Interview with death metal band from Brazil - HEADHUNTER D.C.
Answered Sérgio Baloff (vocals), thank you!
Recenze/review - HEADHUNTER D.C. - Rise of the Damned... (2026):
Ave HEADHUNTER D.C.! Greetings from the catacombs in Brazil! While I was preparing for this interview, I dug out all the albums of yours that I own over the weekend. I found out (and a friend confirmed it) that the first one we got was the 1991 album “Born...Suffer...Die” from 1991. You know what’s interesting? I haven’t found a single weak album in your entire discography. How is that possible? Do you have a secret formula for it? To keep the bar set so high for so many years...
- 666 hails Jakub and Deadly Storm zine!!! Let the rise of the damned begin... First off, thanks for your words on our discography! I'm really glad that you enjoy all our albums! The idea is to keep evolving album after album within our own concept of playing Unholy Death Metal, you know, then we are always trying to overcome ourselves music and lyrics wise, so, this way, our best album will always be the next one, at least for ourselves, otherwise there would be no point to continue. If there's a secret formula for it, it would be staying true to ourselves indeed. This way, we'll always sound true for those who listen to us, whether one likes us or not. If you do, so you're entering a dark world where 5 Brazilian deathmetallions live and play the most honest Death Metal in perfection they can.
Anyway, the new album “Rise of the Damned...” is out and has immediately become one of my most-played albums. Listening to it, you feel like you’ve traveled back in time to the ’90s. It’s excellent! How did it come about? And how does HEADHUNTER D.C. actually create new material?
- Everything happens in a so natural way, I mean, we simply don't force to sound like this or like that on the next album, the only "plan" we have is to keep on playing Death Metal as it was meant to be as we do it since almost four decades. We're a band from mid/late eighties, so we'll always naturally sound like a Death Metal band from that era (early 90s included ) and we will never change that like so many bands did in the past. And again, I'm glad that you really enjoyed the new album! I've been written all the music and lyrics in the band since at least the last 20 years and even before that I was writing stuff for the band, whether in partnership with Paulo Lisboa or in an individual way. The same happened again on "Rise of the Damned..." with the exception of only one song, "In Death Metal We Trust", which was written in partnership with former guitarist George Lessa. Everything comes from my own twisted mind and then I pass the songs for my current partner in crime Danilo Coimbra (guitar) who turns the skeleton of the songs into music, makes a pre-production and then pass them to the other guys, not that different from other bands in that aspect.
I’ve always really loved the sound on your albums. “Rise of the Damned...” is no exception. Where did you record the album? How did you achieve such a gritty and dense sound? To me, it sounds as if it was recorded analog or am I mistaken? Interestingly, the sound of this recording seems very similar to that of your previous album, “...in Unholy Mourning...”. Do you have a big say in how the album should sound, or do you leave it up to the sound engineers?
- In the case of "Rise of the Damned...", I wanted it to sound even more organic than the previous album, and even if we have used some modern tools and didn't record it in a total analog way, we fortunately reached the sound we wanted. I don't think the new album recording sounds similar to "...IUM...". For "ROTD..." I wanted the drums, for instance, to sound more "dry" and with less volume comparing with the one from "IUM..." not to compete with the guitars, which, in turn, I wanted to sound more brutal, more in-your-face, you know? I'm glad we have reached these aspects in the album and in the end, I got really pleased with its final result where the sound totally fits to the nature of the songs. By the way, "Rise of the Damned..." was recorded at Estúdio do Beco studio here in Salvador, produced by me and engineered by Vicente Fonseca who absorbed our idea about how the album should sound in an almost perfect way.
I’m an old-school fan, and I’m really particular about album covers. Who designed the cover for “Rise of the Damned…”? I love that artwork so much that I set it as my computer desktop background. Can you tell us how the artwork relates to the music on the new album? How did you all get together, and how did the album cover come about?
- The album cover artwork is signed by a great Brazilian artist called Marcus Miller who also worked for some other Brazilian bands such as AMEN CORNER, EXTERMINATE, OPEN THE COFFIN and also drew the fabulous cover of DESASTER's "Churches Without Saints". I got in touch with Marcus through my friend Sérgio Tullula, boss of Mutilation Records since he had already done artworks for some other albums released by the label. Just as I used to do in the past, I passed the idea for the cover through a handmade sketch and a text through which I talk about the scene I had in mind. Sometimes I also send the lyrics of the title track and even the song itself, but not this time. The artist absorbed the idea perfectly and did a great job! It totally sinthetizes the context of the lyrics of the title track, and shows an unholy figure representing us, the so called heretics condemned by the Catholic Church since several centuries now, claiming victory over all that is hipocritically called "holy". In the end, I think the cover artwork, the album layout, the lyrics and the songs join each other perfectly and make "Rise of the Damned..." what it is, musically and ideologically wise.
Considering that you’ve been playing as a band since 1987, you still have a very strong lineup. The last remaining founding member is singer Sérgio Baloff. Was it hard to find like-minded musicians in Brazil? And how does the current lineup work? Does Sérgio have the final say? Or is the band run democratically? You know how it is some people prefer blondes, others brunettes. Then all it takes is a few harsh words. Someone once wrote that a band is like a family. How does that work for HEADHUNTER D.C.?
- A band SHOULD be like a family indeed but unfortunately that doesn't always happen this way. I have faced a lot of struggles regarding lineups since practically our first days, but the last year was like a nightmare for us, simply because some of the ex-members weren't able to think as they were in a family. Fortunately these people are far away from HEADHUNTER D.C. and now we're entering in a new era for the band. The vibe and the atmosphere we breath within the band today is something unimaginable kind of 1 year and a half ago, so now things are flowing way better than before and this reflects in the rehearsals, in the shows and even in our get-togethers to have a few beers and chat. I’ve always viewed the band as a democracy, but unfortunately that doesn’t always work — and I say this from personal experience — so, sometimes, the final word has to be mine indeed, otherwise we wouldn’t still be here, continuously active for nearly 40 years, to tell the story.
The good thing about these days is that we have the internet. Well, it depends on the situation, but at least I can watch your concerts remotely. It’s not quite the same the sound on YouTube is always kind of weird but it’s better than nothing. I’ll be honest: I’d really love to see you live, but there’s nowhere to do it. Aren’t you planning a tour? I could totally imagine you, POSSESSED, and maybe even AUTOPSY. That would be a dream come true for me. No, seriously what about HEADHUNTER D.C. and concerts? What would you say to a trip to Europe with a stop here in the Czech Republic?
- We've always been a live band than anything else. I mean, it is on stage that we find fulfillment; it's where we can really show what we've came for. Don't get me wrong, I also love recording albums, but albums are just another vehicle for you to spread your art, you know. We always plan tours when we're about to release a new album, but unfortunately not always it comes the way we imagine or even the way we deserve — I hope this time things will work different though. We've already shared the stage with POSSESSED in Brazil back in 2008 when Jeff Becerra had SADISTIC INTENT as his support band and this was a dream come true for me too, haha! Pure fucking memorable!!! AUTOPSY on the bill would be the hell on earth, huh? By the way, we made it to Czech Republic in 2013 during our first European tour. They were 2 shows in Prague and Mlada Boleslav... Killer gigs!!! Last year we were invited to play at Prague Death Mass Festival, but due to the struggles with the lineup we were forced to cancel our participation in it. Now we have a full lineup again ready to destroy all and everything, so we hope to make it overthere and play in its next edition. Fingers crossed!
Just yesterday, I was talking with a friend at a pub about how everything has changed so drastically in recent years. Everyone has the internet in their pocket, and young people are now more influenced by images and videos than by music and lyrics. Nobody reads much anymore; we agreed that a lot of things have become more superficial. Maybe it’s different in Brazil, but here in the Czech Republic, I see it every day. It’s no different in music. As a musician, how do you perceive these changes in society? We have a lot of new technology, recording studios are better equipped, and ideas can be sent over the internet.
- Coincidently I was talking about it today. Brazil is passing through one of the most critical moments in its history politically wise, and some people just don't realize that it's not a question of having a "side" or supporting this or that politician: we have to fight against (christo)fascism, and that includes lots of other "isms" like racism, evangelism and the worst of it all: Bolsonarism! And some of these people support this shit just because they don't like the left wing or its candidate, then I say that if these people were more used to read the lyrics on Metal albums they would be able to know that Metal (in our case, Extreme Metal) has always been against all this christian and fascist bullshit. Again, it's not about to turn Metal into a political platform or shit like this — not at all! —, but also about not being alienated and getting back to a dictatorship as we lived from 1964 up to mid 80s, you know? And the internet has its fault in this matter... maybe not the internet itself, but the wrong way people use it. The younger generations got Metal as just plain entertainment, while it should get a cult feeling spawning confrontation and rebellion against society as it used to be in the golden years of it.
The world has changed, even when it comes to labels and record companies. HEADHUNTER D.C. is a band that, for me, is synonymous with underground death metal. We have Bandcamp and YouTube; labels can distribute your music faster, and it reaches more people. But you know how it is vinyl is vinyl, and cassettes and CDs have their own charm too. Have you had to change your approach to releasing your music in any way? Or do you still stick to the old ways, and new trends leave you cold?
- We are a band from the eighties and so are our attitudes, our posture and our further ways to see and face things within UG Metal — even if we also always have an eye towards the future. When we were formed we had only vinyl and cassete available, CDs came a bit later, so to keep this tradition today is very important to us — not mentioning that our diehard fans make a point of having our physical materials in their collections, so it's always like a priority for us.
You founded the band in 1987. But you were all once at the beginning of something new. I really love the old school of death metal. I like that it’s so dirty and raw. What were the ’90s and your early days actually like? Please take a trip down memory lane for us. Which bands did you like to go see, for example? Who was your role model? Feel free to throw in a funny story I’m sure you have plenty.
- We are talking about an era when there was pure magic in the air: the mid/late eighties and early nineties. I am super honored and proud for having witnessed the birth of Death Metal in 84/85 and the beginning of the second generation of the genre of which we are part of. I considerer 87 and 91 the most iconic years for the Death Metal genre in terms of both quantity and quality releases. 87 for demos like "Thy Kingdom Come" and albums like "Scream Bloody Gore" or "Strappado" and 91 for sooo many amazing releases like "Dawn of Possession", "Blessed Are The Sick", "Cursed", "Mental Funeral" and lots of others and, again, I'm proud for my band been formed and released our debut album in such magic years respectively. Things in northeastern Brazil were too difficult back in mid/late eighties and early nineties, even harder than anywhere else in the world, so we used to have a lot of things to struggle with, but in the other hand those difficulties were of such importance to us and brought much experience that would be vital for the years to come. Speaking about the eighties, I'm very proud for having attended, for instance, a VULCANO show back in 1987 when I was just 15. It was during their "Bloody Vengeance" tour and that was one of the most bestial shows I've ever seen! In the nineties, when we lived in Belo Horizonte for the entire year of 1993, I saw SARCÓFAGO, CHAKAL, CALVARY DEATH, BUTCHER, IMPURITY among others, but of course I can't forget mentioning when we shared the stage with SEPULTURA here in Salvador in May 1991 during their Arise World Tour the day before we tripped to BH to record "Born...Suffer...Die". Just amazing! Funny stories we really have plenty, especially in the 90s, which will be all properly told on our upcoming official biography to be released somewhere in the future — or never, haha!!! Among them, one when me and Paulo went in an alcoholic trip in Belo Horizonte and we ended up wandering the city streets, drunk and aimless. The result: 13 stitches in Paulo’s head after a fall, and my official MORGOTH "Resurrection Absurd" shirt ending up as hospital waste — not mentioning that I woke up later on a street corner, covered in blood and missing my so beloved shirt —, among other weird things...
So how did you get started as a musician? Do you have any formal music training? What was your first time performing on stage? What was the first concert you ever went to? How did you actually get into music? Tell me all about it go ahead and exaggerate a little 😊).
- I never considered myself a full musician as I've never had a formal music training, but I can call a Death Metal/Extreme Metal player/musician/writer myself if you ask me, of course. My first experience as a vocalist was still before HEADHUNTER D.C. when I made part of the last know lineup of THRASHMASSACRE, a local pioneering act from Salvador and our brother band in mid/late eighties from which we have recorded two cover songs for two of our albums. I even got to sing two songs at one of their final performances before they split up in 89/90. The very first concert I even went to was one of KRÂNIO METÁLICO, the real wild Metal pioneers in Bahia. It was back in 1985 and I was just a 13 years old metalhead teeneger! Music has always been a strong tool in my house and always had an important role in my life: my dad and my mom used to have lots of vinyl, from samba to 70s disco and I passed my entire childhood listening to their vinyl collection until I received a Peter Frampton record as a gift from my mother — he was my first rock'n roll idol. Then, later I was presented to KISS and my world collapsed with all that fire, blood, pyros and heavy music. The rest is history — no exaggerations here, haha!
I ask every band this question, and I’m really interested in your opinion. What does death metal actually mean to you? How would you define it? On HEADHUNTER D.C.’s albums, it’s very clear that you put everything into your music that it’s played from the heart. As a fan, that’s how I perceive it. So, what does death metal mean to you…?
- The infamous Unholy Terror question! (remember Unholy Terror 'zine from Germany run by my unholy friend Dirk Hacker?) If you allow me, I will reproduce my answer I gave for this same question in Unholy Terror issue #3 from back in 2003, which, in turn, were reproduced from Carnage 'zine, also from Germany, and from that same period (and my thoughts are still the same since then): "Yeah, the infamous Unholy Terror question! Well, actually it's not a so easy question to answer, since we're dealing with some abstract stuff here like feelings, essence etc. and not only with the musical side, so it's much more about to FEEL Death Metal than to explain what it is. Anyway, musically speaking, Death Metal is the most complete form of music ever created since it has all elements that a truly serious and powerful music style needs! True Death Metal music means, before anything, heaviness, memorable riffs (just remember that iconic riff in "The Exorcist" and you will know what I mean), expressive vocals coming from the very depths of the soul (and not only boring and monotonous grunts) and the speed in an INTELLIGENT way! If a band has all these elements — without forgetting, of course, the lyrics which have to deal with death, morbid and unholy thoughts and the whole dark side of life in general, stuff I truly believe all true death metalheads are attracted by —, so it's a true Death Metal band for me! Death Metal is the true essence of the extreme underground art's concept! At last, it's MY LIFE for about 18 years (40 now in 2026)!!! UNTIL MY LAST BREATH I WILL HAIL THE METAL OF DEATH!!!!!!!!! (I always think that I can't find words enough to explain what true Death Metal means for me, but that's it for this moment...)". As for your perception on our music, yeah, you're right: it all comes from the heart, without ever depending on what's the trend of the moment as many bands have done over the years. That's also why we take so much time to write and release a new album, as we do not play ephemeral, disposable music, so we need a special time to create special stuff to be remembered decades later, otherwise we would release at least one album per year, haha! In any case, I have promised that we won't take so long anymore to release a new album as it has been happening lately, since I already have another new full length album almost fully written, which we will start working on very soon.
To wrap things up, one classic but important question. What does HEADHUNTER D.C. have planned for the near future? Or and I truly believe this will happen will we finally get to see you on a club tour in Europe? If you have a message for fans, labels, or promoters, this is the place to share it…
- Getting back to Europe for a new full tour is definitely in our plans, so now that we have a new album released I truly believe it will happen soon. To all promoters and booking agencies who may be interested, please get in touch! The 2013 European tour was amazing for a first experience, yet we still hadn't a proper structure for it, but playing in countries like Germany, Poland, Portugal, Belgium, Spain and Czech Republic, among others, was something very special! Can't wait to return soon, and this time playing in countries we didn't play yet. Let's see what happens! Fans and labels can also get in touch now for a true deathmetallic alliance!
Thank you so much for the interview. I really appreciate it. I’m a longtime fan of HEADHUNTER D.C., and this has actually made one of my dreams come true. I wish you lots of sold-out shows, may your fans snap up all your merchandise, and I look forward to your future music. Hopefully I’ll get to see you live someday. I wish you all the best in your personal lives as well. HEADHUNTER D.C. RULES!
- It's me who thank you, Jakub, for the interview, the support and the opportunity to spread the word here. It was a fucking pleasure! Also thanks for all your kind and sincere words about our music and our history and for your best wishes as well! I really hope to see you soon in the front row during one of our live death cult rituals! "Rise of the Damned..." transcends music, it's about our cry of victory over everything that tried to suffocate us during these almost 40 years of arduous battles against this hipocritical world; it's our ultimate roar of unholy rebellion to tear down the golden gates of Christendom! To all of you deathcultists out there, I encourage you to check it out now and join us! All the best to all of you as well! Se you on the Death Metal road! In Death Metal We Fucking Trust! Cheers and hails!!! 666...
Recenze/review - HEADHUNTER D.C. - Rise of the Damned... (2026):
Headhunter Death Cult 2026-66 — Anno ad Ascensionem Haereticorum:
*Sérgio "Nekrobaloff666" Borges:
Screams of Unsalvation & Rotten Death Prayers...
*Danilo "D. Morbidus" Coimbra:
Mass Death 666-String Guitar...
*Michael "Hellriff" Gonçalves:
Morbid & Perverse 666-String Guitar...
*Héracles "Demigod" Cardoso:
Low-End 5-String Guitar for Abysmal Sounds...
*Juan "Death Ax" Machado:
Drumonster from Beyond...
HEADHUNTER DEATH CULT CONTACTS:
facebook.com/headhunterdc
instagram.com/headhunterdc
youtube.com/user/headhunterdc87
headhunterdeathcult666@gmail.com
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