It's been a long time I didn't listen to death metal, since the days I used to go to school with some tapes by Sepultura, Obituary or Death in my bag, hidden among the books. To tell you the truth I have not been so much in that scene for many years and the following interview helps me to recall old memories and old listenings. Silvia Deurwaarder met the Brazilian death metal band Krisiun. Here you are the revelations of their singer Alex Camargo. Check it out!

ALEX AND HIS DEVOTION TO RAUGH DEATHMETAL
by Silvia Deurwaarder, photos by Edwin Van Der Ende from Concert Visions

Krisiun is one of the most outstanding names in the new generation of death metal. They toured a lot this year; they played at Metalfest and did a tour with Morbid Angel. In the past they were on tour with bands like Cannibal Corpse, Kreator and many more. They worked hard for their own sound and for a place in the metalscene. At this moment they're on tour to promote their new midrecord "Bloodshed". Before their gig in Nijmegen I had the chance to talk to Alex Camargo, who with brothers Max and Moyses Kolesne, grounded the band 14 years ago. Here you are an emotional story about the strength of three Brazilian guys.

BLOODSHED
Is this tour with Behemoth especially made to promote the new midcd?
"The tour offer came up and the label said it would be good to have it done before the tour. It was a good combination and it came up like that. On this tour, we will play 28 shows in one month. It's not a big tour, something in between. Well, it's a regular tour for me."
You were very busy this year, how could you find the time to make new songs?
"We had some time; I don't want to call it spare time, between the shows to be at home. We felt like: why not working on some songs? Of course we didn't want to push it. It was in total agreement with the label. We don't record a song to get money. We wanted to change with the last album and to hear more dimensions. Sometimes I think that it would be better to make some handy stuff and just see how it goes. We could make a great technical album but it has to breathe by itself. We wanted to hear it out, so that was the reason. We're happy when people want to buy those stuff but we stay loyal to our statement. Some people may think that that we're pushing it and try to get an album. That's what happens when you look at the scene: there're thousands of bands and labels who try to promote and hook up with a tour. We do our own stuff."
When he starts to talk about the recordlabel, he's very clear to me:
"There's no pressure of the label, never! You know labels are labels, and want to sell out but I think we get a good impression from them, because they never told us what to do as far it concerns making music. We never had the purpose to sell out; we're never going to sell out and we're not going to change or add a different element in our music to let that happen. We don't care what people think, we just try to make our music better".

SOUTH AMERICA
"The ideas for this new cd came very naturally: we jammed together and we had a lot of ideas. We're a South American band and I don't think it's the reason to be an extreme band, but it can be an inspiration. It's not that we're negative because of that, like the idea that you want to kill people or something, but the world is not as nice as people think. Take a look at Africa or South America: the world is dying, the wars... That was all an inspiration for these new lyrics. It's not a concept album but each album has his own approach. I am pretty much inspired by the myths of South America. It's more that World of Carnage is more apocalyptic. When you look deeply like album to album you see it's the way how we express ourselves".

BROTHERS
How close are you with the other band members?
"We're from the same Country, we fight together, we see the same things, but we're not the same people or personalities. We're quite different but we want to make extreme music and keep that alive, that old metal-feeling. In my eyes, the old days of metal were more real. It's kind of dying now and we just try to keep it up. I can't complain the people who sign up with a major label: you have to do what you want. We have grown up together and when we have no motivation anymore, then we quit. I am the oldest and I started playing drums in a school band and saw Max. I had the feeling 'I want that guy' and I still feel this after all those years".

OPEN BOOK
"We want to keep it real and we try to groove it up a little bit and people bang a little bit, but that's it. The next morning we think: "Let's bring some real rough stuff or an epic song. Or more technical like Asian of Asan. It's a white open book which we try to fill. We are not trying to be remembered... I am just a man who's fighting for his cost. We're not idols or a new religion: it's just music."
The conversation with Alex feels more like a conversation with a friend than a real interview. For me it feels even better because the environment was very nice. He seems to be nervous because he always seems to have to move something: his hands, the bottle, his chair, but he isn't. It's something you see a lot with drummers: the strong influence or urge to move a part of the body... His voice is low and his eyes are most of the time focused at the desk to think about a subject. When I ask him if it's difficult to make extreme metal, he smiles. I explain to him that he's part of a new generation and that this status coul work as a pressure because of people expecting a lot from you. After a quite silent pause he answers:
"That's a very good question. That's the hardest point you know. You need to get a good impression from the people who support us all the time. You never know how it goes: maybe people get sick of what we do. Like some bands of which I used to buy albums and then they sell out and start doing different things. From many points of view, well maybe we sell out a bit, and groove a bit, but we always keep it up. We handle the pressure like working but honestly. I always tell the guys: we're not the same, we're the same blood. Why should I be in a higher position than the people who support us? Everybody wants a slice of the pie and that's why we got mad sometimes, because there's no place for rock stars in the metal scene. We deal with the pressure and when you have a strong army of kids who buy our music, they're solid. We feel the pressure but as long as you're happy and the kids come to our shows and buy our stuff, that's great. In my eyes we're happy with what we got and I recognize that sometimes we can make mistakes, but we arealways loyal to what we do".

HARD WORK
"I was pretty fucked up in the past, because I sometimes think it could have gone better. We try to sound as perfect as we could. As far as music goes, you've got a riff and you have a song. Of course we've tryed to grow a lot, but technically we are still very rough. When I look back, at the beginning, people had no clue about what was going on. We were very wild. For me it was great to tour with bands like Morbid Angel that was one of our best tours... Also Deicide, because it was our first time in the US. We never had problems with bands: we always have to deliver so we have to sound well. We are just trying to do that with a lot of feeling, that's a deal we have together".

LIFE
"We were wilder in the past, but in the last few years, personally I preferred staying at home, which maybe could sound something weird to you. I do some meditation to keep my mind clear and I like doing boxing. There's a kind of wild feeling insideme, but I am not a rough guy, because I believe in God. I really got more focused on what I do, and I even like watching documentaries..."
After a moment of silence, he looks up and says with a smile: "I am getting older, that's why I don't want to waste my time." After that it's almost time for him to go on stage, so he has to hurry. It was very nice to have a more complete image of this band which plays death metal this rough and which can surprise me every time I see them on stage.

Thanks to Alex and the other members of Krisiun, the crew and Joey.