Sepultura shockingly announced the end of the band on December 8, 2023. Fortunately that entails a years-long world tour, but still – a thrash institution like Sepultura ending is pretty major news. So why did Sepultura decide to call it quits after 40-plus years? According to guitarist Andreas Kisser in an interview with Loud TV, it was partially due to the death of his wife Patricia Perissinoto Kisser.
Patricia died in July 2022 at 52 years old after a battle with colon cancer. In the interview, Andreas explained the importance of palliative care and end-of-life treatment, how important it is to live in the moment you're in, and the inevitability of death. Which surely extends to bands like Sepultura as much as it does people and objects.
"Yeah, for sure [regarding the end of Sepultura]. Definitely. The death of Patricia, my late wife, was two years and a half ago, [due to] cancer. The process was very painful, very difficult, of course, as we can imagine, but it's been an open experience, to know myself, my family, new opportunities to talk about life because of dying. In Brazil is one of the worst places to die. A lot of people are forgotten from society, going through the same problems with cancer and very difficult illness and stuff.
"And I created this movement to inspire and stimulate people in Brazil to talk about dying in many respects, about euthanasia, about suicide, assisted suicide, about palliative care, especially, because in Brazil, we're still growing up on that manner, because my wife, she had the palliative care and stuff. We were privileged to give that, because of health insurance and all that stuff. But most of the people in Brazil, they don't have that.
"So we started this movement, this campaign, a festival [Patfest], a music festival as well that we did for two years now. I just did the third edition now to raise funds for the people who take and give palliative care to the favelas [impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil] in Rio, for the very poor people that are forgotten for society and stuff, and at the same time stimulate people to talk about dying.
"I learned that death is my biggest professor. I'm learning so much about life because I respect finitude. We cannot control that. We're all gonna die. You're gonna die. The camera's gonna die. [Laughs] Any electronic [device will eventually stop working]. So it is what it is. We cannot choose. What we can choose is to live the moment. The intensity of the present is much more intense if you respect finitude."
Kisser later answered what he'll be doing after Sepultura, noting that he hopes to have more time to dedicate to raising awareness around palliative care: "I hope so. I will have more time, definitely, to put on that, without Sepultura, without all the touring. Of course, I'm gonna keep working with music, different bands or whatever, different situations, soundtracks or who knows. I'm still studying music a lot, especially acoustic guitar. I have so many different ideas. But I don't wanna make any decisions now. I wanna enjoy what I'm doing today, hence live in the present. [Laughs] But just [be] aware of the possibilities, [so] when it's time to decide I'll be a little more ready to know what to do. But it's great that we're on this [farewell] tour now and enjoying the moment. It's fantastic."
