During an appearance on the That Metal Interview , Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser talked about Devin Townsend , Steve Vai , his musical heroes, and much more.
When asked about “Mask,” his 2020 collaboration with Devin Townsend, and whether he’s a fan of the artist, the musician said he first heard of him when Townsend and Steve Vai worked together on the album Sex & Religion and thought it was insane.
“I follow his career, he’s very creative. He’s a producer, musician, performer, everything. It’s incredible! And Paulo Jr. [bass] was the one who actually met him years ago, they talked. He knew a lot about Sepultura,” he said. “He was a fan and it was really cool to know that he also really liked heavier stuff from Brazil. That’s how we got in touch, and because of SepulQuarta , we invited him to one of those events, and it was great.”
According to the guitarist, Townsend had all the necessary infrastructure to produce the song, mainly because of his studio. "He's a great mixer too. And the rest of the album was mixed by Conrado Ruther , a guy we use here in Brazil; we've worked with him on several albums," he said.
“But the only song mixed by a different guy is the song 'Mask', which was mixed by Devin. When we called and asked Devin to be a part of it, it was good to have a different taste and a different idea because the song is his.”
Furthermore, in another segment of the podcast, Kisser talks about his influences, such as Randy Rhoads , Judas Priest , Glenn Tipton, KK Downing , and Slayer .
The Sepultura guitarist says he draws inspiration from many great masters, but not only from the heavier and more progressive genres. He also stated that he is a big fan of jazz and blues.
“I prefer blues like B.B. King , Buddy Guy . When I lived in Arizona in the 90s, I had the opportunity to see so many blues musicians like Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Bo Diddley … It’s great, I learned a lot about blues when I lived in America and I love it,” he said.
“It’s the foundation of what heavy metal is, the crossroads, and Black Sabbath , signing a contract with the devil, has a lot in common. Even classical music, like, for example, Paganini , who was considered Satan’s violinist. All of this connects with the task of doing incredible things on the instrument, and I love them all, blues and classical for sure.”
Listen to the Sepultura collaboration
