Fonte: Metal Mofos http://metalmofos.com
I really respect the work of the bands SEPULTURA and SARCÓFAaGO! They are great bands and in many countries we have noticed many people who also appreciate these bands, but I cannot say that I was influenced by them, because I did not know them. It may seem prideful, but I’ve never really been influenced by other bands, because when it all started I did not like metal or any kind of underground music. In 1993 when I felt the call to start Antidemon, I received songs through a revelation from God. The riffs came to my head as well as the lyrics … Songs that are part of our 4 albums and others that are to be recorded yet were given to me by God at that time.
At what point in your life did you decide to play extreme metal music with lyrics based on Christianity?
Between the end of 1992 and the beginning of 1993 I began to listen to guitar riffs … drums … vocals … of songs and styles that I had never heard or seen. I did not hear these songs played live, or from a vinyl or cd, nor radio or television. These songs started to play inside me … There were violent guitar and drum riffs and guttural vocal in my head. I’m sure it was not something normal, but supernatural, because I with more than 25 years of life, had never had access to this style of music at all. Along with all this madness that was happening to me, there were song lyrics that talked a lot about the confrontation between good and evil … They talked about the confrontation between satan and God. In the way that Jesus Christ gives us the opportunity to be better people. And I automatically saw that this was Christian music.
How did you meet your wife and bandmate Juliana ? There are not many metal death bands out there where a husband and wife are both in the band!
In 2006, I started dating Juliana and got married the same year. At the time Antidemon was without a drummer and we had a series of shows and tours outside Brazil already scheduled. Juliana had never sat behind a battery … But she had an impetus to say: “I feel like I can play the drums for Antidemon.” I was already feeling something similar to this feeling … And I believe that just as something happened in 1993 for the band’s emergence, a kind of divine call, was happening again. It was ruthless and incredible what happened. We started rehearsing and on the second day Juliana began to use the double bass pedal and dominate elements that would normally take a long time. In just over two months of rehearsals Antidemon returned to the Stage with Juliana on Drums. That was in the second half of 2006, and soon afterwards Antidemon went on a South American tour through several countries … Then Mexico and Central America. And so Juliana settled with the sticks of Antidemon to this day and I believe that really is her position! She was born for this!
About being husband and wife in the same Death Metal band being not very common, I can say it’s really wonderful! We travel together, play together, dream together, fight and conquer together, finally … Together, we live intensely!
What brought Antidemon to Vision of God Records? You were previously with Rowe Productions. How did you first get in touch with Steve Rowe?
Yes … We recorded with Steve Rowe’s ROWE Productions our fourth album, APOCALYPSENOW! I met Steve personally when he came to Brazil in the early 2000s and little by little a true friendship came along.
Our incredible partnership greatly benefited our work. Steve’s help and spirit helped us a lot so that this album could be recorded, and it is distributed by the same label to this day …. But Rowe Prod. could not help us with the releases we wanted and especially with the recording of a new album. It was there that VISION OF GOD RECORDS invited us to work together and it was a great door that opened to ANTIDEMON and through it we passed with much hope and joy.
Recently we had the reissue of our first album (DEMONOCIDIO) that comes with new booklet, new images and two extra tracks. Also this year of 2017 will see the release of an incredible live DVD in a past performance in the city of Santiago de Chile, this DVD will be called “TORMENTERROR”. Then we have to reissue two more albums: “Anillo de Fuego” and “Satanichaos” and something we very much desire, as I mentioned: the recording and release of our fifth album.
We hope that this partnership with Vision of God Records can be more and more fulfilling, both for our band and our audience and fans who are happy to have so many new releases.
You’ve played in many different countries throughout South America, Central America, Europe, and the Carribean. What are some of your favorite cities? Do you think you will ever get to play in the United States?
It is really one of the most difficult questions to answer, because after almost 24 years of being on the road, so many countries, countless cities and different cultures, I can only conclude that each place and performance was unique and special! Regardless if there were 20 people watching us and enjoying our music or there were 20,000! It was always special! The memories of each event are vivid and full of details, especially for people, friendship and this song that unites us regardless of language and race! When we begin to play and they begin to bang their heads and respond to each riff of our music, everything makes sense and becomes special.
About performing shows in the United States, this is an old desire and I believe it will not be long before that happens! We believe that with the partnership of the American “Vision of God Records” things can happen faster and this dream come true.
So see you soon United States of America! You are missing in our History!
You played some shows in Cuba earlier this year. What was that experience like?
Even after long tours and missions with Antidemon in 32 countries, going to Cuba seemed unlikely, impossible … But in the last two years it became a dream to be battled, warred and with a lot of determination and purpose began to be sought. We began a struggle to raise the needs and requirements for the band to appear for the first time in a socialist country, which was something new and was full of unknown situations in the level of knowing how to behave and fit in inside a country with such a political regime.
One of the biggest challenges would be financial resources. In order to supply this, the project was publicized and the necessities needed to make this Mission possible, and thus a little more than 40 people sent some money so that this dream could come true. The miracle happened and the event in Cuba that opened the doors to Antidemon was the “ROCK DE LA LOMA” in its XII edition, an event that is organized by the promoters “Hermanos Saiz Association”.
The event took place from February 23 to 25, 2017 in the cities of Manzanillo and Bayamo. Antidemon participated in the all 3 days of the Event, being the only band present to play in the 3 nights of the Festival. It was really wonderful how the Cuban audience received the band, enjoyed our music … It vibrated in each performance and post-show fan interactions showed us great affection, giving the band the opportunity to spend hours with them … Taking photos, talking and exchanging ideas about our Faith and convictions in God that we have as ideology and truth in our History. This really was wonderful, as the band found hundreds of super-intelligent young people open to know a little of what was new to them: A Christian band from Death Grind Core.
The order given and assumed as commitment before the organizers by the socialist regime of the country was not to speak about our faith or to preach the message of Jesus Christ in the midst of our performances as we do in all our shows … This was difficult for us, but in every time we knew that God would give us some strategy. Then in the interval of each song we spoke of all the characteristics of Jesus … Love, Understanding, Hope, the values of Life, the possibility of not giving up doing what we were created in this world to accomplish … To overcome difficulties. .. And the public reaction was really wonderful. And when we went down from the stage in each of the 3 performances in Cuba, we were surrounded by many people from the audience, who were happy and surprised by our music and our words! We then realized that practically everyone knew that we were Christians and asked about our faith! It was a blessing, because it was then possible to tell many about what we believe more explicitly!
Also in every post-show we could also distribute Bibles that were sent from Sweden to Cuba, in unitary orders … one by one … so that there would be no problems of entry into the Country … A kind of contraband of Bibles!
We were able to assemble 50 “Metal Bibles” to be distributed in the 3 day event. This so unusual book caused quite a commotion because it includes the New Testament and brings the testimony of many personalities of the World of Heavy Metal that have converted to Jesus Christ. It was incredible to see young people who, one day after receiving the Bible, continued to take it with them through the streets of Bayamo and some witnessed how much they liked and identified with its contents.
At the end of it all we thought we could not openly express our faith … After the last performance we prayed by laying hands on many who wanted Jesus Christ! It was an incredible experience, because bringing the gospel to a place that has not been widely allowed to this day was an honor and joy to do a mission like that!
The desire to return to Cuba is already beginning to burn, for a feeling that something has only just begun is truly eminent, especially in remembering the phrases and speeches of many who were with us these days in Cuba. One of the Organizers, after all, came to us and said, “If what you are doing and speaking is Religion … I want this religion for Me” God be praised and may every seed of the Gospel that has been planted in Cuba germinate and grow!
Could you please tell me about how the recording of the performance for the dvd Tormenterror came about and how did you decide what show to record? What was it like being on camera? How did you choose which songs to play for this special occasion?
In 2016 we did one of the biggest tours of Antidemon touring throughout Latin America and in our passage through Santiago of Chile we had a great structure for audio and video that allowed us a great presentation of the band. And we also achieved a very good quality image and sound level. After seeing the images and the audio we decided that it would be possible for this to launch and thus will happen the DVD TORMENTERROR through our record company, VISION OF GOD RECORDS.
When will Antidemon begin recording new music?
We are in the process of composition at that moment. Between our tours we are preparing to record the new album … It will be our fifth album, and we want it to be the best. We hope to make the recordings in 2018.
Thank you Isaac Sauers and Metal Mofos for this great opportunity to tell us a bit about Antidemon. Thanks to all the readers for your time! We hope to meet you sometime somewhere in this world, making noise and banging your head with lots of metal! One of the best things about all this is the friendship that can come from people who enjoy the same thing. Write to us!
Greetings from São Paulo, Brazil.
Batista (Antidemon Bass and Vocals)
