In recent years, Crypta has established itself as one of the biggest forces in Brazilian metal. An undeniable phenomenon since its inception, the band, formed in 2019 and led by Fernanda Lira, has followed an amazing path in a short career and won the hearts of international names such as Ghost and AVATAR.
With their second studio album, Shades of Sorrow (2023), they were catapulted to international fame and toured alongside names like Carcass, Aborted, Hatebreed and countless others, also gracing a series of renowned festivals, such as Wacken Open Air, Summer Breeze, Bangers Open Air and Rock in Rio.
In 2026, they bid farewell to a very special promotional period with their final shows presenting this album. Before embarking on a European tour and finalizing their third studio album, Crypta returns to Brazil with the "final rites" of Shades of Sorrow – a series of four shows that concludes in São Paulo this Tuesday, April 28th.
We spoke with Fernanda Lira about saying goodbye to this special phase, what to expect from the new album, and the band's next steps with their new guitarist, Victoria Villarreal. Read the full interview:
Wikimetal: Hi Fernanda! How are you? In March, Crypta announced 4 shows in Brazil as a farewell and a "rite of passage" for Shades of Sorrow. Are you preparing anything special for these dates? Does the show format have any changes compared to the In The Other Side Tour?
Fernanda Lira: The idea behind this tour is literally to say goodbye to our album Shades of Sorrow, so it's the last opportunity people will have to hear some of the songs from this album. It's possible that we'll never play some of these songs live again, that it will take a long time to play them live. The more albums we release in our career, the harder it becomes to accommodate songs from all of them. So it's a farewell to this album, which was super important to us.
The idea is to include more songs from this album, but in addition, we've included some of the most requested songs from the audience. We did a poll on our social media and fulfilled some really cool requests, so there will be some surprises, and of course, it's our first tour with the new lineup, with our newly announced guitarist, Victoria Villarreal. So it's a very special tour in that sense. It's a transitional tour between this finale of Shades of Sorrow and what's to come related to the next album.
WM: Shades of Sorrow was a very important album that catapulted Crypta to new heights. Even before that, you had already won over names like AVATAR and Ghost, and were even invited to open for the Re-Imperatour in Brazil. What were the main milestones of those 3 years of promoting the album that most positively impacted the band?
FL: This album has impacted my life in a truly wonderful way. I always say that Crypta never ceases to amaze me. I never imagined we'd get to where we are with Crypta, but Shades of Sorrow took us to another level that we didn't even expect. For example, in the week of its release, we made it to Billboard. We entered two Billboard charts, something completely unexpected. We didn't imagine that. And it happened, and it was very important. It was a great validation for us, that the hustle was paying off somehow, you know? We always want to do the best work possible, but when we receive validation like that, it leaves us with a very grateful feeling. It's very rewarding.
I think this was an album that opened a lot of doors for us; we did many incredible tours. With this album, we played with Hatebreed and Carcass in the United States. We did a lot of cool stuff, played at big festivals, we're going to play Hellfest this year, we're going to play our first arena show, which will be with Sepultura on their farewell tour in Ireland. So, many of the first things that happened in Crypta's life happened during this Shades of Sorrow. It's an album that really marked us, it's an album that we'll miss a lot, and it's an album that was very well received, so much so that we're almost in our third year now. But it was really an album that made a lot of people know Crypta, many of our idols got to know Crypta. Man, knowing that the guys from Ghost like us, you know?
The other day I ran into Mikael [Åkerfeldt] from Opeth, which is one of my favorite bands, and at Brutal Assault, he asked me how the Crypta show was. I said, “Dude, how does the guy know Crypta?” I’m sure it was Shades of Sorrow, you know? So, it’s eternal gratitude for that incredible album.
WM: Did you guys get to talk to Tobias Forge during that tour in Brazil? (Or afterwards).
FL: Yes, the invitation came from Ghost himself, from Tobias, for us to do those shows. Before those shows, Tobias had already mentioned in some articles, including one from Metal Hammer, I think from England, that we were the band he was currently listening to and enjoying. We almost had a heart attack when we saw that, right? So we did have the opportunity to talk to him at those shows in Brazil.
And I'll say more, something we really wanted to talk about, but it's difficult to talk about online, so it was great that you asked, because we're going to talk about something that few people know. There was a show we did on tour with Aborted, where we played in Copenhagen, which is always a great city for us in terms of audience in Denmark, and we put on a fantastic show. But before the show happened, Tobias said he was going to be there. So not only Tobias went, but other members of Ghost were there too, whom we already knew from that other time.
Tobias was having a meeting, I think it was for business, it was a whole logistical undertaking for him to go there. And he went that day and we spent, I don't know, about two hours talking after the show. He's incredible, he really likes us, he really likes the band, he's a gentleman. He's a really good guy. So this thing happened that few people know. He went to the Copenhagen show, as did other members of Ghost, and we had a great chat there after the show. It was really cool.
WM: One of the shows you're doing in Brazil is Bangers Open Air, at the end of April. Crypta is performing on the same day as Korzus, who recently announced Jéssica Falchi as their new guitarist. What did you think of that announcement, and is there any possibility of a reunion backstage or even a surprise on stage?
FL: I thought the announcement was incredible! Before being Fernanda, Fefe Metal, I'm a headbanger. And as a headbanger, what I've always wanted and what I always want to see is metal with the flame burning, metal perpetuating itself, you know? And then we see a legendary band like Korzus, right, 40 years on the road, they were on hiatus, now they're coming back, thanks to the breath of fresh air from another generation, younger than them, counting on Jean and Jéssica, bringing that breath of fresh air to the band. For me, it's incredible! I'm a fan of Korzus, I'm a fan of those guys, I've known them for ages. I had the privilege of working with Pompeu 15 years ago, right at the beginning of Nervosa. We have a super good relationship every time we meet. I really like those guys, so there's no way I can be sad, right? There's no way I can't be happy with news like this.
And, besides everything else, here's the thing: It's a woman with undeniable talent taking up space. Those who follow me know that I'm always in favor of women occupying more and more spaces, and knowing that a talented woman like Jéssica is in a band that traditionally has always had a 100% male lineup, for me, is a great victory for us women too. Because imagine how many Korzus fans will go to the show and see Jéssica killing it and will think it's incredible and will feel represented. So, I think that's it, you know? I thought the announcement was incredible. I'd love to see the show at Bangers, I just don't know if we'll be able to because we're here at different times. I don't think we'll be there yet. I think it's not the time that's scheduled in our timetable. But if we can, we'll definitely go.
Regarding the meeting, that backstage encounter already happened! Now, on the 19th, we played in Nova Friburgo, at a festival where Jessica Falchi's project also played. And she stayed there, she made another appearance, as far as I understand, in a Metallica band, which they invited her to participate in, and she stayed to watch our show too. So I looked, went up on stage, saw Jessy there, waved, and she watched the whole show. After the show, she was already near the dressing room, everyone talked amongst themselves, right? There was a little circle there, we were exchanging ideas and stuff, making jokes. And the atmosphere is friendly, so that meeting already happened. And it will happen again at Bangers, for sure, and it will continue to happen, because our bands will continue to meet. So, that's it.
Now, on stage, we didn't plan anything, mainly because what we had already planned for this Bangers show was precisely the announcement of our new guitarist, right? That will be the new guitarist's first date in São Paulo. So, I think we ended up focusing so much on that that we didn't think about anything beyond that, but for sure the meeting backstage, around the stage, will definitely happen.
WM: Crypta is about to begin a new phase focused on their third studio album. Can you give us any spoilers about this new project? How is the album progressing?
FL: We're already finalizing the compositions. We already have nine of the songs we want to put [on the album]. After that, we'll go to the polishing phase; adding the solos, finalizing the vocal lines, and so on. It will be recorded later this year, but towards the end of the year. It's an album that we decided to take very slowly to do it properly. And the spoiler I can give about this new project is that it will be a 100% conceptual album. I delved deeply into it, I read several books, I read five books to help me create the concepts, the characters, and everything. So it will be a conceptual album and the theme will be "Madness". I think that's the most I can say. It should only be released in 2027 because there are tours in the middle of this whole process. In fact, the recording of the album may even have to be done in parts precisely because of the tours.
WM: Since Jessica left, Crypta has toured with Helena Nagagata and also with Victoria Villarreal, who was recently announced as the new permanent guitarist. How was the process of choosing the new member?
FL: I'm very grateful to Helena! I told her she's in the Top 3 of the most professional people we've ever worked with, and I've been in this scene for almost two decades. She is, without a doubt, one of the most professional people I've ever worked with. Super professional on and off stage, super cool on and off stage, she delivered amazingly. And she's someone Crypta will definitely keep its doors open for. We really like Helena. But we ended up officially bringing in Victoria, who was also one of the people who helped us on tours, who was hired for tours as a substitute, and it wasn't an easy decision, right? Both are incredible guitarists, but we had some very specific internal criteria, some related to sound, influence, among other more internal business things . And in the end, we felt that now was the right time to bring in Victoria.
WM: Some time ago, you used your private Instagram to talk a little about your work with tarot. Can you tell us a bit more about your relationship with this tool, how your first contact with it was, and when you started reading?
FL: That's right! Those who follow me already know that I'm a spiritual person, highly spiritual. Not religious; spiritual. I come from a spiritual family. Since childhood I've always had this interest in tarot, but it was around 2018 that I got closer to tarot, but it was always a very private thing, because I studied a lot, I'm trained, I have several qualifications, not only in tarot, but in spirituality, in this spiritual, esoteric matter. I'm trained in that, I'm trained in Reiki, I'm trained in apometry, I'm trained in herbal magic, crystal magic, crystal therapy, I study aromatherapy… There are a trillion qualifications there. So, I've always been very active in this place of study and practice of these more esoteric things, but it's always been a very private thing, I'm very reserved about my spirituality. But I always read for my friends, I read for friends' recommendations, I had a clientele there.
But this year I felt a strong urge to bring this into the metal scene, to connect with the witches and wizards who already followed me on Crypta, and also because I know there are a lot of curious people in our scene, so why not open it up and show this side of me too? So that's it. Everyone knows I'm kind of outside the box. I'm a universe within a single person. So this "Fefe Esotérica" universe is just one more of my universes.
WM: As someone who also reads and plays tarot, I really like to use the tool for help in critical decision-making moments, but I also think it can be a great creative aid if we use it in a somewhat "out-of-the-box" way. Do you use tarot in any way to help you in your work with Crypta?
FL: That's interesting, if I use tarot in some way to help me work with the Crypta. I've never used it specifically! Never. I don't read tarot for myself; I have my tarot reader who reads for me about twice a year, and naturally, advice about the Crypta comes out when I consult with my spiritual tools. But I've never used tarot like that. Because I use tarot for myself in a very specific way, I've never used it to bring me information for the Crypta or to bring inspiration. I feel that this channel I have with spirituality will always be open. So, for sure, I receive insights, I receive intuitions there, which I know have a little help from spirituality, right? But I don't necessarily use my tools to seek that guidance. It's more something between me and myself, right there, when I'm working with the Crypta.
WM: To wrap things up, after your last shows in Brazil you're going into the studio to finish your third album. Can we expect more news from Crypta or even a new single sometime in 2026?
FL: Yes, we do have news from Crypta this year. We'll have some more news coming. Even though it's a year in which we've declined several tours, we chose to take a five-month hiatus to focus on the album. So, considering it's an atypical year for Crypta, because it's a little less active, we still have news. Who knows, maybe a new single in 2026? Who knows, right? The album will be released in 2027 and the singles from that album will also be released in 2027, but who knows? I can't reveal much more. It'll be a little suspenseful.
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