Andreas Kisser admits that his wife’s death contributed to the decision to end Sepultura

It came as a huge shock to the metal world when Sepultura announced last year that they would be calling it quits after 40 years as a band with a farewell tour. According to lead guitarist Andreas Kisser, the decision was partly due to the tragic death of his wife in 2022 from colon cancer.

In a recent interview with the French outlet Loud TV (this was transcribed by Blabbermouth), Kisser was asked if the death of his wife, Patricia Perissinoto Kisser, had anything to do with Sepultura’s decision to hang up their guitars, and he confirmed this in a long answer that seemed to slowly go off topic:

“Yes, of couse. Definitely. It has been two and a half years since Patricia, my late wife, died. [due to] Cancer. The process was very painful and of course very difficult, as we can imagine, but it was an open experience of getting to know myself, my family and having new opportunities to talk about life due to dying.

“Brazil is one of the worst places to die. Many people are forgotten by society and have the same problems with cancer, very serious illnesses and so on. And I created this movement to inspire and encourage people in Brazil to talk about dying in many ways, about euthanasia, about suicide, assisted suicide, about palliative care, especially because in Brazil we still do this growing up because my wife had palliative care and stuff. We were privileged to give that because of health insurance and all that stuff. But most people in Brazil don’t have that. So we started this movement, this campaign, a festival [Patfest]also a music festival that we have been holding for two years now. I have just carried out the third edition to raise funds for the people who provide palliative care and care in the favelas [impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil] in Rio, for the very poor people who are forgotten by society etc., and at the same time encourages people to talk about dying. I have learned that death is my greatest teacher. I learn so much about life because I respect finiteness. We can’t control that. We’re all going to die. You will die. The camera will die. [Laughs] Something electronic [device will eventually stop working]. So it is what it is. We can’t choose. What we can choose is to live in the moment. The intensity of the present is much more intense when one respects finiteness.

“If you go to the cinema and there is no ending, there is no meaning, there is no message. A book, anything you do in your life, a job, this interview, we have to finish. The way we think [in] Phases – beginning, cause and effect; Beginning, middle and end. And that’s life. Let’s respect that. Let’s not try to live forever, AI, robots and all that stuff. Let us be human and respect finiteness, respect dying.”

Wait, what? It started as a poignant tribute to his wife, then it was about the importance of palliative care, but then it somehow went off track and ended up in the sea. How did we start talking about AI?

Regardless, it confirms that Kisser’s wife’s death played a role in the end of Sepultura, and honestly I can’t blame him. A loss like this is devastating and you have to do everything you can to get over it. Here’s hoping Kisser finds healing in his next endeavor.