As Sepultura marches through the final stages of their global farewell tour, guitarist Andreas Kisser is already thinking about his next creative steps. In a recent interview with France’s “Metal OBS,” the heavy metal veteran opened up about his plans for life after the legendary Brazilian band officially calls it quits.
While Sepultura is coming to an end, the guitarist made it incredibly clear that his personal musical journey is far from over. However, fans shouldn’t expect him to just form a copy of his current band.
“I’m not gonna stop, of course, doing music. I have so many ideas, but I didn’t decide yet where to go. I still wanna enjoy the moment, enjoy the tour, enjoy the very last run that we have this year. But I have many possibilities. Maybe [I will] do another album myself or try something different. I wanna explore different worlds. I’m going more to the art world, like painting and mixing music with colors and stuff. And it’s interesting, to try to go to different places. I don’t wanna find another world that is the same as Sepultura. I already did [all that] during Sepultura. So I’d like to absorb more ideas and to be aware of new possibilities and see what happens. But now I’m very focused of what we doing today and the [last few months of the] tour,” Kisser explained (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Despite being heavily focused on wrapping up their live career, the band recently surprised fans by announcing a brand-new EP, The Cloud Of Unknowing, set to drop on April 24 via Nuclear Blast Records.
When asked why a band on the verge of retirement would bother putting out new material, the guitarist explained that their farewell was always meant to be an open-ended celebration rather than a rushed deadline.
”When we announced the farewell tour two years ago, almost three years ago, we announced that it’s gonna be open. But I mean, we know we are dying; Sepultura is stopping. So we’re gonna leave it open to fulfill our last wishes. For instance, we had the chance to play Lollapalooza in Brazil for the first time… We went to Iceland for the first time. So we need time to go to places and to fulfill all the possibilities. So every album that Sepultura puts out, we take three years touring the world. If you see the history, that’s our rhythm. Because we go everywhere. We’ve been to more than 80 countries and we go far and it takes time. So, why rush? Why run? I mean, there’s no reason that we [have to] announce [the final tour] and in a year we have to stop just because people think the farewell has to stop in a certain time. And we leave it open, because we live the moment, we live the present. And it turned out the possibility to record an album.”
The recording process for The Cloud Of Unknowing was incredibly organic. Following their appearance on the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise, the band utilized their downtime in Miami to hit Criteria Studios. Propelled by the fresh energy of drummer Greyson Nekrutman, the four-track EP came together quickly and without any strict corporate deadlines.
“We did the 70000 Tons Of Metal last year, which is a cruise, from Miami to Jamaica and then Jamaica to Miami, and then we make the best of the situation. We went to the Criteria Studios in Miami to record four songs. I had a few ideas. I always have demos and ideas floating around. And Greyson came into the band two years ago, and he brought a new perspective, a new energy, new frequencies to the band that it was great. The atmosphere was perfect for us to work. We went into the studio. We didn’t have a release date. We didn’t have a name for the album. We didn’t have even names for the songs. I mean, the song ‘Sacred Books‘, the number three song, we wrote in the studio, jamming, together, me and Greyson and stuff, and we did it in the studio. So it’s very spontaneous. It’s an album that it doesn’t have any attachment to any strategy or marketing or whatever you wanna call. It just happened. And it’s great, in this third year of our farewell tour, to have a new element, to have new songs. We have four new songs, which we will play live on this upcoming tour and stuff.”
As for why the band chose to release a short EP rather than a full-length record, Kisser pointed to the immense pressure that comes with crafting a traditional album cycle.
“The pressure of doing an album is totally different. It’s totally different. It’s another story. We have an EP. The format really fits wherever we felt at the time. Why we have to do an album? There’s no law that [says we have] to do something like that. So we made the best of what we had in our hands. The elements of the present. We [were] in Miami. We [had] a few ideas. We went to the studio for 10 days, and we did it. And then a year later now, everything’s ready to release. We put out the first single, and April is coming out the whole, full EP. So it’s great. I mean, it’s, it’s something that was really spontaneous. It’s kind of crazy. Of course you have some planning, you have some ideas, but you have to let room to improvise as well.”
Fans have already gotten a taste of the new EP through its first two singles: “The Place” and “Beyond The Dream,” the latter featuring a collaboration with Sérgio Britto and Tony Bellotto of the Brazilian rock band Titãs.
In addition to the studio EP, Sepultura is currently compiling audio for a massive live album to commemorate their final run. The project will feature 40 songs recorded across 40 different cities around the globe.
Sepultura‘s final North American run on the “Celebrating Life Through Death” tour begins on April 29 in Montclair, New Jersey. The massive trek features support from Exodus, Biohazard, and Tribal Gaze, wrapping up on May 29 in Los Angeles.
Rest Of Sepultura Farewell Tour Dates:
North American Tour 2026:
- April 29 – Montclair, NJ – The Wellmont Theater
- May 01 – Montreal, QC – MTELUS
- May 02 – London, ON – London Music Hall
- May 04 – Detroit, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
- May 05 – Louisville, KY – Old Forester’s Paristown Hall
- May 06 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl
- May 07 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
- May 08 – New Orleans, LA – The Civic Theatre
- May 10 – Daytona Beach, FL – Welcome To Rockville
- May 11 – Charleston, SC – Music Farm
- May 12 – Greensboro, NC – Piedmont Hall
- May 13 – Reading, PA – Reverb
- May 15 – Chicago, IL – Ramova Theatre
- May 16 – Columbus, OH – Sonic Temple
- May 17 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
- May 19 – Des Moines, IA – Val Air Ballroom
- May 21 – Denver, CO – The Ogden Theatre
- May 22 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
- May 23 – Boise, ID – Shrine Social Club
- May 25 – Las Vegas, NV – House Of Blues
- May 26 – San Diego, CA – The Observatory North Park
- May 28 – Berkeley, CA – UC Theatre
- May 29 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
European Tour 2026:
- June 06 – Maastricht, Netherlands – South Of Heaven
- June 07 – Plzen, Czech Republic – MetalFest
- June 08 – Zagreb, Croatia – Tvornica Kulture
- June 09 – Milan, Italy – Circolo Magnolia
- June 10 – Rome, Italy – Eur Social Park
- June 12 – Interlaken, Switzerland – Greenfield Festival
- June 13 – Nickelsdorf, Austria – Nova Rock
- June 14 – Würzburg, Germany – Posthalle
- June 17 – Saarbrucken, Germany – Garage
- June 19 – Clisson, France – Hellfest
- June 20 – Dessel, Belgium – Graspop Metal Meeting
- June 21 – Lisbon, Portugal – Rock In Rio Lisboa
- June 23 – Oberhausen, Germany – Turbinenhalle
- June 24 – Potsdam, Germany – Waschhaus Potsdam
- June 25 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Copenhell
- June 26 – Huskvarna, Sweden – Folkets Park
- June 27 – Oslo, Norway – Tons Of Rock
- July 29 – Wacken, Germany – Wacken Open Air
- August 01 – Helsinki, Finland – Tavastia
- August 02 – Tallinn, Estonia – Tallinn Rock Festival
- August 05 – Villena, Spain – Leyendas del Rock
- August 07 – Walton-on-Trent, UK – Bloodstock Festival
- August 09 – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
