Thrash Metal is alive and well in the guise of Brazilian speedsters Scars. Continuing the heritage of extreme music the country has produced over the years, we spoke to guitarist and mainman Alex about the band.

Things are tremendous, thanks. I’m Alex and I’m one of the two guitarists in SCARS. I joined the band originally in 93 and at that time there was only Regis, the singer, that remains today. Then came Eduardo in 96, who added immensely to the band. Previously, back in 91 André (bass) had actually started the band, but left soon after. Patrick, the drums dude, came on board in 96, and rejoined us late 2005. Everybody is excited about what we’re accomplishing and we’re closer to each other than ever for we’re making the new album, so it’s a brotherhood fun time. We’re happy.

To go back to the beginning of the second incarnation of Scars. The band reformed after a 7-year split. What factors lead to the band regrouping and have all the differences that lead to the split been put aside?

Brazil was going through a lack of identity phase as far as music and metal goes, and due to the cultural aspect of following the American market and waiting for the new trend to come up, metal started losing space, like radio, concert houses, media, the press… For some idiotic reason, pop music discovered distortion on their guitars and some even more idiotic metal bands thought they could be or already were pop, and started losing it. So the whole scenario here from around 1998 to 2003 was really not helping, especially thrash-metal and some more underground metal branches. But to get to the real story of how we got back; I met Eduardo at a Destruction concert they put out to 200 vip’s in this tiny club in Sao Paulo, and by the time we met, we had already been thrashing and moshing and remembering deeply the old times. So we actually settled we would come back, and from there we got to Regis who most excitedly accepted it and so on till today

More than what we’d expected, that’s for sure. We put out a 6 song CD to try and re-establish our name in the scene. It comes out that the CD was really well taken by old and new fans, domestically and abroad, for its sound and concept. We’ve gotten it reviewed in over 200 sites, magazines, papers worldwide. We gave away more than 8 thousand copies through the internet with downloadable artwork to print out and everything. Now we’re moving to the 5000th copy, or 5th batch of CD's sold … so, all in all, we’re keeping our original strategy of divulging the name through sampling and local distribution, and people seem to be enjoying what the see and hear.

Given the amount of time the band were inactive, there must be a wealth of material yet to be released. Or did you all forget about Scars during your extended hiatus?

Well, we split up, like you said. So, each one did something different … I kept playing with bands, nothing big, though, Eduardo, the other guitarist, too. He’s been doing the official Brazilian Metallica tribute, which really kicks ass. André played bass and sang for CrestFallen and Régis … well, Régis ate, a lot. And now he’s back better than ever. I guess we had so much inside that when we got together things started flowing naturally and what came out was a surge of 7 year held in ideas and wishes. I like what came out! The first song to be ready was “Legions (Forgotten By The Gods)”. Since then, we haven’t stopped anymore. Truth is that we had a whole album ready in studio in 1995 but we decided not to launch it. Simply cause we were afraid it wouldn’t be the time for such material. So we’ve rescued for this EP Warfare which I wrote in 94 and Return to the killing ground that Edu and Regis wrote in 96. The rest is all brand new. Besides some real good old stuff that we’re analyzing whether we should resurrect or not, we’ve already got 4 dead ready and 3 on the go. Our target is to get 12 great songs, so we get into studio. I’ve got riffs on my PC, Edu’s got his. Patrick is eager to compose the lines for his first full record with us (he’s played with us already, but never recorded).

There appear to be various influences on “The Nether Hell”, what influences do you all bring to the band? I presume the Bay Area Thrash scene is close to your hearts?

I would definitely first go for the Bay Area reference as you yourself could tell. Some of our main references are Forbidden, Vio-lence, Exodus, Possessed, Dark Angel, Slayer, Kreator, Destruction, and also, if I may, Sepultura, Sacred Reich, Tankard, Destruction, Death Angel, Overkill, Nuclear Assault, Anthrax, MOD, Metallica, Biohazard, Assassin, Venom, Napalm Death, Death, Testament, and on and on and on.

The concept behind “The Nether Hell” is Dante’s “The Divine Comedy: Inferno”. How did you decide upon this as the concept for the record? I see the CD sleeve includes many of Dore’s pictures.

I read Dante’s Hell in English some years ago and freaked out with the whole thing to such a proportion that I started collecting everything about it. When I had compiled all of Doré’s pictures, I gave them all to our art producer, Alexandre Ache, who laid out the whole thing.

Then I found a sentence that would best describe the picture, and placed at the bottom of the lyrics of each song with the CANTO’s number. That and stuff on the homepage as well … it’s been fun working with a concept.

I’m still midway the Part 2, Purgatory. But it’s not half as fun as Hell, so I’m dragging myself through it. This is my cue to say that out next album is NOT going to give sequence to the trilogy. The Nether Hell is unique.

Thanks. But I think there’s much to be improved. We liked the guitar sound how it came out, for instance. And also that Regis recorded with zero effects on his vocals as a whole and they came out really upfront. We took about 5 to 6 months to get it done and it is what a studio time gives: studio tan, some extra pounds in light of all beer, soda and snacks, bills, time off sleep, bills, time off work, bills, etc. The best part of a studio is having the CD ready in hands, as far as I see it.

Prior to the recording of “The Nether Hell” the band had some drummer problems, with both Fabricio Ravelli and Alex Nasser leaving. Are you guys still working with session drummers or have you got a permanent replacement onboard?

Patrick Leung is as much a member of the band today as anyone else. That also because he’s already played with us before and we’ve always felt at home around him. He chips in with lyrics, composing, not only drumming. He’s a Scarian for sure.

The band’s reputation has been largely founded on your live shows. What is the underground scene like in San Paolo and Brazil as a whole? Do the band plan to tour outside Brazil anytime soon?

2004 was a year where underground came up again, and many bands started appearing and re-appearing. So all over Brazil there’s now a movement of consolidation, where bands are launching albums and doing shows. With all this, Brazil is undergoing a very rich phase right now. There are also many international first line concerts every two weeks here, which motivates the scenario. As far as going abroad, there has been some contact making with people in Germany and Chile recently, still, nothing solid. So we’re gonna stick around longer, there’s plenty to cover here.

I guess it’s been globalized, like what happens at the Ozzfest and Megadeth’s Hiper, Super, something, tour, where most bands pay to get in. Here it’s pretty much the same with big festivals and major international opening acts. But there are plenty of exceptions as well, one of them which includes us was the opening act for Destruction on two dates in two different cities, that was a gentleman’s agreement between us and the agency. We got no pay but we didn’t pay either, and surely profited from the advertising exposure and new fans.

I can only assume that Scars is not he sole means of financial income for the majority of the band. How difficult do you all find it to juggle the musical and personal life?

Well, we definitively sleep less than most people. It’s a double life kindda thing. I myself run a language center with teacher and everything, and everybody else’s got their job and duties, wives, kids and all. But metal and SCARS are part of our lives as much as everything else. We’re fuelling it up so it works out and we get to live off it exclusively.

“The Nether Hell” was a self-financed release, so the number one objective must be to get a record / distribution deal? Any news on a contract?

No! No response from a label yet. There is a point here, though: Labels want to see a full-length album, which we’ll give’em late this year. Then we’ll start talking more seriously. The ’The Nether Hell’ came to show us back to the scenario. The real stuff is still to come.  We’re  right  spreading  the name SCARS throughout the world with  The

Nether Hell as the main driver. From there get somebody to distribute this CD in Europe and America. Right after that a deal to push us into studio to record the full length album. Meanwhile we’ll be gigging around Brazil and South America.

Thrash metal is going through something of a resurgence at the moment, with many of the bands from the day making a come back. What is your take on these bands regrouping and touring / recording?

I would say it’s a Second Coming of Thrash Dominion. Sounds like a song title, doesn’t it? And oh yes I believe the world has finally been drifting away from new metal bands and rescuing the good ol’ thrash metal, just because that’s where it’s at. Thrash’s got it all: fast beat, blast beat, slower and crunched tempo, real guitar sound up front, guitar riffs, guitar solos, heavy bass lines, double bass to the extreme, aggressive vocals, man, that’s my music!

We’ve got some gigs through to the end of the year, like, 15 or 20 I guess, and meanwhile we’re working on the new album and getting to studio ASAP, like in November. To all thrashers out there, wave the flag up high, friends. Thrash metal is a style of life, and I’m really proud of being part of this huge family, and even more for being part of a thrash metal band.