It's Monday night in London, and Camden's Underworld is woefully under-filled; a likely product of poor promotion and a throng of metalheads returning to the capital nursing the hellacious hangovers that the Wacken Open Air Festival left them with twenty four hours earlier. Still, the few and the faithful that have assembled are in for a treat, because it's not every day that you get to see one of the world's most brutal bands lay down a benchmark for any and all pretenders in the art of delivering a truly mind-melting on-stage performance. Equally, Brazil's finest are no slouches in the recording studio, and with _Bloodshed_ still kicking my ass on a regular basis, I couldn't resist the temptation to corner Krisiun's guitarist, Moyses Kolesne, and ask him what one can expect from album number seven.

CoC: Rumour has it that you are going to back to Andy Claasen, who did _Conquerors of Armageddon_, for this new record. What made you decide on him?

Moyses Kolesne: Well, we've been listening to some of the stuff that he has done recently and it sounds amazing, and since we're really after a strong production with this next record of ours, he just seemed like a good choice. As you said, we worked with him on _Conquerors of Armageddon_, which a lot of people think is our best record, so basically we know that he can do a good job, because he did one for us in the past.

CoC: And I take it that work has already begun on the material?

MK: Yeah, we've been doing a lot of summer festivals and we were writing stuff in between that, and then afterward we toured the States and did some more work on the material after that. Then we figured we'd hit Europe again and go straight into the studio off this tour so that we can maintain that momentum and that feeling that we have from playing every night and being on the road, rather than practice a lot beforehand. We just want that loose, aggressive feeling that you get from touring for a long time for this record. The thing about it is that when you're touring, you end up playing better anyway. Some people might think that you get burned out and tired, but we all seem to find that happens to us much more if we're at home just practicing. The other thing is that feeling of improvisation that you have on stage -- we're really looking to capture that spontaneous vibe on the new album.

CoC: How much of the album has been written so far?

MK: We have about ten songs so far.

CoC: I have to admit I was a big fan of the rougher sound on _Bloodshed_ and _Works of Carnage_. Just out of curiosity, given your comments on production for the next record, were you guys unhappy with the rawer tone of the last records?

MK: Not really, but we're just looking forward to sounding better on this record. We're always looking to do something different with each album, so we go for different kinds of production, which sometimes means that you can lose sight of certain elements and they get buried along the way. We always record in analogue. We don't record on a computer, where we can fix things along the way, so what people hear is us playing the real music, you know? With every album, we always feel like we could have done better -- we're never satisfied. But at the same time, when I look back at everything, I wouldn't want to change anything on any of the albums, because they capture a moment in time. Right now, we still feel strong and we still feel like we want to do a lot of things, so we're just looking forward to see what we can do with this new album, whether it's better production, better playing or whatever.

CoC: I guess the inevitable question to follow that would be what direction you're planning on taking musically with the next record? Are we going to see a similar tendency toward mixing things up that we saw on _Bloodshed_ and _Works of Carnage_?

MK: Yeah, we'll definitely be doing a lot of different stuff. We'll mix some of the newer sounds with the older sounds, and hopefully bring out something that sounds fresh. There will be some songs that have the groovier feel of _Bloodshed_. We have to diversify, you know? It's hard for a band to just keep playing the same stuff over and over again, and we already have six albums out, so we feel like we need that. We like playing the groovier stuff, just as much as we like playing the fast stuff.

CoC: One of the interesting aspects about the _Bloodshed_ EP was the contrast that exists between your older material and the music you're currently putting out -- particularly considering the accusations thrown your way that you've stagnated. Is your approach to songwriting still the same now as it was then?

MK: Yeah, I guess so. I mean, everything and anything can influence you -- something you hear today, or listening to some of your older stuff, or being in the band room and someone playing something new. So, for us, it's always been about taking a good idea and looking at all the ways in which we can make it better. The new stuff is different and the way that we've recorded the songs has been different, because we've learned a couple of tricks along the way. _Bloodshed_ was also a way for us to give the fans something that would get them ready for the new album, but also give them an opportunity to hear some of the old stuff that they wouldn't have been able to get a hold of otherwise.

CoC: How much of a surprise was it being nominated for a Claro award earlier this year?

MK: We didn't expect that at all. I mean, we play pretty brutal music, so we weren't expecting that at all. It's like a while ago when we were featured in Rolling Stone; you know, we're really surprised that anyone there would care about Brazilian death metal, because this is difficult music to get into. Not everybody understands it -- what you bring to it, is what you get out of it, I guess.

CoC: Well, you guys have been making waves for a long time -- it's certainly not everyday that you have people like Steve Tucker and Pete Sandoval calling you one of the best bands on the planet.

MK: It feels good to get that recognition, and it's an honour when guys like that say that they like our stuff and when they say good shit about us. It's all a surprise to us though. When we started this band, we never had any expectation beyond maybe hoping that we'd have our photo in a Terrorizer or a Metal Maniacs magazine one day. Now we've been featured in mainstream magazines without selling out our sound and compromising on our music, so that's great. It also makes us feel like we're doing something good for extreme music and for the other bands in the scene. I mean, we don't think that we're the best and the biggest band in the scene; we're just a part of something bigger, and there's a lot of bands in the scene that do amazing stuff. But just to be able to draw some attention to that is good.

CoC: You've definitely re-focused some attention on the Brazilian scene.

MK: Well, Brazil is a big place for metal right now -- there are a lot of bands that are bringing out albums, and that all comes from Sepultura. When they came up and they started bringing out albums, they showed everybody what could be done and they also drew the attention of the record labels. So I hope that in the future, there will be more of that: more great, original bands from Brazil. There are a lot of bands there who are doing a good job and doing the best they can. I mean, no one there has the money to produce their shit well or whatever; they just make do with what they have. But it's gradually getting better. There's more opportunity now, for sure.

CoC: What can we expect from Krisiun over the next year then -- outside of the new album, of course?

MK: We're going to be touring a lot for the new album, man, and we're just going to keep on playing. We're slightly older now, but we still have the same desire -- we have the same vision and the same fire that we had when we put this band together. We just want to play as much as possible and be on the road touring.

CoC: What keeps that fire going after so many years?

MK: I don't know. It's something you can't explain -- it's like when you love a woman and you're driven by that desire, you know? I just feel driven to make this music and to be playing for people, and I don't quite know what's doing it -- it's just a part of me, in the same way that it's a part of everyone who is really into this scene. Metal makes you stronger, and for me to play live, it's just the greatest thing in the world. That's what makes me feel happy.

CoC: OK, I know you guys have to get ready for tonight's performance, so I'll end this one with an opinion-question: what do you think of David Vincent returning to Morbid Angel?

MK: Well, they haven't done anything new yet for me to hear, but a lot of people think that _Altars of Madness_ and the other stuff they did with David was the best. I like Steve's stuff as well, but personally I am really into _Covenant_ and _Domination_. Whatever they bring out, I'm sure will be worth respecting. I respect those guys very much.