| "To be honest, I don’t listen to (us) very much," admits Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser.
He’s lying through his teeth. In actuality, after 20 years of belting out unbridled thrash metal around the globe, as noted with the past year and a half of shows, recording and releasing not one but two official releases – Live In Sao Paulo and a new studio effort – just shy of six months apart, he’s listened to them far too much. But we know what he means. He doesn’t want to hear them.
"That’s about it," he chuckles. "When we (the band is rounded out by singer Derrick Green, drummer Igor Cavalera and bassist Paulo Jr.) finish an album, we were knee-deep in it for days, months, years! It takes the whole cycle of touring plus two years and (then maybe) I can listen to that album again."
In other words, Kisser and crew will have to wait until the turn of the decade before they’ll actually be able to enjoy the fruits of their latest endeavour, their 10th studio effort Dante XXI, slated to be released by Roadrunner this coming March.
Inspired by and named in reference to Dante’s timeless novel The Divine Comedy, Dante XXI finds these mighty Brazilians steeped in the heavy lowend thrashing, wailing guitar, confrontational style that has become their trademark over the past two decades, but this time around, they’ve stepped even further into the (gasp!) concept album?
"I don’t think concepts are anything foreign to Sepultura," says Kisser in defence of the band. "When we made Roots, we were deep into researching every vein of Brazilian music from the tribal elements to our urban influence. Nation had it, too, because of the idea of no borders or wars. Now we share Dante’s point of view of the world."
Fair enough. However, one has to wonder if Sepultura have reached the point of brilliance or insanity this time around as Kisser relates that the band initially set out to create the "soundtrack for the book."
"I think overall, Dante XXI is more inspired by The Divine Comedy than being a direct product of it," he continues. "Our intention wasn’t to tell the whole story. We branch out at points, but we really did try to do the soundtrack for the book. We followed the story and made parallels with today because it’s a very inspiring rich story with the elements and situations and characters."
To Kisser though, the ultimate point of such a weighty undertaking is about seeing Sepultura cover new topical ground. Becoming renowned as a "political" band first and foremost, they see the value of reaching into more spiritual territory in hopes that it will resound and broaden the scope of their already global themes.
"This is like a step above our political topics," says Kisser. "Because even in those situations, the whole thing is surrounded by the idea of respect – what you do today will mean paying for it later, punishment for sins. It’s also about disrespect in the same way. Don’t do something to someone you wouldn’t want done to you or wait for a prize at the end of the tunnel."
However, Kisser is quick to deflect any cries of religious over/undertones. He says it’s all about spirituality and the idea of taking responsibility for one’s actions… the aforementioned Golden Rule if you will. Regardless, it has obviously invigorated the band, which seems to be chomping at the bit to perform Dante XXI, their newfound muse. Kisser, Green, Cavalera and Jr. are more excited than ever to usher in the band’s fast-approaching Silver Jubilee. In fact, they may even want to listen to their own music for a change. Kisser sums it up best,
"(Dante XXI) proves that Sepultura fans really don’t know what to ever expect from us. Well," he adds with a laugh, "they kind of do and don’t. They know it’ll be honest and heavy, but never know how." |
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