Following on from the release of their latest album ‘Legion’ Ave Noctum’s Mark Eve caught up with Antonio Araujo (Guitar) and Dick Siebert (Bass) from Brazilian thrashers Korzus for a chat about thrash, the universe and everything….
AN: You have a very long history, but how did Korzus first form?
Dick Siebert: “Korzus was formed by original guitarist Silvio Golfetti and Mauricio Brian at the end of 1983, to take part in a festival at the school where (Marcello) Pompeu (vocals) then studied. The band went in to the festival as “Mão Do Destino” (Hand Of Destiny) but one day before the performance the name was changed to Korzus. In 1984 Eduardo Topperman and I joined the band and this was the formation which recorded 2 songs on the compilation “SP Metal II”, in 1985.”
AN: Describe those early years in Sao Paulo; what was the metal scene in Brazil like for a young band?
Dick Siebert: “For a young band the beginning of the 80s was like living in the Stone Age. Information took long to arrive here. We had no equipment and importing anything cost a fortune. You had to learn to play on your own; there were no teachers or instructional videos related to metal. There were few bands, little public, almost no international concerts and few gigs. We really had to run after information.”
AN: Sepultura ‘breaking out’ of Brazil was a very inspirational thing I would have thought. Your early releases were every bit as good as theirs, why on earth did Korzus not follow?
Dick Siebert: “That is the question. We did follow, but the slot was already taken. Various factors occurred so that each band had a different destiny, particularly economic, personal, etc.. We just ended up staying in Brazil instead of going to the USA or Europe where opportunities are greater.”
AN: The new record, ‘Legion’ is definitely one of the best thrash albums of 2014 in my opinion, and a natural progression from 2010’s ‘Discipline Of Hate’ (DOH); what has the feedback been like so far?
Antonio: “Thank you for that… Indeed, I also see “Legion” as a natural progression from “DOH”… It took us a while to come up with it, due to our almost pathological quality standards, but it’s a great record in our opinion… Once again, we produced ourselves…, and although that is nice in some ways, it is also hell in others… So far however, it seems everyone is enjoying this work a lot, and this is awesome.”
AN: Did your writing / recording process change at all from the last album?
Antonio: “No. As I said, it isn’t so different from the last one to be honest… Maybe we had less live jams on this last CD… But the process was pretty much the same.”
AN: The production and mix on the record is great, did the band mix it as well as produce it yourselves?
Antonio: “Yes… We all got involved in the musical production. Marcello (Pompeu) and Heros (Trench) – our vocalist and guitarist – are amongst many other things also Latin Grammy Award winning producers so it was great to have them working on the whole project… The mixing and mastering was once again done by Heros and I really think he out-did himself again. It sounds awesome. “
AN: Like all your albums “Legion” has a very savage, old school thrash vibe to it. I think it’s cool that Korzus have never jumped on any bandwagons / fads and kept true to what they do best. Is this an important thing for you?
Antonio: “Korzus has never been about trends or anything like that… We make music that we truly love and believe in. At the end of the day, I believe our music is about aggression and violence and we try to keep true to that. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel or something like that… We just wanna hurt people’s necks and see them go crazy in the moshpit!”
AN: Where do you get your lyrical inspiration from?
Antonio: “Daily facts of life…; frustrations…; fucked up shit we hear about and see happening… And, of course, the everyday political bullshit that we all have to cope with here in Brazil… Basically, anything that fuels the rage in our music.”
AN: It’s your second release for AFM; how have the label been in terms of support etc?
Antonio: “AFM has become our ‘safe-house’ in Europe and has been for a while now… We love working with them and we are really looking forward to reach more and more people in Europe… They know our potential and believe in our band.”
AN: Describe a typical Korzus gig…
Antonio : “We always have this ritual where we get together just a few moments before the gig and we scream the band’s name as loud as we can… We really get on stage feeling as if we were going to war…; it’s really insane… We play every gig as if it was our last. It’s very intense… I always need to sit down and breathe for a good half hour after the shows… So I can come back to life… hahaha.”
AN: Can we expect any European tour / or festival dates soon?
Antonio: “We are still working on that… But we really want to go back to Europe in 2015, and hope to have good news soon! If anyone is interested in contacting the band, use this email: [email protected]”
AN: Who would you most like to take out as a support band(s)?
Antonio: “It would be awesome to have some other Brazilian band as support for the tour… We have so many amazing bands down here that no one from across the ocean hears about… Bands such as Voodoopriest, NervoChaos, Torture Squad, Furia INC, Machinage and so many others… I’d could write you a list longer than this interview… It would be really awesome though if we ever got to co-headline a tour with our dear brothers Krisiun… That would be really insane!”
AN: Are there any Brazilian home comforts / foods / drinks you miss when on tour?
Antonio: “Maybe some Brazilian beans… We cook them in a different way here… At least for me, that’s what I miss the most… But, to be very honest… I’m a chubby guy with a large appetite… As long as there is decent food, I’m always happy…. hahahaha.”
AN: Are there any new Brazilian bands you recommend checking out?
Antonio : “So many… I’ll just write some here, off the top of my head… NervoChaos, Voodoopriest, Torture Squad, Furia INC, Machinage – I mentioned those above; but there’s also Nervosa, Terra Prima, Cangaço, Project 46, Malefactor, Miasthenia, Test… And so many others… It’s really crazy. Brazil has truly become a birthplace to so many amazing bands! And this is awesome.”
AN: What do you think of the current thrash metal scene and the music industry in general?
Antonio: “I like to believe that it will always get better with time… We have more metal heads in the world than ever before… We can see that in the big festivals, and in the headlining shows from huge acts such as Metallica… The music market is still trying to figure out how to make money in the age of mp3, but on the other hand, nowadays we have access to so much more music with ease… For anyone reading this interview, it will take no more than about 10 minutes to check out all of the bands I talked about above… That’s bewildering to me.”
AN: What are your top 5 metal albums?
Antonio : Iron Maiden – Powerslave
Slayer – Reign In Blood
Black Sabbath – Dehumanizer
Sentenced – The Cold White Light
Pantera – The Great Southern Trendkill
AN: Many thanks for this interview; any final words for your fans?
Antonio – “Thank you very much for this space and all the kind words… I can’t wait to get back to the old world and see you all in the moshpit going crazy, just like it should be. Cheers to all and see you on the road!”
(Interview by Mark Eve)
https://www.facebook.com/korzusofficial
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