Hammurabi comes from BH, the historical birthplace of many bands that are a source of national pride

Rafael Masini: Starting another episode of "National Pride," here I am, Rafael Masini, in front of none other than the guitarist and vocalist of Hammurabi, Daniel Lucas. How are you, Daniel?

Daniel Lucas: Okay, Rafael. We're doing a show in Belo Horizonte on August 26th, it's going to be a Sunday, celebrating these six years, six years of the band, six bands in the same event, in six hours of uninterrupted show. That's more or less the theme of this show.

RM: That's really cool. And the choice to have six bands, of course, is related to the six-year anniversary.

DL: That's right, it's a 666 festival.

RM: Ah, good!

DL: It's the band's joke.

RM: That's really cool. Daniel, tell us a little about the band. How did the idea of ​​forming a band come about? You guys are in Belo Horizonte… Who had the idea, who brought the musicians together, and how did you choose to create the Hammurabi sound?

DL: The idea came about quickly, it was because in high school, Críslei and I, who's the drummer, it was something more personal, we decided to start a metal band… There's a lot of influence in the city, you know, Sepultura, Sarcófago… But anyway, there are a lot of bands, Sex Trash, Chacal, there are a lot of bands that motivated us to start, because these bands that we like are from our city. So it wasn't like, “Wow, it's Metallica in São Francisco,” no, it's us, everything happened here, and the idea is this: “We have to start a metal band, we're in the land of metal, let's do it.”

RM: And when you were a kid, were you always a fan of these bands?

DL: I've always been a fan. So, at home I already had that influence; my mother listened to bands like that, which I wouldn't call metal, but they were the ones that lit, let's say, the fuse for metal. My mother listened to a lot of Creedence, Kiss, there was a lot of jazz at home too, there was Nat King Cole, there was Ray Charles, so it was a huge arsenal from an early age.

RM: And now, after six years on the road, what do you have? An EP and a new album just came out?

DL: So, we released a demo with Hammurabi in 2006, recorded the EP in 2008, and then we launched it in Belo Horizonte itself, it was at an opening show, which was with Sodom in BH, it was a very cool experience. And in 2010 we released "Extinction Root," which is our debut album, which was released by Cogumelo and so on, it's already something more consolidated.

RM: So tell us again, the date, time, and place of the show, so everyone can attend. Those of you from Belo Horizonte, the surrounding area, the Triângulo Mineiro region, tell us again, where is the show?

DL: So, it's going to happen on August 26th, at Casa Cultural Matriz, starting at 2 PM. The six bands that will be part of this lineup, besides us, are Nervochaos from São Paulo, Dark Tower from Rio, Deadlines from Itauna, and two bands from Belo Horizonte as well: Hellcome and Colt45. So these are the bands that will be performing, that's the time, and we hope everyone will be there. The metalhead community needs to show up.

RM: Hey Daniel, that's great, let's do a little promotion here on Orgulho Nacional before you request the song? You mentioned the band's influences, but I want to know your influences, who influenced you as a guitarist and vocalist. So, on the band's website… Tell me the band's website.

DL: Hammurabi.com.br.

RM: On the band's website… You click there, you'll get to Daniel Lucas's influences. Then, take any of the names, because there's more than one name there… Any of the names, send it to info@wikimetal, one of his influences, and what will you get?

DL: Since we're talking about the six-year anniversary show, we're going to have a shirt, which is the official shirt of the event, with the bands' logos, the event's branding, and so on... So, shall we raffle it off to two people? I think that's better, don't you, because that way it's not just one person who wins.

RM: Great, two people, so two kits. What comes in the kits?

DL: Two kits then. The official event shirt, from the six-year anniversary, “The Extinction Root”, which is the 2010 debut album, plus the 2008 EP “Shelter of Blame”. Two kits with the shirt and the two CDs.

RM: Two kits, meaning two winners, two Wikimates will win the official event t-shirt and your official EP and CD.

DL: The debut album, that's it.

RM: That's great. Enough talk, it's time for you all to listen to Hammurabi now. What song would you like to request? Announce it!

DL: “And the Soul of the Planet is Gone.”

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