Interview with Sérgio Baloff Borges
(Headhunter D.C.)
Hail Sergio! Hellcome to Archangel’s Lantern! Tell us please firstly, how did you become as Metal maniac and how did You enjoy Headhunter Death Cult? Did you play in other band(s) before Headhunter D.C.?
- Hails Georgius!!! Let the unholy mourning begin… I think my beginning in the Metal universe happened basically in the same way as most metalheads from my era. I was presented to Kiss, Iron Maiden and other classic names through one of my uncles when I was around 11, but still before that I used to like Peter Framptom and listened to AC/DC through a boyfriend of my sister. In June 1983 I was in Minas Gerais at another uncle’s house and saw some seconds of the Kiss show in Belo Horizonte on a local TV News, then my world collapsed! All that fire, explosions and lots of blood drove me crazy! After that a new dark horizon opened before me, turning darker and darker as I started knowing faster and heavier and bands as Venom and Slayer. I knew Headhunter D.C. (then named just as “Headhunter”) still in their earliest days back in 1987 when I first went to their rehearsal shared with ThrashMassacre – actually the rehearsal that day didn’t take place due to a problem on the Boss HM pedal both bands used to share, so I just would get familiar with their sound from the next rehearsal on. Then I became the band’s roadie and after the departure of Eduardo Falsão in late 1989 I joined the band as vocalist definitely. The rest is history… Yes, before joining Headhunter D.C. I did the vocals in ThrashMassacre, total raging Thrash/Speed Metal from ’86!
Necrotrooper: How was the scene back in the day? Were You friends with any of these bands, like Sarcofago, Impurity, Sepultura, Vulcano, Holocausto, Necrofago, Dorsal Atlántica, Chakal, Aamonhammer, Exterminio, Mystifier, Mutilator, Necrófago etc.?
- In ‘86 I started getting in contact with Sarcófago and Vulcano (I was a member of the Official Vulcano Fan Club back in the day) and then started corresponding with other bands as Butcher, Anarchus (Belo Horizonte), Witchhammer, MX, NecroVomit etc. Impurity came 2, 3 years later, along with Infernal Noise, Mayhem Decay Cudgel, Necrodisseminator, Evoked Damnation, Dissector, Psychic Possessor, Brutal Distortion, Expulser and others, which I also used to be penfriends with, and I’m in touch with them since early 90’s until nowadays.
Necrotrooper: How did you sign with Cogumelo Records? Were you satisfied with them?
- The deal with Cogumelo came in 1990, after our “Hell is Here” demo ’89 has caught their attention. Of course I have my complains about the label, who stopped supporting us after the release of our second album and also didn’t accomplish the deal in one more album (what also happened to other bands from the label at that same period), but on the other hand we’re also very glad and honored for having been in a label who had lots of very important bands for the Brazilian Extreme Metal scene such as Sepultura, Sarcófago, Holocausto, Mutilator, Chakal, Impurity, SexTrash etc and also for they have unleashed our name to the scene in a larger scale. They could be the biggest Extreme Metal label in the world if that wouldn’t for their odd way of working with their bands. I say this knowingly!
Who writes the lyrics and music in Headhunter D.C.?
- I’m currently the main writer, lyrics and music wise, in the band.
You recorded a very interesting split called “...In Deathmetallic Brotherhood” with Sanctifier in 2007. Would you be so kind to share us more info about this Death Metal alliance?
- Sure! Due to the great partnership and brotherhood we created with our our old French brother Hugues "Karnage" Vallot after the release of the live tape "Brazilian Deathkult Live Violence..." in early 2002 via Eternal Fire Tape Series (now available on CD via Eternal Hatred Records), I had the idea of the split with Sanctifier, inspired by the split 10" Desaster / Pentacle "...In League With...", in which each band played a cover of the other plus some unreleased material. I passed the idea to Karnage, who promptly accepted to undertake the project, and the result is the "...In Deathmetallic Brotherhood" split MLP via Legion of Death Rekordz from France. We appear on it with a then brand new song called “Hymn to Babylon”, a Sanctifier cover version for “The Cycle of the Entity” and a live recording of “Falling in Perdition”, from the “…And the Sky Turns to Black…” album.
Peruvian Crypts of Eternity Productions released a very interesting compilation, “The Darkest Archieves... from the Death Cult (1987-2007)” in 2010. What we should to know about this excellent material?
- Yeah! That’s another release I’m VERY proud of! Something that so perfectly synthesized our then 20 years of existence and was like a gift to the fans and admirers of the band with all those rare materials directly from our darkest archives. There are very old rehearsals, demo, promo, live recordings, radio cuts and other unreleased stuffs, you know, all that rare shit we love so much and die to get! CD 1 features recordings with the Falsão era (1987-1989) and CD 2 takes the Baloff era (1990-2007). We are very thankful to our Peruvian brother Richard Lucas (COE zine / prods.) for having believed in the project and released the DoCD, something that unfortunately we didn’t get in our own country. By the way, hail Ricardo!!!
You put your demonic vocals as a guest musician to bands as Chemical Death, Divine Pain, Insaintfication, Queiron and Ungodly, if I’m not mistaken. Enlighten us please about these details.
- All those guest appearances were like a way of giving some support for bands we have some friendship and also that have a special link with us, in a way or another. Of course they’re about bands that I have some admiration for their work, otherwise I’d never participate in their releases. By the way, on our last Brazilian South/Southeast tour this year I had the pleasure of being invited by Queiron to come up their stage and share the vocals with Marcelo Grous on “Impalement Ritual Assembly” on the Indaiatuba/SP show and also on “Beyond the Deepest Lie”, which they recorded for the Headhunter D.C. tribute album.
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Headhunter D.C. played first time in Europe 2013. Share with the readers, please, your experiences.
- The balance I do about our very first European tour in 25 years of career (27 already completed on last May actually...), the "...In Unholy Mourning for God ...European Tour 2013") is the most positive possible, with several extremely memorable concerts, great meetings with fans – new and old –, new friendships and contacts made, good beer, good food (and sometimes not that good also...), a few days without bathing (as usual ...) and, of course, some typical hassles on a tour like that, but more importantly, between positives (mostly, thankfully) and negative aspects, is the feeling of accomplishment at having taken the Death Cult to the Old World with the same fury and bloodshot eyese with which we use to spread it here in our land, Brazil. Finally we could see 'in loco' that we usually notice right away, which is the great respect and admiration that Europeans have towards true Metal made in this side of the planet, hence the fact that we are a really great school for an endless legion of bands and maniacs out there, what makes us wonder, again, why not always we use to have this same respect within our own country, but that's a topic for another conversation... Some shows were marked by a brutal receptivity from the crowd which is already half step to fit into our concept of "memorable". Some of them were in Wermelskirchen (Germany), Barroselas (Portugal), Mointaigu (France), Torelló (Spain) among others, but I can say that in all our shows we were received with great respect and appreciation for our hard work. We are planning to return for a new tour in 2015 or 2016. Let's wait and see what happens...
As I’ve seen on your official page, Mutilation Records has just released a Tribute to Headhunter D.C. (Volume I.). Your thoughts about it?
- The idea for the tribute came from Mutilation Records’ boss Sergio Tullula a few years ago, and since then it has been something that made me extremely honored. Its recent release just made me even more proud and honored, both for the tribute concept itself and the great versions of every participating band, not to mention the testimony of each of them in recognition of our history. The release in general went flawlessly, starting with its 24-page booklet with one page for each band, something very difficult to see in this type of release, so kudos to Mutilation for such a killer release, and to all the bands for their fucking great and blameless performances. More than a tribute to us, a real deathmetallic congregation for the cause of Death Metal Underground! Check it out right fucking now!!! Volume II planned to be unleashed in the first trimester of 2015.
Brazil has an awesome unholy Metal scene. Would you be so kind to recommend us some bands (including newcomer ones)?
- I always agreed that Brazil has a killer potential in Death Metal terms since mid eighties and I’m proud for making part of this history with my band. Some trendy bands come and go, but in the end only the strong truly prevails. Among old, relatively old and newcomers I can recommend you bands as Embalmed Souls (masters of Bizarre Cult!), Sanctifier, Grave Desecrator, Apokalyptic Raids, Eminent Shadow, Bastard (former Headhunter D.C. guitarist Fabio Nosferatus’ new band), Queiron, Decomposed God, Impurity, Nervo Chaos, Unborn, Poisonous, Inside Hatred, S.O.H., Expose Your Hate, Eternal Sacrifice, Obskure, Vomepotro, Krow, Inner Demons Rise, Incinerador, Putrid Semen, Devouring, Heretic Execution, Masturbator, Cadaverizer, Vultos Vociferos, Arkanus Ad Noctum, Empty Grace, Morbid Perversion and others…
Could you tell us about your amazing Brazilian land in short? What places do you recommend to visit to the readers? Introduce please, Brazilian culinary art: which foods and drinks are your recommendations?
- Well, as you might know, Brazil is a country full of contrasts: while there are a lot of beautiful places to visit, there’s also the ugly and forgotten side of here, through which one can make sure about the big inequality that exists in the country. Anyway, talking about cool places to visit, we have so many here in our state of Bahia and in the Northeast side in general, wonderful beaches, historical places and also, of course, lots of red light districts, hehe! Pelourinho (in Salvador), Chapada Diamantina and Ilha de Itaparica are some of the so many cool places to have great time in here in Bahia! Other amazingly beautiful Northeastern cities to be visited are Fortaleza, Natal and Recife, among others. Food and drink wise I will also keep myself in the great Bahian universe, where you can taste the real Devil’s food called “acarajé” and “caruru” (both original from Africa… Cult!) and all kinds of “moquecas” (typical bahia food made with all kinds of seafood and palm oil) and traditional “cachaças” and liquors. Of course you have heard about our worldwide known caipirinha, and it can be found in every corner of Brazil. Belém’s “Tacacá” (a kind of broth made with dried shrimp and cassava leaves… a perfect hangover killer!!! =) ), Rio de Janeiro’s “feijoada” and Manaus’ traditional “Tambaqui” (a river’s roasted fish) are also other examples of pure cult Brazilian food! Saúde e bom apetite!!! ;)
Your favourite all-time 10 Metal albums/and vocalists are?
- Always a very difficult task to make these kind of lists, even harder when it’s only 10. Let’s try anyway (no particular order):
Albums:
1-POSSESSED “Seven Churches”
2-IRON MAIDEN “Piece of Mind”
3-IMMOLATION “Dawn of Possession”
4-DEATH “Scream Bloody Gore”
5-BLACK SABBATH “Master of Reality”
6-SLAYER “Hell Awaits”
7-IRON MAIDEN “Powerslave”
8-SEPULTURA “Morbid Visions”
9-VENOM “Black Metal”
10-BLACK SABBATH “Same”
Vocalists:
1-Jeff Becerra
2-Cronos
3-Ozzy
4-Chuck Schuldiner
5-Bruce Dickinson
6-Troy Dixler
7-John Tardy
8-David Wayne
9-J. D. Kimball
10-Mille Petrozza (“Endless Pain/Pleasure to Kill” era)
Of course such names as Barney Greenway (up to “Utopia Banished”), Ross Dolan, Lee Dorian (Napalm Death era) and others also deserve to be on this list for being great ‘vokillists’ and also big influences and inspiration for my vochaos job.
Beside the music do you have any special hobbies?
- Hum… nothing really relevant to be mentioned. Almost all things I like to do in my life I do in a so dedicated way that it’s hard for me to call it as “hobby”, as playing Death Metal music for instance, that is already a kind of ideology for me. The same for collecting fanzines from all over the world since 1985. Headbanging and drinking beer must be considered a “religious” thing for me (haha!), so they also can’t fit on the hobby aspect. Argh, I haven’t any special hobbies definitely! Fuck the hobbies! HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!
What about Headhunter Death Cult’s future plans?
- We don’t use to make long-dated plans, as everything happens here in a non predetermined way, but an official DVD is still to be put in practice as soon as we have some support to finally do it. Also doing another European tour for 2015 or 2016 is among them. By the way, new unholy anthems are already being written for a future release, whether an EP or a new full length preferably. Watch out!!! Total death!!!!!!!!!
Obrigado, Sergio! Share your Headhunter Death Cult thoughts in the end.
- Headhunter D.C. is 27 UNINTERRUPTED years on the Underground darkest paths now, so we should never to be confused with that kind of bands that used to play Death Metal only when it used to be “cool”, when it was the trend of the moment and then started to play gay music for years for later trying a comeback to the roots claiming for never having forgotten Death Metal music… fuck!!! We have crossed 3 fucking decades without EVER betraying our roots, so Metal of Death means much more for us than simply music or entertainment… it’s our way of life… and DEATH! FUCK THE TRENDIES!!!!!!!!! Thanks Georgius for the support, and for all deathmetallions out there, get in touch for a real deathmetallic alliance in the name of the Death Cult! Proud to be Death… proud to be Metal!!!!!!!!!! ALL HAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SIX SIX SIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! \m/
HEADHUNTER DEATH CULT:
P.O. BOX 283
AG. CENTRAL – COMÉRCIO
SALVADOR, BA 40.015-970
BRAZIL
(Interview has taken by Georgius and Necrotrooper)