Portugal´s metal scene is growing stronger every day and here we have one of the main exponents of that scene, Sacred Sin. Jose Costa, bassist and vocalist of the band talked with us:
Do you consider yourself a progressive death metal band or is this term a little bit too narrow to describe your music?
Well I always defined SS as a extreme Metal band. We have a very vast number of influences that goes from one side of the Metal spectrum to the other. We love such different bands as IRON MAIDEN, SLAYER, MERCYFUL FATE, CELTIC FROST, ACCEPT, DARK ANGEL, SAVATAGE, POSSESSED, HELLOWEEN, etc . We have our roots in the 80´s thrash, we have the intense and brutal Black / Death Metal touch, lots of atmosphear and melodic leads and different kinds of vocals as the concept of the song demands. The mixing of all this styles came in a very natural way when we are doing the songs.
What can you tell me about "Translucid Dream Mirror"?
It was recorded between December 2000 and January 2001. It includes 13 new tracks plus a cover from SLAYER «Evil has no boundaries».
Finally on this last album we had the time to do all that we imagined when recording the songs, instead of doing a more simple and direct aproach as the previous records. All the concept of our music is much more clear now because we had enough studio time to let all the ideas flow and we were carefull on the mixing so you can actually listen to all that.
Normally our songs had all lyrics in English, including sometimes a part in Portuguese or Latin. On this album I used different languages because sometimes I feel that a certain part or a song would sound better in that language. There are various reasons for that. Like in "La clef des grands misteres" it should be mostly in French because the inpiration came from there, with writer Elifas Lévi. In "Zukunft Kenntnis" it was a question of sound, and German language did suit perfectly in that part. But on "Malificent Genii" the part in Spanish came because the lyrics were inspired by a medieval Spanish tale. The Latin used in "Mei lacrimae in tenebrae" and "Transmutations (sphera lunae sepiternum...)" was a question of sound. And finally on "The shadow gate" the end is in Portuguese because it was written like that from the begining and I though it should be better to keep it like that.
Which do you think are the main differences between "Translucid..." and "Anguish...I harvest"?
If you listen carefully you will notice that this album is just as fast and brutal as our old songs, the main difference is that now we could have more time to produce the vocals so I could put on all my ideas, and also we gave more freedom to the keyboards to expand in our music. The overall result sounds much more dark and melodic but it still aggressive and extreme as before.
What can you tell me about the "13th Cave" Studio? Is that your own studio?
Yes we used mainly our studio the «13th Cave» owned by Pedro Miguel the guitar player and engineer of this album. Only for the drums we had to go record at «Overhead studio». We have improved a lot the studio equipment this last months, as for the recording of «Translucid» we had to rent some necessary material. At this moment the studio is much more independent and we plan to make the next album there too.
How do you see your evolution since you released your first promo tape in 1991?
Puff... we had passed through a lot since those days ! In terms of music and influencies the band is still tied to it's roots, but there was evolution in many ways. We had several line-up changes through the years and that also causes some changes in the way we sound. But if you get to listen all our albuns you easily trace the basic lines of our music style. I always intend to make diferent things in each album, yet we have big efford so that all should sound in place in our music.
Why did you choose Demolition Records to release "Translucid..."?
They offered us the best conditions, and respect our scheadule and plans for this album. We had different offers from other labels but with DEMOLITION Rec. we are free to decide upon the band and our music.
Are you touring to support the release of "Translucid..."?
Yes, we did a few shows in April, and we had to cancel some shows due to an accident we had with our van. From September to December we have more shows in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium and Germany. Our new live show is very powerful and we have been getting great response.
I found great the inclusion of keyboards which sound like the ones they use in bands like Dream Theater doing melodies, solos and other stuff. Was this an intentional addition or is it the way the songs came out?
Thanks for your appreciation. Yes we planned to use a lot more keys on this album. We allow the keyboarder to let his inspiration flow on the songs and this is the way it came out ! We have been using keys in our music since our first recording but for this album they are not only giving atmosphear to the music, but often the keys have a independent role, expanding the songs to other horizons.
There are some guest vocalists in "Translucid..." like Carla Mourao or Leen Van Damme...Why did you choose to include them?
They sounded good for those parts. It's a question of finding the best way to fullfil an ideia for a song or a part. Beside female voices there are also other male voices that made comtribution on some songs, and for the same motive: acheive the best for each part of the song.
Do you have plans to release your material like the "Promo Tape 91", "The Shades Behind" EP or "The Other Sides" tape on CD?
Yes, as a matter of fact we do. The plan is to include all that plus both our albuns «Darkside» and «Eye'm'God» and videos in one package double-cd edition. It's all planned since Summer to be released under the name of «Mastery of holy imperial art», but so far the label have been delaying it. The package is really cool and it's to be sold at the price of a normal cd.
What do you think about other portuguese bands like Moonspell or Inthyflesh?
Moonspell is very important to our national scene. They are the biggest Metal band in Portugal, and got a lot of attention in the international scene, and that it's good for all other Metal bands here. Fortunatly we have a lots of cool bands just waiting for a chance to grow. Here the economic conditions dictate a lot of restrictions in some terms, but we got lots of promising musicians working hard to get some success for their projects.
Do you think that your music style is better received in Europe than in the USA? Why do you think is that?
The new album was distributed in the US in October, so it's still to soon to make a definite comment on that matter. Anyway, for the reactions we had so far from our older releases, usually in Europe we get the best reception.
Some final thoughts?
I want to thank you, first of all for this nice interview. All into Metal music should have a listen to our new album to check it out ! Don't loose the chance to hear our «brutalized Heavy Metal» ! Anything more about the band you can look in www.sacredsin.org . Keep extreme and stay Metal !
SACRED SIN - DISCOGRAPHY
The Shades Behind - CD
Darkside - CD
Eye M God - CD
Anguish...I harvest - CD
Translucid Dream Mirror - CD
ACTUAL LINEUP
José Costa - bass and vocals
Nuno Goncalves - guitar
Pedro Miguel - guitar
Danilo Wavick - drums
Tiago Loureiro - keyboards
