The Troops of Doom are a new Brazilian band consisting of ex-Sepultura guitarist and bassist Jairo Guedz, who can be heard on the mangy Sepultura early works "Bestial Devastation" and "Morbid Visions". Besides Jairo, the band consists of other deserving scene veterans. The band's first official release, the EP "The rise of heresy", released on Blood Blast Distribution (a sub-label of Nuclear Blast) indulges in the good old raw thrash / death that characterised Sepultura in the early days of their career. Consequently, there are also two Sepultura covers on this EP, namely "Bestial Devastation " and "Troops of Doom". Read the interview with Jairo here.
Hello Jairo, how are you at the moment? What is the Corona
pandemic doing in Brazil at the moment?
Hello Gerald, things are kinda crazy over here. People politized this pandemic shit too much and it is far from ok, but we are trying to do our best concerning new music, the band and our next steps. Hope you are fine in Germany.
Please tell us how exactly The Troops of Doom were founded and
introduce the individual members!
We had this idea a few years back, maybe five years ago. The first idea was to have the band consist of me, Alex, Marcelo and Stian from Dimmu Borgir. Stian was too busy with his main band and also with his side project Chrome Division, that we decided to postpone it. I wanted to play live gigs with the band and not only do this as a side project. So, we decided to work on this band again last march, this time, with a line up that could be on the road anytime. Alex Kafer called me after a jam session that we did together with his band Enterro in Rio de Janeiro and he told me that people were going crazy with this jam - we played "Bestial Devastation" and it was completely insane ! So i decided to regroup the troops at that point! We called Marcelo Vasco again (he is a very known graphic artist for bands such as Slayer, Soulfly or Testament for example) and I brought Alexandre Oliveira into the band as drummer.
In general I think that you can pick up a lot of Sepultura fans
with your sound, who lost interest in Sepultura after "Arise" at the
latest. How do you see it ?
I understand that and this indeed could be a possibility. There are a lot of 80s death metal fans waiting for a new band sounding like the old bands, even nowadays - the Troops of Doom is one of these few bands - but I understand also that Sepultura has a huge and long career, and they had evolved from album to album.
The sound of your EP sounds so authentic and real, because
the members also had and have a lot of experience in death and black metal
bands. What can you tell us about the current Brazilian underground scene, any
cool insider tips ?
It's crazy, but we have the same influences today that we had in the 80s - it helps a lot for the creation of this kind of music. In Brazil we always have the so called "scene" dedicated to underground music. But I believe it is the same around the planet - it is an underground scene, metal fans will be always metal fans no matter what! So we are trying to keep this "underground market" alive every day!
I think a guest appearance by Wagner Lamounier (ex-Sepultura and ex-Sarcofago) would have fitted perfectly on the EP! Of course I don't know how the
relationship between him and you or the other Sepulturas is in the meantime.
Was there ever a discussion concerning this ?
We spoke about it sometimes, not concerning Wagner (I know him and I know he wouldn´t like that idea - he doesn't even play metal anymore or is part of the metal scene) but we got in touch with some friends around the world about the possibility of being part of our songs and everyone accepted it ! Can not tell you the names yet, but anyway, we will probably make it on the full length album - for the first EP we needed to show the band itself, raw and simple.
What does the future hold for the band, is a complete album in the
making?
We are working on it already ! We have five or six new songs coming out and we´ve decided to make some "cover" songs as well. The album cover is already done and we intend to record it during the Brazilian winter - we already choose the producer also!What about touring? I read that the current Sepultura members as
well as the Cavalera brothers like and support Troops of Doom. So opening for
Sepultura, that would be perfect, the best mixture of old school and newer
Sepultura, wouldn´t that be a cool option?
Sure, either way it could be great ,haha! But we already have a tour office in spain working on our first european tour ! We are a very small band yet - we have to work as such - and we intend to do it in november 2021 ,if possible, we have already dates booked in Spain, Portugal, The Netherlands and Belgium. Our office is selling more gigs there and we will see if it will be possible because of the virus issue. I also hope that one day we can do a tour like that, with my brothers from Sepultura or with the Cavalera brothers soon! But first, we have to take our own road, start from zero and get the chance to do that in the future!
You've probably been asked this question countless times, but
still: Do you regret leaving Sepultura before all the fame and success came ?
Yes, sure haha! I miss the guys. I miss the camaraderie, our jokes and stuff like that ! But at the same time I don't regret not having been part of the band when they begun to divide in the 90s. I am still very close to all of them, meaning the Sepultura and the Cavalera´s members and crew ! I have their respect and friendship ! This is the most important for me since then. Thanks for this question!
The last words are yours !
Please guys, follow the troops of doom on our social media - www.youtube.com/thetroopsofdoom , @thetroopsofdoom (instagram) and ask for the troops gig on your town and country - hope to see everyone on the road one day - thank you!
