失败让我们更加坚强 - 巴西Thrash Metal/Hardcore乐队Lethal Charge专访

Volcano Magazine
Aug 19
15 min read

今天采访到的是来自巴西的Thrash Metal / Hardcore乐队Lethal Charge1990年由Michel Viana组建了这支乐队，在组建Lethal Charge之前，Michel Viana已经拥有了在三支乐队演奏的经验，不久之后Michel Viana萌生了组建属于自己的乐队，于是找来好友组建了这支乐队，经过一段时间的创作之后乐队在1991年发行了第一张Demo作品并且在巴西国内进行了大量的宣传，得到了很好的反馈并且收到了一些音乐节的邀请，1992年录制了第二张Demo作品，在录制这张专辑之前乐队寻找到了鼓手Lélis加入乐队，1994年乐队录制了第一张正式专辑“Lethal Charge”并且由Roadrunner Brazil发行，这张专辑发行之后乐队遇到了1一些困难导致乐队宣布停止活动，直到2000年才重新宣布活动，随后乐队发行了一些作品，包括2010年发的第二张正式专辑“Convergence”，随后乐队又进入了长达十年的休整期，2020年才发行了最新的EP专辑“Global Collapse”，2024年乐队发行了第三张正式专辑“Doomed”，在新专辑发行之际乐队的创始人Michel Viana与杂志取得联系进行了一次专访！

（V: 代表笔者 M: 代表Michel Viana）

Today's interview was with Thrash Metal/Hardcore band Lethal Charge from Brazil, which was formed by Michel Viana in 1990. Prior to forming Lethal Charge, Michel Viana had experience playing in three bands. Soon after, Michel Viana had the idea of forming her own band and gathered friends to form it. After a period of creation, the band released their first demo in 1991 and received a lot of promotion in Brazil, receiving good feedback and invitations to music festivals. In 1992, they recorded their second demo, and before recording this album, the band found drummer L é lis to join the band. In 1994, the band recorded their first official album "Lethal Charge" and it was released by Roadrunner Brazil After the release of this album, the band encountered some difficulties that led them to announce the cessation of their activities. It was not until 2000 that they announced their activities again. Subsequently, the band released some works, including their second official album "Convergence" released in 2010. The band then entered a decade long hiatus period and only released their latest EP album "Global Collapse" in 2020. In 2024, the band released their third official album "Doomed". At the time of the release of the new album, the band's founder Michel Viana contacted a magazine for an exclusive interview!

(V: represents author M: represents Michel Viana)

采访对象：Michel Viana（Lethal Charge乐队歌手）

采访时间：2025.08.19

V: 你好Michel，很高兴见到你，非常感谢你参加这次采访。我想这是你们乐队第一次接受中国杂志的采访。首先向所有中国球迷和朋友问好。Lethal Charge成立于1990年，是一支历史悠久的乐队。你最初是怎么组建这个乐队的？

Hello Michel, nice to meet you and thank you very much for participating in this interview. I think this is the first time your band has been interviewed by a Chinese magazine. First of all, let's say hello to all Chinese fans and friends. Lethal Charge was founded in 1990 and is a long-standing band with a long history. How did you form this band in the first place?

M: 首先，向所有中国金属/朋克/铁杆粉丝致以问候！！！1990年，我19岁，已经在坎皮纳斯市（圣保罗州农村一个拥有150万居民的城市）为其他3个乐队演奏（吉他）和声乐。由于我来自一个中低收入家庭，买不起好的设备（乐器、放大器、P.a.等），我有了一个想法，与两个朋友（贝斯手Jean和吉他手André）合作创建了一个Hardcore Metal工作室项目，我创作了（一如既往）所有的即兴重复段/歌曲/鼓声和歌词，我们录制了第一个Lethal Charge的Demo，该Demo完全独立通过邮件分发，我开始在一些Metal和Punk杂志上推广它，主要是在我的城市（坎皮纳斯）和圣保罗市。然后地下音乐节的组织者开始邀请我们现场演奏，我们表演了一些我演奏鼓/声乐、André（吉他）和Jean（贝斯）的演出。1992年，我们与坎皮纳斯的一家工作室（Arenna工作室）合作发布了我们的第二个工作室Demo（“Chronic infection”），该工作室当时打算发行一些当地乐队。在不久之前，我找到了一个好的鼓手（Lélis），我在Lethal Charge的专辑中演奏吉他/声乐。1993年，我们参加了由巴西主要硬核乐队Ratos de Porão的主唱以及其他4个乐队（以“黑胶唱片”形式发行）制作的合辑（“Fun，milk and detroy”）。

1994年，Roadrunner Brazil签署了Lethal Charge并发行了第一张全长CD，简称为“Lethal Charge”。然后，由于成员离职和财务困难，乐队中断了。2000年，一家独立唱片公司（Sonia music）发行了一张合辑（CD），其中包含我们所有的Demo和工作室磁带，名为“Tales from the Holocaust”，我们还参加了另一个合辑“O progresso da retrossãO”。此时，Lethal Charge还在坎皮纳斯的演出中为Agnostic Front、GBH、Sepultura、Ratos de Porão等乐队演奏。2007年，我们发行了另一家独立唱片公司的专辑"Convergence"，该唱片公司没有进行适当的营销。几年后，又出现了一种中断，2020年Lethal Charge发行了EP“Global Collapse”（仅虚拟版）并参加了另一个合辑（“Rock soldiers” vol26），在这次发行之后，Fernando与我一起演奏了20年的吉他手离开了乐队，剩下的只有我和鼓手Caio。然后我们又录制了一张全长专辑（CD+数字平台）："Doomed"，在这张专辑中，我与Caio一起在鼓上录制了贝斯/吉他和人声。去年，Caio在乐队演出了一段时间后离开了乐队，3个月前，Fábio（吉他手）也因工作职责而需要离开。我为新专辑创作了新歌（现在正在录制！），但为了不浪费时间，我将录制所有吉他/贝斯/人声并在专辑制作人/工作室所有者和声音运营商（Rogério Guedes）的帮助下，对所有鼓进行编程（电子）。

well, first of all Greetings to all the Chinese Metal/Punk/Hardcore fans!!! I was 19 years old in 1990 and I had already played(guitar) and vocals for other 3 bands, here in the city of Campinas (a 1,5 milion inhabitants city in São Paulo state's countryside). And due to the fact that I came from a low-middle-class family, and I couldn't afford buyng good equipment (instruments, amplifiers, P.A. etc), I had the idea to create a Hardcore Metal studio-project, with the collaboration of 2 friends (Jean - bassist, and André - guitarrist), I composed (as It has always been up to now) all the riffs/songs/drum-beats and lyrics, and we recorded the first Lethal Charge's demo, which was distributed totally independently by mail, and I started promoting It in some Metal and Punk zines, mainly in my city (Campinas) as well as in São Paulo city. Then underground festivals’ organizers started inving us to play alive, and we performed some gigs in which I played drums/vocals, André (guitar) and Jean (bass). In 1992 we released our second studio demo (“Chronical infection”) in a partnership with a studio in Campinas (Arenna Studio), which had the intention to release some local bands at the time. At this point I had found a good drummer (Lélis) and I was playing guitar/vocals in Lethal Charge’s presentations. In 1993 we took part in a compilation (“Fun, milk and detroy”) produced by the vocalist of the main hardcore Brazilian band ever (Ratos de Porão), along with other 4 bands(released in “vinyl record”). In 1994 Lethal Charge was signed by Roadrunner Brazil, and released the first full lenght (CD) called simply “Lethal Charge”. Then the hiatus came, due to members departures and financial difficulties. In 2000 an independent label (Sonia music) released (CD) a compilation with all our demos and studio out-takes called “Tales from the holocaust”, and we took part in another compilation called “O progresso da regressão”. At this time Lethal Charge also played the opening sets for Agnostic Front ,GBH, Sepultura, Ratos de Porão, among others in their gigs here in Campinas... In 2007 we released the album “Convergence” by another independent label, which didn’t have the proper marketing by the label. One more kind of hiatus followed for some years, and in 2020 Lethal Charge released the EP “Global collapse” (only virtual), and took part in another compilation (“Rock soldiers” vol26), after this release Fernando (guitarrist who had been for 20 years playang with me left the band), remaining only I and the drummer Caio. Then we recorded one more full lenght album (CD+digital platforms): “Doomed”, in which I recorded the bass/guitars and vocals along with Caio on the drums. After some gigg along tha last year Caio left the band, and 3 months ago Fábio (guitarrist) also needed to leave due to his job responsibilities. I composed new songs for the new album (being recorded now!), bot in order not to waste time, I will record all guitars/basses/vocals and with the help of the album’s producer/owner of the studio and sound operator (Rogério Guedes) all the drums are being programed (electronic).

V: 现在只有你和鼓手Caio在乐队里了，所有其他成员都已经离开了。为什么第一代成员离开了乐队？Caio是怎么加入乐队的？我知道你的第一个鼓手在2012年去世了。是什么疾病或事故导致了他的死亡？

Now that you and drummer Caio are in the band, all other members have already left. Why did the first generation members leave the band? How did Caio join the band? I know your first drummer passed away in 2012. What illness or accident caused his death?

M: 正如我之前所说，Lethal Chrge开始时更像是一个工作室项目，而不是一个乐队，当然我想拥有资源（投资于乐器、设备、营销等的资金），但在巴西，维持一个乐队最终会非常昂贵。在这34年里，乐队里有超过12位音乐家，他们中的大多数人离开了，因为他们不想帮助我在互联网上推广乐队，也不想组织演出。

As I told before, Lethal Chrge started meant to be more like a studio project than a band, of course I’d like to have resources (money to invest in instruments, equipment, marketing, etc), but in Brazil it ends up being very expensive to maintain a band. There have been more than 12 musicians in the band throughout these 34 years, and most of them left because they didn’t want to help me in promoting the band on the internet, and to organize the gigs.

V: 是什么导致你的乐队在1996年宣布解散？2000年你重组了你的乐队，是什么促使你这样做的？

What caused your band to announce its dissolution in 1996? In 2000, you reorganized your band, and what prompted you to do so?

M: 我与Roadrunner Brazil的合同是发行5张专辑，但在第一张专辑之后，他们就违反了合同（与当时签约的Lethal Charge和其他3支巴西乐队）。我们都辞去了工作，只专注于音乐等。然后，沮丧的感觉“腐蚀”了我们的精神，一种不情愿的感觉，再加上为了生存而找其他工作的必要性等等。这导致乐队停止了活动。但1998年，当我被Andreas Kisser（Sepultura的吉他手）邀请参加试镜时，我非常愿意再次制作音乐，以取代刚刚离开Sepultura，这个决定仍然由我和Derik Green（被选中担任这份工作的人）做出，这一事实让我再次回来制作音乐。

My contract with Roadrunner Brazil was for the releasing of 5 albums, but after the first one they broke the contract (with Lethal Charge and other 3 Brazilian bands that they had signed at the time). We all had left our jobs to dedicate only to the music, etc. Then the feeling of frustration “corroded” our spirits, a sense of unwillingness, plus the necessity to find other job to survive, etc. This caused the band to stop its activities. But I felt very willing to make music again when I was invited, in 1998 by Andreas Kisser (Sepultura’s guitarrist) for an audition, in order to replace Max Cavalera, who had just left Sepultura, the decision remained between me and Derik Green (who was the chosen for the job), and this fact made me come back to make music again.

V: 你的乐队只有两名成员，我认为创作歌曲会更方便，因为你可以根据自己的想法创作歌曲。你能介绍一下你的创作经验吗？2024年你第三张正式专辑的创作过程顺利吗？

Your band only has two members, and I think it will be more convenient when creating songs because you can create songs according to your own ideas. Can you introduce your creative experience? Did the creative process of your third official album release in 2024 go smoothly?

M: 好吧，自从我开始Lethal Charge以来，我一直在创作所有的即兴重复段/歌曲、鼓声和歌词，我甚至在这个工作室参加了专辑的制作，对我来说，除了是一种乐趣，这也是一种节省时间、无休止的讨论和排练金钱的方式。..

Well, since I started Lethal Charge, I’ve always composed all the riffs/songs, drum-beats and the lyrics, and I even take part in the production of the albums in tne studio, for me besides being a pleasure, It’s a way to save time, endless discussions and money with rehearsals...

V: 你的Logo设计很简单，但这种设计形式是我个人非常喜欢的，因为我可以很容易地记住你的名字。谁为你设计了这个Logo？你早期的专辑艺术品设计得很奇怪。谁为你设计了早期的艺术品？2024年专辑的艺术设计非常漂亮。谁为你的新专辑设计了艺术品？

Your logo design is very simple, but this design form is something I personally really like because I can easily remember your name. Who designed this logo for you? Your early album artworks were designed very strangely. Who designed the early artworks for you? The artwork design for the 2024 album is very beautiful. Who designed the artwork for your new album?

M: 我从来都不想有一个“官方”乐队的Logo，但我们专辑封面上的Logo遵循了相同的图形风格，一些哭泣、成熟、技术的东西。..对于专辑"Doomed"，它是由我的朋友André制作的，他对平面设计很了解，也喜欢科幻小说。

I’ve never wanted to have an “official” band’s logo, but the ones in the covers of our albums follow the same graphic style, something sobber, mature, technological... For the album “Doomed” it was made by my friend André, who knows a lot about graphic design and also likes scientific fiction.

V: 政治、暴力、战争是你的音乐主题。你为什么选择这些音乐主题？你想通过这些音乐主题表达什么？你还创建了歌词部分。谁创作了这些歌词，是什么启发了他们？

Politics, Violence, War are your music themes. Why did you choose these music themes? What do you want to express through these music themes? You also created the lyrics section. Who created these lyrics and what inspired them?

M: 我在歌词中表达了现实、地缘政治、历史、人类嬉皮士和我的个人背景对我的影响，当然，因为这些主题与我们的音乐风格完美契合。..

I put the way that reality, geopolitics, history, the human hipocrisy and my personal background impact me in my lyrics, and of course, because these kind of themes match perfectly our music style...

V: Zrecords、Heavy Metal Rock和Roadrunner Records都为你的乐队发行了专辑，这些都是优秀的唱片公司。你是如何与这些品牌建立联系和合作的？你对他们的工作满意吗？

Zrecords, Heavy Metal Rock, and Roadrunner Records have released albums for your band, all of which are excellent labels. How did you establish contact and collaborate with these labels? Are you satisfied with their work?

M: 好吧，Roarunner Brazil通过João Gordo（Ratos de Porão的vocalit）的指示与我们签约，他们当时与其他3个巴西“新”乐队签署了Lethal Charge并签订了5张专辑的合同，但在不到一年的时间里，他们告诉乐队他们不会遵守合同并踢了乐队的所有屁股，Zrecords对我大发雷霆，他们发行了CD"Convergence"，但未能正确推广和分发专辑，与重金属摇滚乐队合作，他们印制了300张，几乎没有营销，但他们也是一家商店，所以这张专辑可以在他们的网站上购买。..但推广这张专辑的所有努力基本上都是我做的。对于我现在正在录制的这首歌，唯一可以确定的是，它将出现在最常见的数字平台上，最初没有任何标签，但我会设法把它印在CD上。…让我们看看会发生什么。..

Well, Roarunner Brazil signed us by an idication from João Gordo (Ratos de Porão’s vocalit), they had signed Lethal Charge along with with 3 other Brazilian “new” bands at the time, with a contract for 5 albums, but in less than 1 year they told the bands that they woudn’t keep to the contract and kicked all the band’s asses, Zrecords blongs to an aquainted of mine, they released the CD “Convergence”, but failed in promoting and distributing the album properly, and with Heavy Metal Rock, they printed 300 copies, with little marketing, but they are a store as well, so the album is available for purchase on their website...but all the efforts to promote the album were made by me basically. And for the one that I’m recording now, the only certainty is that It will be on the most common digital platforms, initially without any label, but I’ll try to find some way to have it printed in CDs...let’s see what happens...

V: 首先，祝贺你的乐队在2024年发行了他们的最新专辑。这是一部优秀的复古作品，节奏感很强，尤其是你的Riff，给我留下了深刻的印象。看来你在编排这些段落上付出了很多努力，鼓手的表演也很出色、稳定、精准，歌手强有力的歌声给我留下了深刻的印记。从你的作品中，你可以感觉到你深受Sepultura乐队的影响。你能谈谈你对自己作品的看法吗？新专辑和旧专辑之间有什么变化？

First of all, congratulations to your band for releasing their latest album in 2024. This is an excellent work that is retro and has strong rhythm, especially your Riff, which left a deep impression on me. It seems that you put a lot of effort into arranging these paragraphs, the drummer's performance is also excellent, stable and precise, and the singer's powerful singing has left a deep impression on me. From your works, you can feel that you have been deeply influenced by Sepultura band. Can you talk about your own opinions on your works? What are the changes between the new album and the old album?

M: 谢谢！！！！！嗯，我见证并参与了80年代HardcorePunk、Thrash/Black metal和Crossover的诞生和发展，大约在1985年，我开始学习如何演奏贝斯/吉他和鼓，以及声乐。Sepultura（与Max合作）、The Exploited、Discharge、English Dogs、Broken Bones、DRI、Sodom、Metallica等乐队一直是我创作的主要参考，在90年代初，我加入了更多的参考，如Ministry、Faith no more、Hekmet、Nine Inch Nails、Biohazard、Pantera等。但专辑"Doomed"肯定有点Old School风格。就像新的一样。

Thanks!!!!! Well, I witnessed and made part of the birth and development of HardcorePunk, Thrash/Black metal and Crossover in the 80’s, and I started learning how to play bass/guitar and drums, and vocals as well, around 1985. And bands like Sepultura (with Max), The Exploited, Discharge, English Dogs, Broken Bones, DRI, Sodom, Metallica, etc have always been my mais references to compose, in the beggining of the 90’s I incorporated some more references as Ministry, Faith no More, Hekmet, Nine Inch Nails, Biohazard, Pantera etc. But the album “Doomed” certainly was a bit more old-school style. As the new one is going to be as well.

V: 作为一个老乐队，你参加过许多音乐节。哪些音乐节给你留下了深刻的印象？你能介绍一下当时的现场气氛吗？2025年你还计划参加哪些音乐节？

As an old band, you have participated in many music festivals. Which music festivals have left a deep impression on you? Can you introduce the live atmosphere at that time? What other music festivals are you planning to attend in 2025?

M: 在巴西，大多数乐队，主要是Harcore乐队，组织和现场演出的条件总是很差，主要是因为大多数时候乐队实际上没有收到任何钱或者只支付演出当天的交通费用，在这里的10个乐队中，有1个或2个在这方面有更好的条件。所以Lethal Charge从来没有演过很多演出，包括节日。但我对一些演讲有着美好的回忆，其中有最多的精彩片段和很多肾上腺素，但我感到非常自豪的是我们为G.B.H.、Agnostic Front、Ratos de Porão和Cólera演奏。

Here in Brazil, most of the bands, mainly the Harcore ones have always bad conditions to organize and play live, mainly because most of the times the bands practically don’t receive any money, or it only covers the costs with transportation on the day of the gig, out of 10 bands here, 1 or 2 have better conditions in this aspect. So Lethal Charge never played a lot of gigs, including festivals. But I have good memories of some presentations in which there were moshpits and a lot of adrenaline, but the gigs from which I feel a big pride were the opening sets that we played for G.B.H., Agnostic Front, Ratos de Porão and Cólera.

V: 你的乐队在2025年有什么新的工作要做吗？例如创作或录制新专辑？你能和大家分享一些信息吗？

Does your band have any new work to do in 2025? For example, creating or recording a new album? Can you share some information with everyone?

M: 今年4月/5月左右，我创作了11首新歌，为了避免花很长时间教鼓手新歌（因为我是一名英语老师谋生），我只有周末的空闲时间排练。任何鼓手在录音室准备录制这张专辑至少需要7个月的时间，所以我决定让这张专辑的制作人（Rogério Guedes）对鼓进行电子编程，其余的（吉他、贝斯和声乐）由我负责。然后在专辑发行后，我会找一个吉他手和一个鼓手来演奏一些演出并推广这张将于明年发行的专辑。

I composed 11 new songs around April/May, this year, and to avoid spending a long time teaching the new songs to a drummer (Because of my job as an English teacher, to make a living), I only have the weekends free to rehearse, It would take at least 7 months for any drummer to prepared to record the album in the studio, so I decided to ask the album’s producer (Rogério Guedes) to program the drums eletronically, and I’ll take charge of all the rest (guitars, bass and vocals). And then, after the album is released, I’ll try to find a guitarrist and a drummer to play some gigs and promote the album, that will be released next year.

V: 你们是一支高素质、优秀的乐队，我将永远关注和支持你们的乐队。我也希望通过这次采访，更多的中国歌迷能够关注和支持你们的乐队。最后，你有什么想对中国球迷说的吗？

You are a highly qualified and outstanding band, and I will always pay attention to and support your band. I also hope that through this interview, more Chinese fans can pay attention to and support your band. Do you have anything you want to say to Chinese fans in the end?

M: 首先，非常感谢火山杂志给我们这个机会让中国观众了解我们的音乐！！！你的话太棒了，我看得出来你很喜欢我们的音乐，谢谢！！！我向全体中国人民致以问候！！！！我希望你喜欢Lethal Charge的音乐并能支持我们！！！！！！！！！！！！！

Well, first of all thanks alot to Volcano Magazine for this opportunity to make our music known by the Chinese audience!!! Thaks a lot for your words, I can see you enjoyed our music, thanks!!! I Greetings to all the Chinese people!!!! I hope you enjoy Lethal Charge’s music and can support us!!!!!!!!!!!!!