Interview with death metal band from Brazil - NERVOCHAOS.
Answered Eduardo Lane (drums), thank you!
Translated Duzl, thank you!
Questions prepared Jakub Asphyx.
Recenze/review - NERVOCHAOS - All Colors Of Darkness (2022):
Ave NERVOCHAOS! Greetings to the Brazilian underground. I hope everything is fine with you. The television shoots from your country were very scary during the COVID pandemic. Did the current situation influence you in composing, recording, creating new material for the album "All Colors of Darkness"?
(Edu) Hail! Everything under control here. Certainly all that is happening here in Brazil, and in the world as well, had a huge impact on us while we were writing the new songs, and also, it influenced us a lot during the recording sessions. So we were able to vent all our hatred and frustrations, and so our tenth studio album "All Colors Of Darkness" was born.
I have to say I listen to the new album over and over again. In the car, at home, at work, there is something very attractive to me in it. It contains a huge amount of energy! Do you think it's because „new blood" in line-up? You have a new bass player (Pedro Lemes), guitarist (Woesley Johann) and singer (Brian Stone). How did the new members used to NERVOCHAOS, why did you choose them and how did they participate in composing?
(Edu) Great to hear that you like the new material! In January 2020 we started working on this material and almost all of it was composed by me and Diego (who left the band in March 2020), except for the guitar solos (which were written by each of the current guitarists) and the vocal patterns. Of course each member puts his touch, interpretation, and performance on the songs during the recordings. We rehearsed a lot, did some pre-productions, and there were also some ideas given to us by Adassi Addasi (the producer of the album), so we could give the final adjustments to all the songs and be prepared to record the album. We wanted to do a very strong, energetic and in your face album. As for the line-up, Pedro (b) joined the band in May 2019 and Luis "Quinho" Parisi (g) re-joined the band in November 2019. So when Diego (v/g) left the band in March 2020, I started searching for new members. I already knew Woesley (g) from other bands that he used to play, so we've talked and he joined us in April 2020. As for the vocal, some people contacted us when they found out we needed a vocalist. We sent a new song, instrumental only, the lyrics and asked them to record a demo. We got the demos back and ended up choosing Brian Stone to take over the vocal duties.
If I'm not mistaken, the only original member of NERVOCHAOS is drummer Edu Lane. He has been sitting behind the drums since 1996. A number of musicians have actually passed through the band. Why such frequent line-up changes? Is the reason traveling, concerts and long tours ? It is probably not for everyone?!
(Edu) I am the only remaining original member in the band. Unfortunately we have had many lineup changes over these 25 years, but these changes were necessary to keep the band active, healthy, and evolving. We are a touring band and we believe that a band is made live, so we are always playing shows and touring. We have to tour constantly to be able to live exclusively from music. It is not an easy task, especially living in a third world country, and to follow that path was a choice I made many years ago. I love what I do and I do what I love! I believe that this lifestyle is definitively not for everyone, but all the former members have played a very important role in shaping our sound, and making what we are today.
Let's get to the new record. The sound is signed by Brendan Duffey. How did you get together, why did you choose him? By the way, the sound on the album really killing. It is dirty, dark, legible, I can feel the aggressivity!
(Edu) I have admired and followed his work for some time now and in early 2020 the opportunity arose for us to work together. We recorded here in Sao Paulo (Brazil) together with Adriano Daga and producer Adassi Addasi, and Brendan Duffey did all the mix and master in his studio in Los Angeles (USA). Brendan did an amazing job, we are very happy with the final result of this album and it's great to hear that you liked it too! Our goal is always to be able to surpass our last release and I believe we have achieved that once again with the new album.
The cover was painted by Néstor Ávalos. I have to praise again. The motif has a magical appeal for me. Are they demons looking to hell? Or what exactly does the cover art represent? What does it say about music? And how did you get together with Néstor?
(Edu) The front cover features Hecate, a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, snakes or accompanied by dogs and in later periods depicted in triple form. She is variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, night, light, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, ghosts, necromancy, and sorcery. I've been following Nestor's work for quite some time now and he is an exceptional artist. I love his dark visions and black arts and his artwork helped to reinforce even more the concept that we develop in our music, our lyrics, and also our personal believes, and even our spiritual ones too.
The new album is an incredible ride from start to finish. I'm sitting at the speakers and I really enjoy it. Please tell us what the lyrics are about?
(Edu) On this album we approached several themes, so we have lyrics against organized religions, about Babalon, about Succubus, about the manifestation or incarnation of Satan, about anti-Christianism, about the Kabbalah, about astral journeys or out-of-body experiences, about indigenous legends and also about the harsh reality of everyday life.
There are also two covers on the album: 'Demonomania' (The Misfits cover) and 'Three Shades of Black' (Hank 3 cover). Do you know what is best? Especially the country by Hank Williams III was incredibly successful! I can't get this out of my head! Why these songs? Do you have a deeper relationship with them?
(Edu) Very nice to know that you liked the covers we did too. Both were very special for us, because in addition to liking both bands a lot, we had very special guests performances by João Gordo (from Ratos de Porão) on 'Demonomania' (The Misfits cover) and Wayne Hancock, William Santos & Ricardo Vignini on 'Three Shades of Black' (Hank III cover).
I've seen you live several times. It was always a maniac death, a tsunami of energy and honest metal in Prague. It seemed to me that you would leave your soul on stage. What do live performances mean to you? Do you like touring? And what about Prague, do you remember our fans?
(Edu) We're a touring band, that's the path we choose, so being on stage and being on tour is everything to us. As I said earlier, we love what we do and we do what we love! So all shows are very special and unique in their own way for us, and we always give 120% of ourselves on stage, as if it were the last show of our lives. Czech Republic in general and specially Prague have always been amazing to us. Every time we play over there the fans are crazy, very energetic, dedicated and have that old-school spirit/vibe to it. We love it and we're so looking forward to return.
I watch nature documentaries on TV every Sunday, and Brazil was there recently. You really come from a beautiful country. I was just a little taken aback by the difference between beautiful nature, cities and strange politics. I don't like to talk about such things, but tell us, what is the status of metal bands in Brazil? Do you have a very active scene in Sao Paulo? What about clubs, tours, festivals? And tell us something about Brazilian fans.
(Edu) Brazil is a huge country and every region has its own particularities, costumes, landscapes, accents, and so on. Like anywhere else in the world, I believe that a headbanger is always a headbanger, so it doesn't matter from where you come from and/or all that, in the end of the day, we're all united by METAL. The METAL scene is very strong in Brazil and all regions have amazing bands, distros, labels, clubs and dedicated, loyal, die hard fans. The way I see, the Brazilian scene evolved and developed a lot in the last decades, of course there's still a lot to be done, but if we compare it to how it was in the early 90s, it is much better now in so many ways. For example, nowadays bands can tour around the country, there are amazing festivals happening all year long, metal promoters/clubs in all regions and most of all loyal, dedicated, die hard fans.
What does music mean to you? How did you even get into playing death metal, why this style? Please remember for us the beginnings of NERVOCHAOS. Who were your idols when you started playing?
(Edu) Music is everything to me and since I was little I always wanted to do what I do. I believe I'm very lucky to be able to make a living from it. I have always bounded with the heaviest, most extreme music style so it was a natural path to follow. In my opinion, we make extreme music, because we are not limited to a pre-stipulated music labels or a certain musical style. We freely navigate between the extreme music strands. It's easy to identify different aspects of extreme music in our songs and perceive different influences as well, but we are always looking for our own sound, to evolve as a band and as musicians, and always remaining faithful to our initial proposal. Success for us is being active, releasing albums and touring. Last year we completed 25 years of uninterrupted career, so I think we are on the right track. In 1986, after going to a show (Venom/Exciter/Vulcano), I decided to become a drummer and form a band. My family didn't support my idea of being a musician, so I could only start dedicating myself to music from 1990 on. I'm self-taught, I played in a couple of bands and in September 1996 NervoChaos was formed. I admire many musicians and many bands too, but I think the main ones, who really inspired me to start playing drums, were Phil "Animal" Taylor (Motorhead), Abaddon (Venom), Dave Lombardo (Slayer) and Iggor Cavalera (Sepultura).
I really hope to see you at the concert soon! Are you planning some tour? And are you coming to Europe? (Don't skip Prague, please!)?
(Edu) We do have some touring plans for 2022 and we're hoping everything goes as planned so we can go back on the road. We are schedule to tour in Europe during April/May and Oct/Nov too and for sure will play Prague again! Let's hope COVID doesn't fucks it all up once again.
Thank you very much for the interview. I really appreciate it! I wish you great CD sales, full concerts, crazy fans and good luck in your private lives. If you want to say something to the fans you have last words... Thank you for your music! NERVOCHAOS RULES!
(Edu) First of all, thank you very much for the opportunity, for the support and for this interview. Thanks to all our fans for their amazing support! We hope all goes well and we can see you all again soon. If you want to know more about the band visit us at www.nervochaos.net. For passion not fashion!
Recenze/review - NERVOCHAOS - All Colors Of Darkness (2022):
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