ANDREAS KISSER: This Is By Far The Strongest SEPULTURA Lineup

During a chat on Radio Lab 97.1, SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser praised the band’s current lineup by saying (as transcribed by Blabbermouth.net): “The strongest, man. By far. It’s hard to judge and compare. Back in the ’80s, Igor [Cavalera] created that kind of language — of course, influenced by Dave Lombardo, all those great drummers — but he is Brazilian, and naturally, he had the Brazilian groove, even though he’s not a samba player or a lambada player or whatever. Brazilians have that kind of groove naturally.

“That’s why it’s important to have a Brazilian drummer always after Igor left the band. Even when we toured with Roy Mayorga, it was great because even though he’s not Brazilian, he has Cuban and Ecuadorian blood, and that’s very natural for him as well. It worked out great, in a different groove, but it was cool.

“I think we are very strong — Derrick‘s [Green] 20 years with us, better than ever; Eloy [Casagrande] is the best drummer in the world, by far. I respect every type of opinion, but it’s really amazing the stuff that he’s bringing to SEPULTURA. It seems that he can do the impossible, really. He’s very metal; he’s very professional; he’s very full of energy, full of everything good. Very positive.

“And [things are currently] better because the stage was very sacred for SEPULTURA all the time. No managers, no label, no nothing. We were working — us, the musicians, raw, and that’s it. But during those days, ‘Roots‘ and ‘Chaos [A.D.]’, [it] was crazy. We didn’t talk to each other — like, managers and lawyers. It was crazy. Nowadays, it’s amazing — it’s very peaceful, very organized.

“We have people working towards a goal, very professional. It shows — all the production and everything that we are achieving, relationship with record label, the fans and social media, everything. Everything is much more organized. Of course, that helps when we go to the studio and really do the best that we can, because we have everything prepared for that.

“In that sense, we are living our best moment, stage and off stage. It took a lot of work to get here, but it’s a fantastic feeling. 34 years of our band, it’s not easy to keep with all the changes — not only, vinyl, CD and vinyl again and download, Napster and Spotify. We went through all of this – changes which are still going on. It’s like a huge transition phase. [We] don’t know where we’re going, but it’s great to be here.”

When asked if he has any kind of a relationship with Max Cavalera, he replied: “I have no relationship with him. I mean, we have business to do — we have a history, and we have reissues and albums and soundtracks for movies, whatever.

“There’s a lot of stuff we’re going to have to deal with together forever, but that’s it. That’s the relation we have, and since he left the band, he really didn’t look back — I mean, he’s always looking back [laughs], but not in that sense.

“I think people choose their path, their way, and I respect that. Hopefully, he’s happier than he was.”