Vita

Andreas Rudolf Kisser was born on August 24, 1968 in São Bernardo do Campo.  His mother was a German teacher from Slovenia and his father was a mechanical engineer for Mercedes-Benz from Germany.

At an early age, Kisser showed an interest in music.  At the age of 10 years old he began to listen to The Beatles, Tonico & Tinoco and Roberto Carlos.  Andreas received his first acoustic guitar from his grandmother.  Around the age of 14 he first started playing guitar by working on learning basic chords from popular Brazilian music and also classical music.

In the early 1980s Andreas was first exposed to hard rock and metal.  Some of his early influences include bands such as KISS, Queen, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, YES and Deep Purple.  Early guitar influences included Brian May (Queen), Ace Frehley (KISS), Paul Stanley (KISS), Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osborne), Eric Clapton (Cream), Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), Steve Howe (YES), Jeff Hanneman (Slayer) and Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple).  In 1983 Andreas saw KISS live in São Paulo, Brazil for the first time.   Andreas desired playing with overdrive and playing rock music.

Andreas’ first electric guitar was a Giannini-Supersonic.  Giannini is a Latin American guitar manufacturing company that was founded by Italian Luthier Tranquillo Giannini in the early 20^th century.

In high school Andreas and two of his friends did a school project in which they were “explaining heavy metal.”  It gave them the opportunity to play heavy metal live in front of the school.  It was the first time Andreas played on stage.

In 1984 Andreas’ first band was formed.  The band was called Esfinge and it featured Andreas on guitar and vocals along with Fabio Bonatelli on bass and Osvaldo on drums.  Esfinge played covered songs of other bands such as Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden.  Esfinge changed its name to Pestilence in 1986.

Pestilence released a demo in 1987 but was never signed to a record label and did not release any full studio albums.   The Pestilence demo tracks were later used for Sepultura songs on the Schizophrenia and Beneath the Remains albums.  Pestilence, the band, had no further activity after Andreas joined Sepultura.

Andreas traveled to Belo Horizonte in 1987 and met the members of Sepultura for the first time at one of their concerts.  Sepultura’s lead guitar player, Jairo Guedes, left the band in early 1987.  Andreas auditioned for the band and was offered the job.  Andreas brought a new element to Sepultura and the band gained a sound more closely characterized as thrash metal than death metal.  In 1987, Sepultura released Schizophrenia, their first album with Andreas Kisser on lead guitar.  The album was released by Cogumelo Records.  The band distributed copies of tapes to both the United States and Europe in hopes of gaining international attention.  At this same time, Andreas also made a guest appearance on Ratos de Porão’s album, Cada Dia Mais Sujo e Agressivo, which also was released in 1987.

In 1988 Sepultura relocated to São Paulo, Brazil and they signed a record deal with Roadrunner Records, a label based out of New York.  Roadrunner Records sent American producer Scott Burns to Rio de Janeiro to record the band’s third studio album, Beneath the Remains, which was released in 1989.  Sepultura went on their first major international tours.  They performed their first show in the United States in October 1989, opening for King Diamond in New York City.

Sepultura had incredible success.  In 1990 the band made the decision to move to Phoneix, Arizona.  1991 was also the year Sepultura released Arise.  Arise is considered to be a thrash metal masterpiece by most.  In 1992, Sepultura embarked on two huge tours – Helmet and Ministry and Alice in Chains and Ozzy Osbourne.   In 1993 Sepultura changed their style again, this time adding a tribal element to their music.  They also slowed the music down a little bit and added more groove and less thrash.  The result was the wildly popular Chaos A.D.  Sepultura went on tour with Clutch and Fudge Tunnel.  As a result of that tour, Andreas was captured on a live recording of the song “A Shogun Named Marcus” which was released by Clutch in 1993.  Additionally, as a result of that same tour, Max Cavalera and Alex Newport (Fudge Tunnel) formed a special project called Nailbomb.  Andreas played lead guitar as a special guest on Nailbomb’s Point Blank which was released in 1994.   

On December 16, 1994 Andreas married Patricia Perissinotto.  Andreas and Patricia first started dating in March 1990.

In 1995 Andreas worked on some projects with Metallica’s Jason Newsted.  One of the projects was Quarteto de Pinga, which featured Robb Flynn (Machine Head) on guitar and vocals, Tom Hunting (Exodus) on drums, Jason Newsted on bass and vocals and Andreas on guitar.  The project recorded three demo tracks but they were never officially released.

Another project was called Sexuoturica.  It featured Jason Newsted on bass and vocals, Tom Hunting on drums, and Andreas on guitar.  The band name was a combination of the band members main bands – Sepultura, Exodus and Metallica.  The band recorded a three-song demo in 1995.  Those recordings wouldn’t be released, however, until 2003, as part of a package with another Jason Newsted project, on a split recording titled, IR8 vs Sexuoturica.

On May 1, 1995, Andreas and Patricia Kisser’s first child, Giulia, was born.

Another project was called Godswallop.  Godwallop was a project formed in 1996 featuring Andreas Kisser on guitar, Jason Newsted on bass, Carl Coletti on drums and Sfoia Ramos on vocals.  This group, however, never released any material.

In 1996 Max Cavalera departed Sepultura.  Sepultura considered continuing on as a three-piece group with Andreas handling both guitar and vocal duties but soon determined that it was necessary for a new vocalist to join the group.

On October 12, 1997 Andreas and Patricia Kisser’s welcomed their second child into the world — Yohan Kisser.  Yohan was the couple’s first son.

In 1998 Derrick Green joined Sepultura and the band released Against in October 1998.   In June 1998, Andreas Kisser and Igor Cavalera recorded music for the official soundtrack of No Coração Dos Deuse at Estudio ION in São Paulo, Brazil.  The Brazilian film was directed by Geraldo Moraes.   The soundtrack was produced by André Moraes and also features a guest appearance from Mike Patton (ex-Faith No More) on the song “Procura O Cara.”  The soundtrack was released in 1999 by Mascot Records.

Sepultura toured the world in support Against and recorded Nation which was released in 2001.  A major conceptual shift for Sepultura as part of the Nation album was the movement from “Sepultribe” to “Sepulnation.”  That theme was recurring in several songs including Sepulnation and Tribe to a Nation.   Nation was the last album released under Roadrunner Records.

Around this same time Andreas also made a guest appearance on Biohazard‘s sixth studio album, Uncivilization.  The album was released by Sanctuary Records on September 11, 2001.  Andreas appears on the song “Trap” which also features Sepultura singer, Derrick Green.  Uncivilization features several other guests including Pantera’s Phil Anselmo and Type O Negative’s Peter Steele.

Sepultura then signed with record label SPV and released an EP of cover songs called Revolusongs, featuring songs originally written by bands including Hellhammer, U2 and Jane’s Addiction.  The album was initially only released in Japan and Brazil.  Later, the album was included as an additional bonus disc included with the digipak version of their next studio album Roorback which was released in 2003.  Throughout these years Sepultura continued to tour the world.  In 2005 the band recorded a live concert at São Paulo, Brazil which were released on both CD and DVD as Live in São Paulo.

Andreas made a number of lead guitar guest appearances around this period.  He made an appearance on Korzus’ 2004 album, Ties of Blood, The AK Corral’s 2004 album, A Different Brand of Country, Claustrofobia’s 2005 album, Fulminant, Asesino’s 2006 album, Cristo Satánico, Os Paralamas do Sucesso’s 2005 album, Hoje, Roadrunner United’s 2005 album, The All-Star Sessions, Burning in Hell’s 2006 album, Believe and Necromancia’s 2004 album, Check Mate.

On October 20, 2005 Andreas and Patricia Kisser’s son Enzo was born.

Meanwhile, Sepultura continued to stay very active and recorded Dante XXI in March 2006.  Dante XXI was the last album to feature the band’s long-time drummer who left the band shortly after it was recorded.  However, Jean Dolabella joined Sepultura and toured with Sepultura in support of the epic release.

In 2008 Andreas Kisser played both electric and acoustic guitar as a special guest on the Scorpions Humanity World Tour in Mexico and Brazil.  He joined the Scorpions for more than a dozen concerts.  As part of this tour he was recorded and featured in on the Scorpions DVD Amazônia – Live in the Jungle, which was released in 2009.

In 2009 Andreas made more guest appearances on guitar.  He appeared on Titãs album Sacos Plásticos, Krusader’s album Angus and Astafix’s album End Ever.

Sepultura’s first studio album to feature Jean Dolabella was A-Lex, a concept album based on the movie A Clockwork Orange.  A-Lex was released in January 2009 and received excellent reviews.

Andreas released his debut solo album, Hubris I and II in 2009.  Hubris I and II is a double album, featuring 21 songs of rock and folk music.  The album was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award in 2010 for Best Brazilian Rock Album.

In 2009 Andreas also joined a “super group” project called Hail! The project featured Andreas Kisser (guitar), Tim “Ripper” Owens (vocals), David Ellefson (bass) and Jimmy DeGrasso (drums).  The project also included other additional members who rotated in and out of the lineup.  The project was formed in 2009 and performed songs from the members’ own bands including Sepultura, Judas Priest and Megadeth as well as other bands such as AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Metallica and Black Sabbath.

In addition to his career in playing music, Andreas began wrote a weekly column for Yahoo! Brazil Music in 2010.

In 2011, Sepultura’s second album with Jean Dollabella, Kairos, was released but under a new label — Nuclear Blast Records.  Dolabella ended up leaving Sepultura in 2011 but was replaced by Brazilian drummer Eloy Casagrande.

In 2012, De la Tierra was formed by Andreas Kisser, Andrés Giménez (A.N.I.M.A.L.), Sr. Flavio (Los Fabulosos Cadillacs) and Alex González (Maná).  De la Tierra is a Latin American metal band that is very heavy and features lyrics written primarily in Spanish and Portuguese.

In 2012 Andreas formed a band called Kisser Clan with his son Yohan Kisser.  The band consists of Andreas Kisser on guitar and vocals, Yohan Kisser on guitar, Gustavo Giglio on drums and Amílcar Cristófaro on bass.  The band plays a variety of classic metal and rock covers.  The Kisser Clan has covered songs written by bands including Motorhead, The Scorpions, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Megadeth, Sepultura, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and KISS.

In 2013 Andreas and his son Yohan also began hosting their own weekly radio show, Pegadas de Andreas Kisser, which airs on Brazilian radio station 89FM A RÁDIO ROCK on 89.1 FM.  Pegadas de Andreas Kisser translates to “The Footsteps of Andreas Kisser.”

Sepultura recorded The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must be The Heart with producer Ross Robinson.  The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be The Heart was Eloy Casagrande’s debut album with the band and was released in 2013.

In 2014, De la Tierra released their debut self-titled album, De la Tierra.  In 2016, De la Tierra released their sophomore effort, De la Tierra II.

Andreas continued to stay very busy and made more guest appearances on guitar.  He appeared as a special guest on Nader Sadek’s 2014 album, The Malefic: Chapter III, Hell:on’s 2015 album, Once Upon a Chaos…, Metal Allegiance 2015 album, and Metal Allegiance, Death Angel’s 2016 album.

After extensive touring, Sepultura returned to the studio and recorded the critically acclaimed album, Machine Messiah, which was released in January 2017.  Machine Messiah has been very well received throughout the world both in the media and with the fans.

In 2020, Sepultura released Quadra, their follow-up album to Machine Messiah.  Quadra was produced by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios in Sweden.  In 2021, Sepultura released Sepulquarta, a compilation of live tracks recorded and streamed online during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Andreas enjoys spending time with his family and is an avid football fan and supports the São Paulo Futebol Clube.

[Note: This history of Andreas was compiled from a variety of sources and its purpose is solely to help fans become better acquainted with Andreas. If you see any incorrect information that should be corrected please contact me so I can make a revision.]