During an appearance on TRIVIUM frontman Matt Heafy‘s “GLHF” podcast, SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser spoke about how the pandemic has affected him in his personal life and the fundamental lessons he has learned in the COVID-19 year. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I don’t remember the last time I spent so much time sleeping on the same bed [laughs] for a year and a half and having this type of routine as a husband, as a father, as a son, as a friend; I never had that for many, many, many years. And it was really hard to re-adapt or to reconnect with this other ‘me.’ It’s me, but I never used that me [laughs] in the sense that I was complaining, ‘Oh, I don’t have time to study,’ ‘I don’t have time to do proper exercises,’ or [get on a healthy] diet or whatever. But now, I quit alcohol a year and a half ago — even before the pandemic — which helped me a lot to clear my mind a lot, to find new possibilities. And because of the pandemic, using the routine to do more exercises, to study more music. I’m doing meditation, breathing techniques and stuff, cold showers — all that kind of stuff that is really exciting, a communication with my body that I didn’t have for many, many years. And also with my wife, we’re going through a personal thing [that is] very hard and, unfortunately, very common nowdays, which is cancer. My wife was diagnosed with cancer in February of this year. She’s going through chemo, like surgeries and stuff. She’s doing great; she’s doing well; the treatment is fantastic. But it’s an atomic bomb one after another — pandemic, cancer and stuff. And regardless of that, we’re strong. We’re very united, we are growing as a band and as a family, and myself as a human being.”
He continued: “In a sense, I have to thank the pandemic situation, which is weird [laughs], because there’s no catastrophe or no chaos that is complete. When one window closes, ten others open. It’s up to you to be heads up and look around and find possibilities, because you are capable of being whatever and whoever you want to be. Of course, you have to give a chance to yourself to be somebody else different — not somebody else, but somebody different that could improve and learn something new. And I think this pandemic situation really — at least for myself — it taught me that, that SEPULTURA could be possible without the stage, I could be possible as a family without touring, with that relation and being home and having that relationship daily. And et cetera. In the sense that we have to face the chaos, embrace the storm. That’s a song that we have on one of our albums. Embrace the storm. You’re gonna learn with the storm.”
Formed in 1984 in Brazil, SEPULTURA has gone on to sell over 20 million records and solidify its legacy as one of the greatest metal bands of the 1980s, 1990s, and beyond. Today, SEPULTURA is still going strong, 15 albums deep into one of the hardest-hitting discographies in history.
While the pandemic paralyzed the entire world and prevented bands from touring, SEPULTURA refused to sit back and feel like animals trapped in a cage. Therefore, in early 2020, the band seized the moment to start its own weekly “SepulQuarta” video podcast in which they invited other famous musicians from all over the world to not only discuss important topics but also perform a track from SEPULTURA‘s massive catalog together with the group. The resulting full-length compilation was released on August 13, with the album containing 15 classics featuring internationally renowned guests and friends.
SEPULTURA comprises Kisser, vocalist Derrick Green, bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. and drummer Eloy Casagrande.
SEPULTURA was formed in Belo Horizonte by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, who are no longer with the band.
