During a brand new interview with Niclas Müller-Hansen of Sweden's RockSverige, Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser was asked about 2021 marking the 30th anniversary of his band's fourth album, Arise. The seemingly simple question resulted in quite the revelation:

Arise turned 30 earlier this year. Does it make you feel old?

"No, I feel better than ever. Definitely better than when I was 21 or 22. I quit alcohol almost a year and a half ago now and I feel clearer. Quadra (released in 2020) is our best work, at least for me as a guitar player and as a writer and a composer. Of course none of that would happen if we didn´t have the past and all the experiences of working with big producers, the tours we did, everything. I feel great now and I think the whole band feels great. We are in a great momentum and we just can´t wait to go back on the road. That´s our life."

Did you quit drinking because you felt it was becoming a problem or was it just a way to become healthier?

"Both. I realized I was a slave to alcohol. Every situation where I had to choose a restaurant or what type of travelling I would do with my family, what kind of social thing we´d go to, alcohol was the biggest element to make the choices. Like, 'in this land they don´t serve alcohol, so I don´t want to go there.' That type of stuff. It didn´t matter if I was with my family or great friends, alcohol was heavier than anything else. I realized I was really losing myself because of that idea. I was really having this dark shadow making the choices for me. It was getting in the way of my relationship with everybody – my family, my friends and with myself. Then I quit from one night to the other."

"It was very clear once I realized I was a slave to alcohol, which path I had to follow. I made the decision and I feel great. I don´t feel any urge to drink. I love drinking, don´t get me wrong, but I did it already. I know what it is and I know it's very dangerous as well, especially with the style of life I live – backstage parties, everything is free and easy to get. You have to be very careful with that kind of situations and I'm glad I made this choice. I'm at peace with myself with that. I didn´t make any promises to anyone or any saint or to any situation. It was a choice I had to make. If I made a promise to something I would put all that responsibility to that promise and not to myself, so I have to face that and really embrace the choice and I feel great. Alcohol is very dangerous, but like I said, I like drinking."

To read the complete interview, visit this location.

While the pandemic paralyzed the entire world and prevented bands from touring, Latin America's biggest metal export, Sepultura, refused to sit back and act like an animal trapped in a cage. Like the flowers growing out of the deceased bird’s body depicted on the stunning colorful cover artwork by Eduardo Recife, the thrash metal pioneers from Belo Horizonte made good use of their unexpected free time to start a project that kept them busy throughout the entirety of 2020: Their new live album SepulQuarta will see the light of day on August 13. Pre-order this one-of-a-kind release, featuring renowned guest musicians from all over the world, on CD or an eco-friendly recycled vinyl (available in black or individually marbled) here. Pre-save the album at this location.

"SepulQuarta was born at the very beginning of the pandemic when everything was halted”, guitarist Andreas Kisser remembers. “We had a new album out, but we couldn’t tour for it. Therefore, we created this recurring event where we could talk with our fans around the world, play our music and exchange ideas, it was a blast! SepulQuarta kept us alive and strong throughout one of the most difficult times in human history."

Obviously, the Brazilian pioneers were not the only musicians feeling this way, so they started to connect with friends and colleagues worldwide and asked them to not only be part of their weekly podcast but also join them in playing one of Sepultura’s classics tracks. From the safety of their homes, international stars like Devin Townsend, Scott Ian (Anthrax), Danko Jones, Matt Heafy (Trivium), and many more recorded a Sepultura track together with the band, which have now been mixed and mastered by Conrado Ruther for release on jewelcase CD, recycled 2LP vinyl in black and marbled (Nuclear Blast + band shop exclusive) and all streaming platforms.

Sepultura has shared a spectacular performance of "Mask" that they recorded together with prog master Devin Townsend. Watch the video below.

Tracklisting:

"Territory" (featuring David Ellefson )
"Cut-Throat" (featuring Scott Ian )
"Sepulnation" (featuring Danko Jones)
"Inner Self" (featuring Phil Rind )
"Hatred Aside" (featuring F. Lira, A. Burns, M. Puertas)
"Mask" (featuring Devin Townsend)
"Fear, Pain, Chaos, Suffering" (feat. Emmily Barreto)
"Vandals Nest" (featuring Alex Skolnick)
"Slave New World" (featuring Matthew K. Heafy)
"Ratamahatta" (featuring Joao Barone & Charles Gavin)
"Apes Of God" (featuring Rob Cavestany)
"Phantom Self" (Mark Holcomb)
"Slaves Of Pain" (featuring Fred Leclercq & Marcello Pompeu)
"Kaiowas" (featuring Rafael Bittencourt)
"Orgasmatron" (featuring Phil Campbell)

"Mask" (featuring Devin Townsend) video: