INTERVIEW: Max Kolesne (Krisiun)

** For over 25 years now Brazil’s Krisiun has waged war on death metal for death metal by death metal. To mistake the trio as anything but death metal–and their dedication to the craft–deserves the severest of punishments. Now stronger than ever, the Brothers in Death have a new album out called, Forged in Fury. Still fast as fucking lightning with a cattle prod up its ass yet memorable as a gruesome car crash, Forged in Fury sets alight pretenders and posers with great intensity. Read on as we question Hell’s most notable percussionist, Max Kolesne.

What is different about the new album compared to the most recent trio of albums?
Max Kolesne: I’d say the new album has more diversity, but at same time it’s more straight forward and more angry than The Great Execution. The way it sounds is absolutely natural, and fits perfectly to the vibe of the band.

Tell us about the new songs. How quickly did the material come together?
Max Kolesne: we started the writing process in June 2014, during which we had to take a few breaks from writing the material due to our tour schedule. Whenever we had some time off from shows, we three would gather at least 5 days a week in our practice room to work on the songs.
 
Actually, what excites you about writing new songs?
Max Kolesne: New songs are the soul of the band, a real band has to move forward, evolving and bringing new ideas to stay strong and on the top of the game. Nothing is more exciting than performing new songs live. It’s an inexplicable feeling that can’t be put into words.

What has the band learned from touring from a songwriting perspective? I gather not all songs can be blisteringly fast.
Max Kolesne: We learned a lot from touring, for sure. I’d say that our set list live it’s way more exciting now than it was in the past, because it’s more diverse. When we are working on a new song we have to think how it will work live too, not just for the crowd, but for us, the whole point about playing music live is to make it exciting and interesting for the crowd and for the band, and with the newer songs we have now a good balance between real fast stuff and the songs with more variation and with slower parts. It makes the show more exciting and it has more impact.

What do you think is distinctive about Brazilian death metal?
Max Kolesne: I think some of the Brazilian death metal bands that I really like has this kind of raw, savage, old-school vibe. I love when the bands keep it kind of raw, and don’t go too polite and clean. It just makes the music more brutal and real.

Describe your experience working at Mana Studios?
Max Kolesne: It was really awesome. The vibe was great. Erik is a great friend and we feel home at his studio. He totally respected the way we work and did his best to make us feel comfortable recording. We practiced a lot before starting the recordings, so everything went really smooth. Also staying in sunny St. Petersburg for a month was the perfect atmosphere for us to keep a clear head and get focus

Why didn’t you record in Brazil?
Max Kolesne: Because we thought Erik was the right guy this time, and the best result we would get recording at his studio. And he totally captured the band’s real vibe, and made this album sound natural and real.

What do you think keeps Krisiun going?
Max Kolesne: I think it’s our passion. We love to do what we do. We are lucky bastards to make a living doing what we most love to do. But the most important are our real fans. They are the ones who keep the band alive, without their dedication and passion, Krisiun wouldn’t exist.

It’s been the three of you since Black Force Domain. What do you think it is that keeps you three together?
Max Kolesne: I think the fact that we are three brothers helps a lot. When the two of us are fighting the other brother will always try to calm the others down and make peace. We have been playing together for so long that our personal relationship improved a lot. We learned to talk things out instead of fighting when we have disagreements. Also, the chemistry we have created playing together for so many years makes it easier to write songs and keep the band’s style.

Where do you think death metal will go from here? You’ve seen it evolve for over 20 years.
Max Kolesne: It’s really hard to say where death metal will go from here. It’s so diverse nowadays. There’s so many different styles, even bands mixing up some emo crap and love-happy melodies with death metal elements. Also lots of fake recordings, bands manipulating performances in the studio, and totally killing the vibe of the music. There’s a lot of ‘false death metal’ out there, I guess. I think, and I hope people are getting tired of this plastic, soulless, quantized recordings. And the real bands will survive. They will keep it real, natural, spontaneous and brutal.

What’s three fun facts that people don’t know about Krisiun?
Max Kolesne: Alex used to play drums. He had a band with friends from high school, back in the ‘80s. And he taught me how to play the basic drum beats. One day me and Moyses went to the school where I was studying and we stole some drum pieces from the marching band. That’s how I set up my first drum kit, only three pieces and no bass drum. In the beginning, we had a singer, but the guy would never come to the rehearsals. Then, Alex started to create vocal lines, so we could make our first songs. We fired the guy, and Alex became the band’s vocalist and bassist.

Actually, what does the name Krisiun mean?
Max Kolesne: The name Krisiun was taken from the lunar crater called Mare Crisium, and means the ‘Sea of Crises’.

** Krisiun’s new album, Forged in Fury, is out now on Century Media Records. Order all kinds of configs HERE, if you dare. Brazilian death metal lives!