The Metal Crypt - Acid Speech Interview

Interviews

Interview with Renato Gama (guitar)
Interview conducted by Daniel DGYDP Guerrero

Date online: February 25, 2009

Corruption and inequality has done a lot of harm to mankind, but it has also produced one positive thing: extremely pissed off, furious metalheads expressing their feelings with aggressive, neck-breaking music. Brazil in particular has a long tradition of such enraged musical frenzy: in the eighties, groups such as Sepultura, Sarcófago and MX came and put their anger into music. When years later the situation had not improved much, Torture Squad and Violator started a new wave of pandemonium. The latest band in this line of infuriated metal icons is Acid Speech, who are determined to spread their thoughts of disgust. Despite the disadvantage they have for living in an underdeveloped, fucked up area, the band is not about to give up. The odds are against them, but that's no reason to stop. "You gotta react and resist in front of any kind of injustice", says guitarist Renato. Let's be honest, what choice did I have but to interview this group of pissed off metalheads from the third world?

First of all, thanks for doing this interview!

Hi Dan, we'd like to thank you a lot, for this opportunity you gave us to spread our thoughts! It's amazing for us!

Why did you start this project?

Acid Speech started its activities two years ago. At that time, our only intent was to play the fastest and furious we could, and share the same passion for metal we have, for thrash in particular. Of course, we have always believed that music is one of the most effective weapons humanity has: music changes people's mind and motivates people to think further! We decided to use this in our favor, to spread our thoughts against all that things we disgust and repudiate, in favor of all the things we believe and we know are right. That's why we are called Acid Speech. We tell the truth, and we know that it hurts, like acid. We're here to incite the corrosive riot!

Your first demo came out in 2008, tell us some more about that.

We could finally release "Corrosive Riot" on December 2008, after some problems with our past members. You know, it's very hard to find the right guys, those who play right and above all, share the same ideals and thoughts. When Rafael "Airhead" joined Acid Speech (July '08), we were finally able to start the recordings. All the songs that are on "Corrosive Riot" were already written since late 2007. We had a big delay to record; we were thirsty to do it very soon!

Are you satisfied with the final result of Corrosive Riot?

Yes we are! Technically, we know that our recording quality is not the best. Of course we'd like to have a professional studio quality in our demo, but that's not possible for new bands in Brazil. It's quite expensive, and in Brazil you don't earn any money for playing live, even if you play in a (relatively) well known band. But now we are saving each fucking cent, and we'll hopefully record our new stuff with badass quality! You better be ready!

When listening to your songs, I hear a no-bullshit, straightforward attitude. What is the idea behind that?

That's exactly what we're trying to do; true thrash metal has no room for bullshit anymore! We just try to wake up Brazilian people, which are a particularly conformist people. There's neither a god that will come down from the skies to save you and your family from poverty and misery, nor a "good" politician who will do it! They only want your money and your votes! They want you to stay living in the sewer, because that way it's easier to control you! Once they get what they want, they don't give a fuck about you, this kind of people just uses the power to become more rich and powerful, and we don't have to agree with it anymore! The corrosive speech must be spread! God doesn't exist; it's a myth, just like good-hearted politicians (at least, in Brazil).

How has the metal community responded to this demo?

So far we're having an amazing feedback from all the metalheads worldwide. It's great for us to know that some crazy guys from the other side of the planet are enjoying our songs and support us! It's definitely a proof that all our effort has been recognized!

Capaça from Violator is a guest musician on one of the tracks, has this band influenced you in other ways too?

For sure! Violator is a great influence for us, not just musically but personally too, we admire each one of these guys! We know Violator since the "Killer Instinct" demo, and we know how much these guys have fought and have sacrificed themselves, they really deserve our respect.

Brazil is by many people still considered an underdeveloped area. How has the situation in your country affected your lives and songs?

In fact, Brazil is in many aspects classifiable as an underdeveloped country, or better, "in development". What really fucks Brazil is the inequality on the income distribution: few have a lot and lots have almost nothing. This is a heritage from the colonial period, and we know that everything has begun at that time, with the exploitation of Brazil. This is (for me), one of the most relevant reasons for our current "underdeveloped status". So, how this affects us? We have a lot of violence in our streets, people stealing, kidnapping and killing for money, a lot of drug dealers - which is a very bad thing because it incites violence too. The majority of people are not so skilled to get good jobs, they can't work and study at the same time, so they won't grow in life, and so forth.

And the worst is that our politicians, even having this situation in mind, are still being corrupt! Every day we see a new political scandal, every day we see people being misguided and manipulated to throw money out for the church - even the poorest ones! We are really pissed off with this situation! Another problem is that everything for us is expensive; instruments, studios, transportation, taxes, everything. We know some bands that have not recorded themselves, or have even split up because of all these kind of costs. It's very hard to maintain a band here!

Is there a political or social message you want to spread with Acid Speech?

You gotta react and resist front of any kind of injustice, this is our main message!

What do you consider the focus of the music: the message, the riffs, being thrash, or something completely else?

We try to focus all these subjects alike. The message is very important, as mentioned above. But the riffs and "being" thrash too. Even though we have no songs about the "Thrash Metal Way of Life", our new songs will approach this topic too.

Are there any plans for the direct future: tours, new releases, etc?

Yes, we have some plans; not exactly a tour, but we'll try to arrange some dates for this first semester. Unfortunately, nothing is definitive yet. We need to play outside Brasilia, so Brazilian head bangers can discover us; we are a brand new band. Although we exist for two years, few people know Acid Speech.

Where do you see yourselves five years from now?I can see Acid Speech in a stage, playing thrash metal; no matter where, no matter who'll be banging with us, but… I just hope to sound better and faster each time!

What are the goals of Acid Speech for the future?

Our current aims are releasing our first album (with a professional quality), and play live as much as possible. It isn't so close in the future but we'll fight to reach these goals quickly!

You recently recruited a new bassist; tell us some more about him.

The new bassist -his name is André- is already rehearsing with us, and we can tell you in advance that he's a completely maniac for metal and 100% devoted to Acid Speech. Our current line-up consists of: me, Renato Gama – guitarist, Marcondes Silva – vocalist and guitarist, Rafael "Airhead" – drummer and André Luis – bassist.

Is there a main songwriter or leader in the group? How do you arrange the songwriting process?

There's no main song writer in the band. Even Rafael "Airhead" writes lyrics and helps us to set up the musical structure; everyone in the band contributes to the composition process and gives opinions. We are also helped by other guys on the lyrics translation/correction, because you know, our native language is Portuguese which is completely different from English, which means a lot of difficulty too.

Who are your main musical influences?

Our principal influences are all those fucking great thrash and death metal bands from the eighties or the early nineties, such as Slayer, Razor, the old Sepultura, Kreator, Tankard, Destruction, Violent Force, Pestilence and many others! And of course, we cannot forget the new ones; Farscape, Bywar, Blasthrash, Fueled by Fire, Merciless Death, Strikemaster, Violator, Toxic Holocaust, Slaver, and a lot of other ones...

Again, thanks for this interview and hope to hear more from you soon!

Dan, we'd like to thank you again, so much! We'd also like to invite you to come to our warm lands to enjoy some barrels of beer with us!

Better yet, come to Europe and I'll set up some concerts!

We aren't kidding ok?! Hahaha! For those who'd like to check our songs, go to www.myspace.com/acidspeech. If you want to contact us and exchange some ideas, feel free to send us an email to acidspeech@gmail.com! Remember, THRASH HAS NO FRONTIERS, so let's thrash united!!!

Written by Daniel DGYDP Guerrero for The Metal Crypt and Circle of Destruction, 2009.

Other information about Acid Speech on this site

Review: Corrosive Riot