Fury – the history and stories of Heavy Metal in Brazil
Chapter 4: 1983, Year Zero of Brazilian Heavy Metal
By Luiz Cesar Pimentel & Wikimetal
The first album released by a Brazilian metal band had happened the previous year. Early steps with publishing were also taken. Woodstock Discos, the symbolic record store of Brazilian metal, was founded in 1978. But it was in 1983 that the greatest conjunction of factors occurred, making that the year metal truly was born in Brazil. In January, the first of the major international concerts – Van Halen. Around the same time, the Cine Gazeta, on Avenida Paulista, screened the film/concert “Let There Be Rock” by AC/DC. At the pre-premiere, the audience showed a thirst for live shows (in any format) and broke several chairs.
Two bands began organizing gigs on a shoestring budget. On the day of the liberation of slaves, May 13th, Cérbero (major influences: Motörhead and Iron Maiden, according to a press release from that time) and Vírus (Black Sabbath) played at the A8 venue, at Via Anchieta, 1431, in São Bernardo do Campo. Around the same time, Centúrias recorded their first demo tape. In the middle of the year, in June, Kiss toured here, had a music video shown on the most-watched Sunday program, Fantástico (“I Love It Loud,” a kind of precursor to the zombie craze), and the genre took on an arena music feel. There was Paul Stanley smashing his guitar and a repeat of “I Love It Loud” as an encore. It was a shame they came with the bland Vinnie Vincent on guitar, instead of the legendary Ace Frehley.
In October of that year, a landmark of the movement was independently released: Karisma's first and only album, "Sweet Revenge." By the end of the year, two more events would make a difference in solidifying the movement. On November 20th, the first "Praça do Rock" took place, organized by Celso Barbieri, in Parque da Aclimação, São Paulo – a festival that brought together bands, in this debut, that flirted with Metal: Anthro, Ave de Veludo, Cygnus, and Anacrusa. In the second edition, a month later, a Heavy Metal group with all the hallmarks of Metal, Harppia, would already be at the forefront. In the same December, on the 3rd, another classic project debuted – the Metal matinee at the Carbono 14 nightclub, in the Bixiga neighborhood of São Paulo. The venue's floors were divided between video projections, shows, "dances with tapes," meetings, billiards, and foosball. The first Saturday featured a video of AC/DC from the "For Those About To Rock" tour and a YX concert. The following week, a video of Black Sabbath with Dio and a Harppia concert. On the 17th, a video of Whitesnake and a Centúrias concert. As a final touch, we have the debut of Karisma, a band that emerged, attracted widespread attention, and has been little talked about since, deserving special mention. Rudolf Leschonski, the group's drummer, speaks 30 years later:
How and when did you and the other two members start listening to and liking Metal?
As far as I remember, we started listening to Judas Priest (during the "Sin After Sin" era), Motörhead (during the "Bomber" era), but we had already listened to a lot of Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep, and Black Sabbath. In fact, I think Black Sabbath was the very first, which at the time wasn't even considered metal. We listened to a lot of progressive rock, like Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis (with Peter Gabriel), a lot of Kiss, Alice Cooper, BTO, Rush, etc.
How did the band come about?
Me and Helmut (Leschonski, guitarist and vocalist) had been playing since we were teenagers, we were heavily influenced by Pink Floyd, we played a lot of Ummagumma stuff. From then on it was a constant growth, always changing band members. The first name we used was Harpia (with only one "p"). Then we formed a band called Luz del Fuego. Karisma came next. The name Karisma was taken from the Kiss song Charisma , from the album "Dynasty," we put the letter "K" at the beginning so that people wouldn't call the band "Xarisma." We had several stylistic phases in Karisma: Hard Rock, Rock & Roll, Blues, Progressive, always singing in Portuguese. Then one day I went to Rudolf and Nelson (Fountain, bassist) and said: From today on I want to play Heavy Metal and sing in English, if you're not interested, I'll leave the band and look for musicians to form another one. They liked it immediately, and soon after came the idea of recording an independent LP, something that was very expensive at the time.
From there until the album's release – what was the logistics like for the demo tape, recording, release, record label, and promotion?
We had several songs. We looked for a studio in Santo André, set a date for recording, and in total it was 12 hours in the studio, between recording, mixing, and assembling the master tape. Then we ran out of money to make the cover. We contacted Luis Calanca, from Baratos Afins, and he immediately agreed to make the cover in exchange for 200 LPs. In total, 1000 LPs were made. As for the promotion of the album, we owe a lot to Beto Peninha (Capitão de Aço), who worked at 97FM in Santo André. He played our album a lot; friends from other bands thought we were paying them to play our album. (laughs) The other releases of the time – Stress, Dorsal Atlântica, Sepultura/Overdose, and especially SP Metal – elevated the bands, almost to celebrities, within the underground world that was Metal at the time. Karisma didn't take advantage of that.
Why?
I'm not sure. I think we failed to prioritize the band. We never put the band first; we had work, then marriage, then the band, not necessarily in that order. Today I think that anyone who wants to make a living from music, for example, should prioritize it in their life. Gradually, the band faded away.
What happened?
I was the first to leave the band. At the time, guitarist Cesar Achon had joined. Until then, I was the one who had most of the ideas for the band. From the day Cesar joined, things started to change, and I distanced myself from them, I kind of became sidelined, like the three of them on one side and me on the other. Their ideas didn't match mine, that's when I decided to leave. After that, they had two drummers, Ricardo and Fábio. Actually, I think the band never had a leader who knew how to manage things; everyone having different ideas just ended up becoming a mess.
Why was the album never released on CD?
We had a proposal to release it on CD, but I wasn't interested. The recording quality also leaves something to be desired; I don't know if it would sound good on CD. I think it's better this way, never having been released on CD; personally, I find vinyl records much more interesting than CDs.
Throughout all these years, has there been any desire to get back together with the band, to play again as Karisma?
From my perspective, no. It was a phase we went through and we're very proud of it, but today it wouldn't make sense to play under the name Karisma and with that style of music. I would love to play again, but without the obligation to play a specific style. For my taste, the important thing is that it's a rock band, because that's the style of music I like.
What is the band's story that nobody knows?
A cool story that few people know is that we tried to play at the first Rock in Rio. Nelson and I went to Roberto Medina's office, left a photo album of the band, a press release, and a Karisma LP at reception (since we weren't seen, obviously), and they asked us to wait for a response. Of course, at the time we had no idea of the gigantic scale of Rock in Rio's production; we only heard that there would be a rock festival in Rio de Janeiro called Rock in Rio and we went there. We never got any response from them, but we were very proud to later read in some newspapers the opinions of people who were at Rock in Rio saying that the band Karisma was missing. Can you believe that? I hope someone from that office at the time read that and thought: "Wow, I can't believe it."
How are the members doing today?
Today, Helmut and I live in the countryside of São Paulo, in the São José do Rio Preto region, and we have no intention of returning to Santo André. That's crazy, that's no life anymore. I'm divorced, I don't have children, and I work for a large furniture company. Helmut is an English teacher, he has his family, his two children are almost married. Nelson is married to my cousin, and we no longer have contact with them. As far as I know, they still live in Santo André and have three daughters.
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Coming soon: Chapter 5.
Read the Preface (aka Carmina Burana).
Read Chapter 1: Nativity in Black.
Read Chapter 2: Crusader, The Landing in Brazil.
Read Chapter 3: The First Explosion Happens in Belém do Pará.
Help write the history of Heavy Metal in Brazil. Leave your comment; it may end up in the book, and your name will be in the credits, as this is the first collaborative, evolving, and innovative book written by all those who love Heavy Metal and want to record the history of Metal in Brazil.