Andreas Kisser - Biography

Biography

Born to a Slovene mother, from Maribor, Slovenia, and a German father, Kisser was originally a roadie for Sepultura vocalist/guitarist Max Cavalera. He was asked to join the band in 1987 following the departure of original lead guitarist Jairo Guedes. He is largely responsible for bringing a more progressive sound to the band starting with the Schizophrenia album (1987). He studied classical guitar for several years before joining Sepultura. According to Allmusic, Kisser is one of metal's most overlooked guitarists.

During his early days, he frequently used Charvel and Jackson guitars (especially the one with the Red Hot Chili Peppers' stickers and the white Randy Rhoads model for the Arise album). Recently he is being endorsed by Fender and is using Stratocaster model, though he still endorses Jackson and has been known to use them at a few live performances (Jackson is now owned by Fender). In 1992, Andreas unsuccessfully auditioned for the position of rhythm guitarist of Metallica, as a temporary replacement of James Hetfield, who had suffered severe burns on his hand during a live show.

Kisser is involved in several Brazilian movie soundtracks projects, namely No Coração dos Deuses and Bellini e a Esfinge. Kisser provided his guitar playing to 3 tracks on the Roadrunner United album. His playing can be heard on the tracks "The Enemy", "Baptized in the Redemption", and "No Mas Control". He is participating in the Scorpions Humanity Tour 2008 as a guest musician. Kisser and drummer Igor Cavalera became the major creative forces in Sepultura after Max Cavalera's 1996 departure, although Igor is no longer a member of the band having left in 2006. Kisser's solo album entitled Hubris I & II, has been released in Europe. In 2006 he played guitars on Asesino's album Cristo Satánico, credited as "Sepulculo".

Kisser is also a member of a tribute band called HAIL!. That band's rotating cast of members include Andreas Kisser, Tim "Ripper" Owens, Paul Bostaph, David Ellefson, Mike Portnoy, Jimmy DeGrasso and Roy Mayorga. Ripper, DeGrasso, Ellefson and Kisser formed the band in late 2008. The band, toured Europe in 2009 and in June 2010 HAIL! is on their second European tour with the following line-up: Andreas Kisser, Tim "Ripper" Owens, Paul Bostaph and James LoMenzo. Due to the tragic passing of previously announced bassist Paul Gray, LoMenzo agreed on only one day’s notice to fly to Portugal and rescue the Rock In Rio Festival where HAIL! was scheduled to perform on May 30, 2010.

It was announced on March 17, 2011 that Kisser will be replacing Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian for some of Anthrax's European tour dates (July 2–16), including the Big 4 Sonisphere Festival shows in Gothenburg, Sweden as well as Knebworth, UK and Amneville, France, as Ian and his wife Pearl Aday were expecting the birth of their first child.

He also plays with Brazilian The Beatles cover band Clube Big Beatles, that has played The Cavern in Liverpool(where The Beatles first got their big break) for the last 3 years and has a brick in the wall of fame in Mathew St., the first Brazillian to have one and the first modern metal guitarist to be honoured in that way. http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/liverpoolecho/aug2012/5/1/andreas-kisser-sepultura-image-2-903065596.jpg. http://whiplash.net/materias/news_836/161890-andreaskisser.html http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2012/08/25/brazilian-rocker-andres-kisser-joins-liverpool-s-cavern-club-wall-of-fame-in-mathew-street-ceremony-100252-31690656/