Brazil are pretty well known for churning out some of the best Thrash Metal over the years, and Deathraiser are no exception to this. Having released their debut album through Xtreem Music last year, I spoke to the bands drummer William to get the lowdown on Brazil's latest Thrash export...
Hi William, how are you and how are thing with the band?
Hello Matt, is a pleasure to do this interview for you and for everyone who enjoys the Deathraiser. With us everything is great, just rehearsing and touring.
Can you give us a bit of background history on Deathraiser?
Deathraiser began in mid 2006 under the name Mercilless. In 2007 the band recorded their first demo 'Possessed By Thrash', having a great acceptance in the global scene. In 2009 we decided to change to Deathraiser, and released the album 'Violent Aggression' in 2011.
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Are you pleased with the reception you have got with your latest album 'Violent Aggression'?
Of course man, we had a great acceptance of the album everywhere with fanzines, magazines, web sites... We were very pleased with this CD, it has brought us many good things and hopefully it will bring more. Now we can now launch it here in Brazil and hopefully get some good publicity.
How did you come up with the name Deathraiser and what prompted you to change the name from Mercilless?
After we recorded the demo, we saw that there were already several bands with this name, and we were looking for something more aggressive and it was then that we came up with the name Deathraiser. We liked the name, but we were hesitant to use it at the beginning as it was hard to get used to it, but I believe it was a good choice.
Your style has been described as Kreator on amphetamines, how do you feel about this? Are Kreator a big influence for you?
We received several descriptions, but do not see this as a downside. Kreator has always been a great influence to the band, and for us it is a pleasure to be compared to bands that created Thrash Metal as they are part of our influences but I believe we still own one side, and are more characteristic of Brazilian bands like Sepultura, Sarcófago, and Mutilator.
Your style of Thrash Metal is very aggressive and fast, how easy is it for you to play to this level in a live performance?
Haha, it is sometimes tricky because we can get very tired, but the best thing is to show it live because the energy is insane and you get used to it. I confess that at first it was more difficult to maintain, but today we are very familiar with the songs and we want to do always perform better.
Do you listen to other styles of Metal, or are you mainly into Thrash?
I particularly listen to a little of everything. I like various styles and I think the band members also do. I really enjoy Old School Death Metal, 70's Rock n' Roll, Crossover, Grindcore, Punk Rock, Hardcore, Stoner, Hard n' Heavy and various other things but it is clear that Thrash is always first.
How do you feel about the new wave of Thrash Metal bands? Do you think Thrash is better these days compared to the 80's?
I love this 'new' wave of Thrash Metal, but it will never be like it was in the 80's. The 80's was perfect and there's nothing that can compare to it, but today we have many great bands, and more bands emerging which is good, but of course you will get a lot of bands that appear and then disappear over night. I believe that things must be done with passion and desire, and there must be cooperation not competition.
What is the scene like in Brazil?
Our scene is always on the rise but still has plenty of handicap, in various ways. Many producers who think only about money and lots of people wanting to take advantage, but the underground is very strong in Brazil. I like living in this scene, and we like organizing gigs, our local scene is getting better and better.
Are you guys writing new material, and what can we expect from this new material?
We started writing two new songs, new material that we wanted to be more evolved, with more variations and simple riffs. We are very concerned about the lyrics this time, they will be more critical about the world we live in, with all this misery, corruption and ignorance. We believe it will be a more mature work in every way, to give an example I will say it will be a mix of Sepultura's Arise with 'Extreme Aggression' by Kreator hahaha - do not take me seriously, haha just kidding!
What UK bands are you into?
We believe that the principal is Motorhead, but like some UK bands, in terms of lyrics, Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror, and many others.
Do you guys have some cool merchandise available and where can the readers get it from?
We have plans to make our official merchandise as fast as possible. So far we haven't been able to for lack of money and services from quality businesses, but hopefully this year we will do our shirts and other official merchandise.
What plans do you have for the future?
Hopefully in 2013 we will record the second album. We have plans for several tours in Brazil, South America and Europe now, our plan is to record our first video and play at many places that we can.
Any last words?
I want to thank you Matt, for giving us this opportunity, and everyone who enjoys the Deathraiser. We hope to play in England some day, it would be great to meet you and drink a few beers haha!
Keep the underground spirit! Thrash 'til death.
Thanks for answering the questions, William. Remember to check out Deathraiser and be sure to buy their album which you can get direct from Xtreem Music. You can visit the band on Facebook and Myspace, and you can also follow them on Twitter.
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