Sepultura frontman Derrick Green reckons the band’s lineup changes in recent years have helped them evolve.
Drummer Eloy Casagrande replaced Jean Dolabella in 2011, who himself took over behind the kit from founding member Igor Cavalera in 2006. And Green says the moves have been essential in moving the band forward.
He tells Australia’s SYN 90.7:“It’s definitely affected us creatively. We had to really pull together and stay focused on the music and the fact that there were so many different changes. I think in a lot of ways it’s really helped us evolve.
“We’ve been fortunate to have incredible people that we played with, so this helps a lot. We’ve been able to create quality albums and have actually been evolving.”
He continues: “We’re in a very good phase, we’re very strong and very well connected, along with label Nuclear Blast that’s behind us, which helps tremendously. And I think it’s gone in a way where it’s helped us to stay focused, and try to forget all the drama that happens around this scene.”
The band are celebrating their 30th anniversary and recently launched live package Sepultura And Les Tambours Du Bronx: Metal Veins – Alive At Rock In Rio. It features a collaboration with the French industrial percussion group, who joined the band on stage in Brazil for an hour-long set. And Green reveals they are always looking at new ways to express themselves.
He adds: “The biggest difference is that, with time, the music and everything is changing. The band has 30 years, so as an artist, you would be a failure to be exactly the same after 30 years.
“Being an artist is about evolving and having change and expressing that. So I think it’s been an incredible road that Sepultura has had, and I think it’s very unique and very special.”
A biography of the band is due for release on December 4 titled Relentless: Thirty Years Of Sepultura. It’s written by author Jason Korolenko and guitarist Andreas Kisser revealed he was impressed with the work that had gone into the book.
He said: There is fantastic research on Brazil and the political context. It has some very detailed stuff on the songs and the studio. It’s awesome.”
Sepultura’s last studio outing was 2013’s The Mediator Between Head And Hands Must Be The Heart. Earlier this year, Green blasted claims made by former mainman Max Cavalera that the band wouldn’t make another album, calling it “high school” gossip.
