicked off the North American leg of the massive "Celebrating Life Through Death" farewell tour on September 17, 2024 at the Concord Music Hall in Chicago, Illinois. The band played a career-spanning set that honored SEPULTURA's 40 years of existence. Joining SEPULTURA on this tour were Florida-based death metal veterans OBITUARY, iconic New York hardcore pioneers AGNOSTIC FRONT, and São Paulo, Brazil's death/thrash metallers CLAUSTROFOBIA.

In a recent interview with Germany's Metal Hammer magazine, SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser said that the band's final concert will take place will take place either in São Paulo, Brazil, or in SEPULTURA's original hometown of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. "We're still balancing these ideas," he explained. "But at the end of 2026, we'd like to do this last show. We'd like to stretch [out the tour]. There's no reason for us to stop in a hurry just because we announced [the] last [tour] two years ago or so. We had a great time last year. This year is already looking great…. We're doing Lollapalooza in South America — Brazil, Argentina and Chile. We have a few shows in Central America, a few festivals this year in Europe, a few special concerts. In 2026 we'd like to do all the big festivals and finish in Brazil."

Greyson is featured on ALICE IN CHAINS vocalist William Duvall's "11.12.21 Live-In-Studio Nashville" CD, which came out in June 2022. Nekrutman has also performed or recorded with Bakithi Kumalo, Darren Criss, Drumeo, Pearl Drums, Meinl Cymbals and has been featured in articles by Rolling Stone, Rhythm, Rhythm And Drum (Japan) and Sweetwater Music.

Photo credit: Edu Defferrari