A decade of Death Metal. The power, the brutality, the blasphemy. Nothing in the world compares it. Ten years and it still excites me. Krisiun know this feeling. They create it, they feel it, they live it everyday. Formed in Brazil by brothers Max (drums) and Moyses Kolesne (guitar), along with Alex Camargo (bass/vocals), the Metal warriors of Krisiun have been flying the brutal flag of Death Metal for ten years. Their dedication and determination has only made them stronger. Now, with the devastating new release "Conquerors Of Armageddon", they are waving that flag in your face, beating you down with it until you succumb. Krisiun have been doing extensive touring in the US, which is where I caught up with them to find out some history on the band. Check out the conquering force of Krisiun live, and you too will succumb.

Interview by AnneMarie Bowman

Where did you come up with the name Krisiun?
Krisiun is the deepest crater on the moon. It is a Latin word.

Krisiun has been around for a pretty long time. You have done self-financed albums and tours of Europe with no label support. How were you able to do this? Has it been rough?

Yes actually. We have been playing for more than ten years. Everything we have got with this band we deserve. We always have worked hard. Music is the most important thing for us. We are totally dedicated to music. Each member of this band works 100% for this band. Therefore, things worked out for us. We play an extremely brutal music; it's not for the masses. Our main goal is to keep the band together and make it stronger. We want to have a following of true Death Metal fans from around the world. We don't care about any labels, because sometimes they drop bands for not selling. We are ready for anything, ready to fight. We are here for Metal.

Do you think you are finally getting some respect now after all this time?

Yes, I think so. Century Media is the best label that could have signed us. We have never had this kind of support before. They are giving us great chances for tours in Europe and the U.S. We got the chance to record our album in one of the best studios in Germany. We had Erik Rutan (Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal) as producer. They are giving us good chances to make the band go further and further. I am really happy; it's like a dream. When I was a kid and starting this band, I never imagined I would still be here today playing.

Your first tour of Europe was self-financed.
Yes. We paid for the flight tickets ourselves, and did the whole tour by ourselves. "Black Force Domain" was the CD we had out at the time. We took a lot of CD's and tee shirts with us. So we got the money back from the tour by the merchandise sales.

That shows a lot of determination.

Yeah! Actually, Moses, my brother, went to Europe by himself a year before that tour with CD's and started to spread around our name. He met the Morbid Angel guys at the Dynamo festival, and they started to support the band. We got a good response after the trip Moses took, so we decided it was a good time to do some shows there. On this first tour of Europe, we signed with Gun Records. They came out to one of the shows, saw the band and asked if we would want to join forces. Three months later we were back in Europe, supporting Kreator and Dimmu Borgir. We got support from Gun Records and toured with major bands, in front of bigger crowds. I think we started to move up then.

What is inside of you guys that makes you play this kind of music and has made you stick it out and wait so long for the chances you are finally getting now?
We want to meet the top of our musical achievement. Music is the most important thing. A lot of people don't believe us, but we believe that we can achieve the goal of going further and further, play more extreme, go faster and faster. We want to make it tighter and clearer. In addition, it is important to know that we love to play this type of music. It is not like an obligation or something. I practice everyday because I like to practice. We are Death Metal warriors! We are here to fight. If you listen to our music, check out our lyrics, it is about war, about the fight. It is about breaking rules. I believe that is what we are here for.

You say your lyrics are about war and fighting. They are also about fighting against Christianity. What are your beliefs about Christianity?
We believe that in the past, when man built kingdoms with kings that they just spread around their rules. It is political; they started to blind people. They made people follow, if they denied it they would kill them. The people who denied the church, who fought Christianity, were killed. We believe the world is dominated by a kingdom of lies. It is pure falsity. You see all the bullshit around. Everybody is lying; everybody follows the same system. All these wars for religion and politicians, all of this is shit. This is the reason we go totally against the church. Against the man made system, against the worlds false rules. The music we play brings out this ancient warrior feeling, killing and ravaging, spreading the power and killing everybody.

Does playing Death Metal music make you fell empowered?
Yeah, sure!

Are you hoping to touch people and empower them? Not with just the power of the music, but also with the power of the lyrical statements.
Of course! Yes, if people check it out they will discover there is a real meaning behind our lyrics. They are not all fancy; there is a meaning. At least for us there is. If people check out our lyrics, they have to check out the music at the same time. Then they will have a better understanding of it.

Brazil is a very Christian country, do you ever run into any trouble there because of who you are or the music you play?

Not really. We live in a big town, Sao Paulo. There are lots of crazy freaks there. People from all around the world go there. So nobody cares about us there! Of course, there are many churchgoers there, but we never felt that religious people are going against us there.

I want to talk to you about "Conquerors of Armageddon". Do you think this is the best album you could have made right now?
We worked a lot on these songs. We rehearsed a lot to make this album sound tight and clear. We practiced and practiced, working together, changing riffs, going for the real metal fight. I think it was the best we could do. The next one will be better of course!