Summon: How did the band get started?
Rui Vieira: After we played together in some other past bands, I (Rui) and Helder (drummer) joined in a (lazy) Sunday afternoon in 2006. We started to jam some songs we made in those old projects (Imunity) and this kind of pre-rehearsal evolved to Machinergy. We were committed to do something different and more serious. Albums and that stuff…
Summon: What kind of music do you play?
Rui Vieira: By the many reviews written about us and our work, I think we can say we play industrial thrash or something like that. We are from the 80’s and early 90’s school but we listen to many styles and “futuristic” bands such as Fear Factory, Ministry or Sonic Mayhem. But the root is thrash metal (old Sepultura, old Sodom, old Metallica, etc).
Summon: How has the fan response been?
Rui Vieira: Positive. Although we cannot joy everyone, I think people in general have been recognizing our work through the years. We try to do our best and create something new and fresh.
Summon: Where did the band name come from?
Rui Vieira: The name is the junction of words machine + energy. That’s the name we thought would better describe our kind of sound and attitude in this new challenge.
Summon: Introduce the band members and what they do in the band.
Rui Vieira: The band is Rui Vieira (vocals, guitar), Helder Rodrigues (drums) and Nuno Mariano (bass).
Summon: Who writes the music? Lyrics?
Rui Vieira: The music is written by me and Helder. The lyrics issue is something very particular, if I sing I must write so I’m in charge of the lyrics department.
Summon: And where do the lyric ideas come from?
Rui Vieira: Well, in Machinergy I try to write a little about everything and be universal. In this band, although I do the lyrics, I must have present that this is not a personal project so I do my best to capture some things common to Helder also and the other members.
Summon: What is your view in Satanism and Occultism?
Rui Vieira: This is a hard one. Sincerely, I listen to many black bands but the message is not for me because I’m not religious. I completely abstain about Christianity, Satanism, Judaism, whatever. The other members have this opinion too. About Occultism, that is more appellative because is a more telluric thing. It’s a kind of more palpable thing from the humans to face the unknown. Maybe we can include alchemy, the proto-science. But even so we don’t walk on those paths.
Summon: How many albums/CD’s have you released?
Rui Vieira: We released our debut album Rhythmotion in 2010. In 2012 we released the e-EP “Rhythm Between Sounds” + documentary and in 2013 the same EP was released physically in split format with Brazilian bands Prellude and Retaliatory. In 2014 we released our second album “Sounds Evolution”.
Summon: Tell me about some the songs on the latest CD?
Rui Vieira: It’s a 10 piece angry thrash with no mercy from beginning to end. 42 minutes of energy, variety and lots of soul and honesty in it. We were fully committed doing this album and we’re very satisfied with the global result. Put your headphones, turn off the light and grind your teeth!!! You will like!
Summon: Do you have any side projects?
Rui Vieira: Yes. Currently, three projects. I have Miss Cadaver (www.facebook.com/misscadaver), a punk/crossover band where I do all the stuff except drumming. This is only a studio project and already released 3 tapes. Baktheria (www.facebook.com/baktheria) is a new project with two other folks and we play extreme music to the bone. It’s a mix of extreme whatever extreme may be! Finally, there is Bicéfalo (www.facebook.com/bicefalogrind), a grind act in the Terrorizer vein but we only did one music so far.
Summon: Who are some of your musical influences?
Rui Vieira: AC/DC and Iron Maiden were the first ones. Iron Maiden was the first band and as for AC/DC I suffered from a complete madness about this band. But the main influences came later and they’re from the thrash metal 80’s bands such as Sepultura, Kreator, Metallica, Slayer, Overkill, etc. Those are the core influence and what I stand for. Besides all the “noise”, I really enjoy every kind of music as an art. Scandinavian folk is very nice!
Summon: Which current bands?
Rui Vieira: Currently, I must say few bands can surprise me but I’ve been listening to some interesting new projects which I found randomly in the web.
Summon: What is the band like when you play live?
Rui Vieira: We are a simple band live. We don’t have scenarios or special wardrobe. We are there to play thrash metal and try to be fully committed and live the moment as much as we can. There is always a nervous feeling in it but I think Machinergy plays a good show and if the crowd goes nuts, we go nuts too!!!
Summon: Have you guys ever played in another country?
Rui Vieira: No, we hadn’t.
Summon: How big of crowd shows up at shows usually?
Rui Vieira: At our shows, a couple of guys. We don’t play much live but already had some very nice gigs with good but small crowds. We attended 2 or 3 festivals but because we were the first band to play, you know…
Summon: How is the crowd response when you play?
Rui Vieira: Our material is a little technical so people tend to observe instead of moshing. But the faster songs, like the new ones in “Sounds Evolution”, tend to create more confusion and chaos in the audience, I think.
Summon: What do you think of the US Black Metal/Death Metal scene?
Rui Vieira: About the black scene I really don’t know much about it but concerning the death metal, of course we know much about it. Specially the 80’s/early 90’s scene, still influential to these days. Florida scene, the legendary Morrisound studios and many bands that showed us the way. I must highlight Possessed and Death. “The Seven Churches”, “Beyond The Gates”, “Leprosy” and “Spiritual Healing” are seminal albums that defined the genre for years to come.
Summon: What do you think of the Overseas scenes?
Rui Vieira: I must confess I listen to the Portuguese bands in the first way. There are so many, the time is not infinite and I try to stay updated. But the foreign bands are the genres defining leaders. I appreciate the northern/Scandinavian scene, they are very well “organized”. I think they are the metal Germany of the XXI century! Really nice bands, fresh sounds and commitment. Wardruna is the most recent example.
Summon: What are some of new favorite black metal/death metal bands?
Rui Vieira: Well, I cannot say I have favorites but Watain is one kick-ass band! Melechesh is another surprising and innovative band that I’ve been listening to a lot.
Summon: When do you guys plan on writing any new material?
Rui Vieira: I don’t know… We have just released the new album and will be promoting it for, at least, one year. By then we’ll see what will come around. No writing plans for now.
Summon: What does the future hold for the band?
Rui Vieira: I hope we can stay together for some years and leave some kind of mark in our own way. We will continue to work with passion and devotion to the holy sound!
Contact them at:
https://www.facebook.com/machinergy
https://www.youtube.com/user/machinergy
http://machinergy.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/machinergy
