How was your "Regresso" CD received in the underground?

Regresso was received well. Our music and production of Regresso had the outcome we wanted. Everybody who has listened to the cd was very optimistic about the future of the band and so are we. We are now working with a booking agency in order to arrange some tourdates (Holland only for now).

How would you like Barata´s music to be defined?

2. Personally I would like people to call it : metal crossover. We mix various styles like hardcore, a little trash, speed and brutal metal but also nu-metal rythems and groovy drumbeats. As we started out really hardcore influenced this is still present in our music. However, as we began to write more and more metal minded, we prefer to put our name under the list of metal bands instead of hardcore bands. Anyway, everyone will probably call it different. Reverse question: what do you call it ?

How would you compare"Regresso" with "Grinding"?

3. You can not compare Regresso with Grinding at all. Grinding was recorded 2 years from the start of Barata. That seems to be a long time, but we practiced only 2 times a month due to personal issues of our drummer. In fact, we were down for 3 months because our drummer became a father. Finally we had written 5 songs and because we wanted to perform, we needed a demo, and we made it. When you listen to Grinding, you will instantly hear the hardcore infuence of that time. Right after the release of Grinding our drummer left the band (in good harmony by the way) and we found our current drummer. With his arrival our style changed. The first song we wrote with the new drummer was in fact Cries, what is on Regresso. Also Misery was written during the record process of Grinding. Cries is the last real hardcore minded song we wrote. Self Sented, Revelation, Unity and Downnn were written later and you can clearly notice the difference between these songs. It is more metal !

Also the new material, what is not available yet, is more nu-metal minded without losing our own style. I really believe that we made our own style by mixing several styles of music we like. See it as a mix of Machine Head, Biohazard, Slayer and Soulfly.

Do you have plans of releasing a new recording on 2003?

4. We do not have concrete plans of releasing a new demo because of financial reasons. It is not a matter of lack of material. But when we can get a record deal, we definitely will start recording a full length album because we have about 11 songs ready for that !

How were the three studio songs in "Regresso" composed?

5. The three studio songs were composed by the whole band. We just start jamming and one of the guitar players comes with a riff we all like. We just start playing the riff and while playing a new riff comes up. We just wotk this out together and sometimes one person has a larger share in a song because of the style of the song. So basically we compose all songs in the rehearsal room.

Why did you choose the Threnody Studios to record "Regresso"

6. Threnody is a Dutch metal band which released 3 records through Massacre Records (Germany). This band practiced in the same rehearsal centre we did. In the year 2000 they started building their own studio and we had the luck to record Grinding there. Because we knew the guys and their way of working it was a logical decision for us to also choose the Threnody Studio for recording Regresso.

You seem to be very well rehearsed...how important is to have some good technique with the instrument for you?

7. To be technical experienced is a quality you need to have when you play in a band like Barata. Some riffs are that fast that you need to know how to handle your instrument. We use so many rythems and styles that it is important to play everything exactly tight (for example Cries is really fast in the verses). We try not to write too many difficult riffs because often, when you see a band play live, you cannot hear what they are actually playing. So we prefer to play easy riffs (without losing the heaviness of course) what is easy understandable for the audiance and we mix this with technical and fast riffs (like the bridge in Downnn).

Which is your equipment live and in studio?

8. We used our own equipment during the recording of Regresso. We know that Barata has a great live sound (people tell us that) and we wanted to create the same atmosphere on the cd as we do live. So to use our own equipment and with that create our own sound, was a simple conclusion. For the drums we have a drum kit with five toms (and he uses them all !), for the guitars we have a Marshall JCM800 amp (tube)+ cabinet and a Rath amp (solid state) + cabinet. The guitarists both use Zoom effects, but the individual sound of the guitars are quite different. However, when you put them together it is really great. The bass goes through a 2x350w Harte amp with 2 cabinets (1x15+4x10). I also have a Zoom effect processor for the finishing touch (I do not switch, I just use 1 patch with a tiny bit of distortion to make the bass a little raw like Machine Head does on the track Struck a Nerve of the The More Things Change album).

What are your lyrics about?

9. Our lyrics are quite abstract. We use "all day" subjects, but mostly we use a subject what has an agressive or energetic caracter. Downn, for instance, is about going on with your live, also when someting bad happened. So we use agressive subjects but we take the positive energy out of it. So actually our music is the postive energy for the moreover agressive and frustrated lyrics.

Any final words?

10. Thanks for having this interview. Keep spreadung the word about Barata and maybe we will see you in Argentina for a small tour sometimes !!

Interviewed by Federico Marongiu