KRISIUN was formed in 1990 by three brothers, vocalist / bassist Alex Carmargo, guitarist Moyses Kolesne and drummer Max Kolesne. The band is heavily influenced by the debut albums of Sodom, Kreator, Morbid Angel and Slayer. Their violent lyrics and very fast musical tempo makes them one of the most eminent "extreme death metal" bands in the world today. In 1994 the band released the ’Unmerciful Order’ EP. With this release KRISIUN established the band as a cult act, and that status was further confirmed by the release of their debut album  ‘Black Force Domain’ in 1995. The following albums continued to improve their brutal and uncompromising approach to death metal.

In April-May 2008, the band recorded their new album ‘Southern Storm‘ in the Stage One Studios in Germany. The production was done by Andy Classen who had worked with the Brazilians on the album ‘Conquerors of Armageddon’ (2000) and ‘AssassiNation’ (2006).

Over the past years KRISIUN have earned a legendary worldwide reputation due to their constant touring activities, and they have been lauded with the highest praise and respect ever since their beginnings in 1990. After the much-lauded predecessor “AssassiNation” (2006), ‘Southern Storm’ continues in the sonic tradition the band’s rabid fan-base has loved since day one: ferocious high-speed blasting, infectious double bass-driven grooves, razor-sharp ripping, devastating leads and a unique feel for combining catchiness with sheer perfect technicality.

In the field of death metal you will hardly find a band today as consistent and stable in terms of quality and conviction as KRISIUN, successfully ignoring trends and fads. Since the beginning this unholy trio has made sure that metal will never die!

The new album ‘Southern Storm’ has recently been released, and so Metal-experience had a chat with drummer Max Kolesne. Here you can read what he had to say.

First of all, how are you?

Good, thanks for talking with me about the new album.

How did you launch into writing the material for ‘Southern Storm’ after your previous album?

We started in November last year and it took us about four months to write the album. Right when we got back from the tour we all started at the same time. So we had some ideas and we started putting them together as soon as we got home.

Did ideas come easily so that you just had to write them down or was it more of a careful composing thing?

Yes, this way of writing works really well, 3 minds together, jamming and trying out songs is the best way for us. Also we try to write down and remember parts of songs or riffs and stuff so we can put it all together later on.

What were the goals you had in mind when you started to record ‘Southern Storm’, did you have a certain idea of what you wanted to do, any elements you definitely wanted to have on the album?

No, we always try to make a better album than the previous one! Like everybody you want to make something better and more brutal and refreshing. We never give up our roots, that’s always going to be there. We think you have to stay close to the roots and make some small changes every time!!

How hard was it to come up with a follow-up for the well received album ‘AssassiNation’?

When you start the first days of writing it’s really hard. You need to start doing it and as soon as the first few songs and ideas are there, the rest comes more or less naturally. We tried to compare the albums to make this one more to the point, more forward.

What do you think are the main differences between your last album ´Southern Storm’ and the new one ‘AssassiNation´?

The album is still hanging on to its roots but we tried to refresh it a little and bring in some more and new elements without changing our sound too much. So the differences are not major but very delicate and you have to listen to it a few times to figure it out for yourself.

Who was responsible for the lyrics and how important is it to you that people pay attention to the lyrics apart from listening to the music?

Alex Camargo wrote all the lyrics and some were done by Moyses Kolesne. The lyrics are about reality and there’s brutal lyrics about bloody wars and so on. We don’t try to send a message to the people but we sing about what happens in the world. Talking about facts! Sometimes we are about holding the hammer and smashing up things. We do sing violent words and lyrics but what we say is that you have to be yourself and not follow somebody else!

Can you tell me a little more about the lyrics on the album and their meaning? 
The lyrics are mostly about real life. What is happening in the world, wars that are going on…and so on. If somebody has bombed something we will sing about it. We don’t want to send any message at all. But the lyrics need to be brutal and about the darker things in life, otherwise they wouldn’t fit into our music.

Could you please describe the implications of the title ‘Southern Storm’, what does it stand for and is there a special meaning behind it?

It’s like the storm coming from hell…. South of heaven is hell…. So it’s up to the people to find their own meaning to this title. It means 2 things.

How important is it to you that people pay attention to the lyrics apart from listening to the music?

It’s not that important. People should have their own mind and we don’t want to send a message, it’s more about the music to me. We want people to think the music is brutal (with or without the lyrics). The lyrics are all about what happens or has happened and there is nothing new in there for people who check the news every once in a while.

What about the song writing – how can we imagine you work on new songs? What comes first, lyrics or melodies? Is it like you sit down and write a new song because you need more material now or do you wait until you get an idea?

Music always comes first. The drum parts and guitar riffs. And that’s how we will put a song together. Only when we have the whole song ready, the lyrics come in. The lyrics always have to go along with the music so we cannot do it the other way around.

Before an album release there is a process in the studio, was the recording process for ‘Southern Storm’ different from the rest of the albums you did and how can we imagine you’ve worked this time?
Actually we did it kind of the same as with ‘AssassiNation’. We were very satisfied with the last album and when you are pleased with that, it’s logical to do it the same way again.

The production was done by by Andy Classen, what made him the perfect man for this job and are you satisfied with the result?

We had worked with him before. He helped us open doors the first time he was involved. After that we tried other people and other studios but something was missing!! To me Andy is an amazing producer. He feels our music and knows how it has to sound. Raw and natural and still brutal. He can give it the balance between old school and newer elements. We would like to do the next album with him but you never know what’s going to happen in the future.

In which things/songs on the new album can one clearly hear his vision and ideas?
I cannot say that you can clearly hear that Andy did the production, he made it our cd with our sound. He added some newer elements and put some more old school elements in there to find the right sound for us. He did a great job!

Are there things from the past that you would have done differently with Krisiun if you had the chance to do it again?

Of course, but from mistakes you learn a lot! So if you learn from your mistakes, you will evolve and get better. To me mistakes are just something to learn from. If the album was perfect, we would be done forever.

Have you received any feedback on the new album yet? How do you feel about this album – are you satisfied with the outcome or would you have liked to have changed anything in retrospective?

Oh there has been a lot of positive feedback. The bigger magazines rated us pretty high. In Rockhard magazine we were on 4^th place. So we hope we will get more feedback, as I said before, we learn from it.

Do you have any favorites on ‘Soutern Storm’, songs that you think are somehow above the others?

Right now it’s really hard to say. We are so satisfied with the whole album. But one song I really like to listen to is “Whore of the Unlight”, it goes from slow to fast and has a crazy part with vocals and guitars in the middle. I really like the vibes in that song. Maybe in a year I will have more favorites.

Ok, some personal questions to end this interview:

With all the touring and several studio albums under your belt, how far has Krisiun surpassed your original dreams and what would you say is the most rewarding part of being in the band?

We always believed that we could do it!!! You have to have a good attitude about it and never give up. We played every shithole there is. The first time in Europe was a dream for us. That was like a dream come true. Showing our music to more people all around the world. We still have the same passion as in the beginning.

So tell us a little about yourself and the kinds of things that motivate you in your writing.. Are there any particular bands that have been a big influence in your song writing, metal or otherwise?
I listen to Blues a lot, and Indian music. Lots of music is really inspiring for me. I listen to a lot of crazy different kind of stuff. Music with roots. So not the stupid poppy trendy shit. Most of all I listen to metal!!! Motörhead and all the older metal bands.

Is there anything left unmentioned, any last statement?

Thanks for spreading our message!! We are really grateful to people like you and all the maniacs who come to our shows!! You are the reason why bands are playing and staying alive.

Okay, thanks for the interview!

Talitha Martijn  

Members :

Alex Camargo - Bass, Vocals

Moyses Kolesne - Guitar

Max Kolesne - Drums

Former members

Altemir Souza – guitar

Mauricio Nogueira – guitar

Albums:

Unmerciful Order (1994)

Black Force Domain (1995)

Apocalyptic Revelation (1998)

Conquerors of Armageddon (2000)

Ageless Venomous (2001)

Works of Carnage (2003)

Bloodshed (2004)

AssassiNation (2006)

Southern Storm (2008)