Despite being in the midst of their long goodbye, SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser isn’t completely shutting the door on what could come after the band’s farewell run wraps up.
Speaking in a recent interview with Jaimunji of Metal On Tap, Kisser was asked whether a reunion performance might be possible a few years down the line. While the band is clearly focused on bringing its current chapter to a close, he made it clear that nothing is set in stone.
“Dude, I don’t rule anything out,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “It’s irrelevant to say if [the retirement is] gonna be forever or we gonna be back. The important thing is that we’re gonna stop now. We need that rest, because we organize everything around that. We need our time — we need time to look in a different direction.”
Kisser emphasized that stepping away doesn’t mean the end of the band’s legacy or influence.
“SEPULTURA is not gonna die,” he continued. “I mean, MOTÖRHEAD is more alive than… Unfortunately, we don’t have the touring, but MOTÖRHEAD will be together with us forever. So we’re gonna explore different territories and stuff. And the future, we’re gonna deal [with it] when it comes. I mean, possibilities are always open. I don’t think we have the power to do eight farewell tours, but who knows? [Laughs] I mean, you see [other bands who announced farewell tours before and then came back or kept touring, like] SCORPIONS, you see Ozzy [Osbourne], you see KISS and MÖTLEY CRÜE and SLAYER and stuff. It’s okay to rest and to go out a little bit. It’s very healthy, because it shows that art is not really connected to any stereotype of what you should be in the eyes of others.”
Beyond the farewell tour itself, SEPULTURA are also working on an ambitious live release designed to capture the energy of their final run. The band has been recording performances across multiple cities, aiming to compile a massive collection of material.
“Yeah, we’re still making [it],” Kisser said. “We’re still going places, recording. We have the new [SEPULTURA] EP that we are performing live as well, the new songs, et cetera. But this is something for next year. We’d like to stop everything we’re doing here, enjoy what we doing, the shows and everything. But we are recording, every show since [drummer] Greyson [Nekrutman] joined the band [in early 2024]. And we have a lot of material. And it’s gonna be an amazing project. We like to take our time as well to do something really special, like vinyl, like old-school KISS Alive II type of vibe, with the photos and stuff like that. Very organic and going to the opposite direction of showing everything on the Internet.”
Kisser also reflected on how classic live albums shaped his own musical imagination growing up, particularly in a time when concerts were scarce in Brazil: “I remember listening to live albums like MOTÖRHEAD or [IRON] MAIDEN or KISS and just imagining with the headphones being in the concert. And not even imagine to be on stage, but just there, because in Brazil we didn’t have shows and concerts. I mean, imagination, it’s such a powerful tool to create atmospheres and to fulfill and pursue your dreams. I was only imagining, and that stuff drove me to be where I am today. So I think we like to try to bring a little bit of that vibe back, since vinyl is back with full power. Who knew? I mean, vinyl was dead, completely, this thing of the past, and now it’s back with full power in times of artificial intelligence. So that’s a hope. This is something organic and human and more connected to something real.”
In addition to the live project, SEPULTURA are set to release a new EP, The Cloud Of Unknowing, on April 24 via Nuclear Blast.
The new EP was recorded with touring drummer Greyson Nekrutman, who stepped into the lineup in 2024 following the departure of longtime sticksman Eloy Casagrande. Guitarist Andreas Kisser previously revealed that the band laid down four original compositions with Nekrutman during a spontaneous session in Miami after performing on the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise. According to Kisser, the recording process unfolded without external pressure, allowing the group to focus purely on artistic exploration.
SEPULTURA launched their farewell tour on March 1, 2024, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
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