Summon: How did the band get started?
Giovani: We were death metal fans that wanted to play something that sounded like Deicide, Morbid Angel, Sinister, and all those bands. We couldn’t have that in our old bands, so we got together to form Depressed.
Summon: What kind of music do you play?
Murillo: We play old-school death metal. Heavily influenced by 90s Deicide, Morbid Angel, Monstrosity, and so on. We avoid the modern death metal sound, and we keep our songs direct, raw, powerful.
Summon: How has the fan response been?
Giovani: Fans know what we got – old-school death metal. And their response for that has been amazing. People always say we sound like those 90s bands, so mission accomplished.
Summon: Where did the band name come from?
Giovani: When Depressed was formed, we wanted a brutal name for a death metal band, but we didn’t want it to be generic, nor cliché. While we were still thinking of a name, I read in a local newspaper that tons of serial killers, psychopaths, sociopaths, rapists, maniacs and people like that suffered of depression. So ‘Depressed’ could be a synonym for those kind of people, and it sounded brutal. That’s where Depressed comes from.
Summon: Introduce the band members and what they do in the band.
Giovani Venttura: Vocals
Murillo Hortolan: Guitar
Augusto Alves: Guitar
Andry Hernandez: Drums
Guilhermo Landes: Bass
Summon: Who writes the music? Lyrics?
Murillo: The music is written by everyone, but mostly by Giovani, Augusto, and myself. Sometimes some of us write the whole thing, sometimes we write a song collectively, and things go well that way. About the lyrics, Giovani writes all of them, since he’s going to interpret them himself while singing.
Summon: And where do the lyric ideas come from?
Giovani: I write the lyrics feeling the song, thinking of ideas that work in context. That’s most commonly about anti-Christianity or misery and all that shit we see in Brazil’s society. Sometimes I write some fictitious things too.
Summon: What is your view in Satanism and Occultism?
Giovani: I avoid having any involvement with any kind of religion, because no matter which one it is, you’ll be tied to it, serving that doctrine like a slave. That being said, I have no opinions about neither of both.
Murillo: Satanism, as a form of metaphorically attack Christianity is useful. It’s somewhat dull, but it works. Other than that, Satanism and Occultism is gibberish.
Summon: How many albums/CD’s have you released?
Murillo: There’s a demo called ‘Diabolical Servants of the Cross’ that was recorded in 1999 but never officially released, and the band’s debut album ‘Afterlife In Darkness’ recorded in 2014 and released in March, this year.
Summon: Tell me about some the songs on the latest CD?
Giovani: We could say that ‘Afterlife’ was written between 1998-2000 and 2012-2013, and it has strong songs. I like all of them, and each of these songs have a meaning for Depressed. We still have unreleased material of that period, but we’re working on new material.
Summon: Do you have any side projects?
Guilhermo: Currently, Giovani and I are working with the Swedish band Dismembering the Unborn.
Summon: Who are some of your musical influences?
Giovani: I listen to a lot of things, from 80s pop rock to death metal. I’m a Maiden die-hard fan, and I don’t know how deep any of these works as musical influence to me, but that’s it.
Murillo: Sound-wise – Monstrosity, Sinister, Luciferion, Deicide, and many other death bands. Technical-wise – Jeff Loomis, Jason Becker, Pat O’ Brien… Just to mention a few.
Augusto: Slayer, Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse, Suicidal Angels, and a lot of thrash and death metal bands like those.
Summon: Which current bands?
Murillo: By current bands, you mean new ones? I like Krow and Evile a lot. There are some few others too, but that’s the major ones.
Giovani: I don’t like modern bands. Just a few exceptions on that.
Summon: What is the band like when you play live?
Giovani: We like to interact with the crowd, and we’re insane on stage. We like to have a strong presence.
Summon: Have you guys ever played in another country?
Murillo: Not yet, but we have plans to.
Summon: How big of crowd shows up at shows usually?
Giovani: It depends on where we’re playing, but usually we play for a few hundreds.
Summon: How is the crowd response when you play?
Giovani: They give us a good feedback, headbanging against the stage, and sometimes singing along to some choruses.
Summon: What do you think of the US Black Metal/Death Metal scene?
Murillo: The scene in Tampa is especially important to any death metal band, Depressed included.
Giovani: It is a strong scene for death metal, but I don’t know much about black metal in the country, to be honest.
Summon: What do you think of the Overseas scenes?
Giovani: It’s hard to tell, once we know only what people tell us. But it seems like in Europe and in the US the scene is better organized than here.
Murillo: The Brazilian scene isn’t that strong, our people in general don’t consume metal, and almost the same can be said about rock music in general. So, for me, the overseas scenes will always look like a better place to be.
Summon: What are some of new favorite black metal/death metal bands?
Giovani: I’ll stick with the old ones: Morbid Angel, Sinister, and especially Hypocrisy. My favorite black metal band is Emperor.
Murillo: New bands? Krow for death, Fäulnis for black, and Sodoma as a bonus for both, since I can’t decide whether it is death or black metal haha.
Summon: When do you guys plan on writing any new material?
Augusto: We’re already writing new material. You could expect a new song anytime soon.
Summon: What does the future hold for the band??
Giovani: No one knows, haha.
Murillo: New albums, new gigs, maybe overseas… Who knows?
Contact them at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/depressed.official
Metal-archives: www.metal-archives.com/bands/Depressed/3540331464
Official website (soon to be released): www.depressed666.com
You can find ‘Afterlife in Darkness’ at Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music, Deezer, and other digital platforms. Or you can buy it from Black Lion Prod.’s BigCartel:
http://blacklionprod666.bigcartel.com/product/depressed-afterlife-in-darkness-cd
