1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
The band was born in 2012 as a solo project and was taking shape as a full band in the first years. From the beginning we opted to not divulge anything until we had something consistent to present to the public, with a well defined musical genre and line up. During these years we chose to hide our identities so the focus of the public is on our art.
2.In August you had released your first album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?
From the beginning our ambition has been to create a strong musical identity. To organize this we simply said to ourselves: "Let's try to sound as heavy and aggressive as possible but at the same time as beautiful as possible. With this goal we merged our musical experiences to create our identity.
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?
We criticize religions and the moral constructs of today's society through personal experiences that we literally face during our lives. Like every predominantly Christian country, Brazil is full of injustice and hypocrisy. So there is no lack of inspiration.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Ophirae'?
It´s an interesting question! The band was born with the name "Ophidian" and our debut album would be self-titled. All lyrics were written using the concept of this name. However one of our record labels made a suggestion that we look for another name since there was already a musically similar band called "Ophidian I". As we want to explore more the Brazilian musical culture in the next albums, the name Ophirae was chosen, which is a Brazilian indigenous war dance.
5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
As mentioned before, the lyrics are reflections of our life experiences regarding religion and moral social constructions. Another detail is that the lyrics are narrated from the point of view of a central character: The Serpent. We sent this concept to the Brazilian artist Bruno Delgado, who hand painted (oil on canvas using spatula) the cover with the old man and the serpent.
6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We are from São Paulo, but as soon as the album was released we booked a tour through the northeast of Brazil, including some dates with the American band Toxic Holocaust. All the concerts were amazing and it´s very difficult to choose the greater one. But I believe that Juazeiro do Norte/CE was special because it was the band's first show. ...the public was really amazing.
7.Do you have any touring or show plans for 2023?
In 2023 we are working on our second album that should be released between the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. The plan is to tour again in 2024 to promote this second album.
8.The album was released on 'Mutilation Productions', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
Actually the album was released through a partnership between Mutilation Productions and Black Metal Store. We were very pleased because they are two of the greatest extreme metal labels in Brazil and probably in Latin America. The physical material was made with a quality that impressed us a lot!
9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of melodic black and death metal?
We realize that on a worldwide level we have a good audience on our streaming platforms but it is difficult to know how much of this audience really knows us because we are on the other side of the ocean. A little over a month ago I moved to Portugal precisely with the intention to start our work in Europe.
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
As I mentioned before, our idea for the future is to bring more of the Brazilian culture into our art and present it to the world, without losing that "sounding as heavy and aggressive as possible but at the same time as beautiful as possible" goal. At the moment this is our focus.
11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
We listen to a lot of Swedish bands like Dawn, Dissection, Sacramentum and At The Gates. We also listen to bands like Uada, Woods of Desolation, Cult of Fire and Acherontas. About classic death metal bands we like a lot Carcass, old Deicide and Death. But there are many other influences... we also like other things than extreme metal.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank you very much for granting us this interview, we hope this will help people to know our work a little better.
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