AXTY
A Brazilian act that blends both metalcore and deathcore into their sound, AXTY feels quite modern in their heaviness. Not afraid to toss in some short samples either, they seem to have a way of grabbing your attention at every step along the way of a track. Their new album, The Pain Made Me Who I Am, is their first for Napalm Records as they continue to climb the metal ladder. We spoke with guitarist/mixer Jonathas Peschiera to get some insight as to the band’s recent US tour, all things about the upcoming album, their usage of samples, and some talk of the Brazilian scene.
Dead Rhetoric: How did the recent tour with Lacuna Coil and Escape the Fate go?
Jonathas Peschiera: It was really nice. It was our third tour in the US. We had done one before with Born of Osiris. This was a bigger tour, and we played for a larger audience. Everything went very well, no problems at all. We were really well received by everyone and all the bands were really nice. We had a good time. It was really good for us.
Dead Rhetoric: With it being a bigger tour, were there any things you saw that made you say, “Oh, I want to try this next time I’m on tour?”
Peschiera: Yeah, actually. We learn a lot on these tours about what we still need for better presentations on stage. We are looking at improving the equipment, especially the lighting equipment and effects. It’s something that is hard for us to take with us, coming from Brazil, so we have to pay for that. It’s not so easy to carry all this stuff in an airplane. We are looking for ways to do that. We are also looking at some other things to help make a difference. Besides that, we learned a lot about how to do more backstage setup. How to recognize to make the process easier and efficient. That’s a big thing. Each tour we have a lot of new knowledge to carry to the next one.
Dead Rhetoric: When you look at The Pain Made Me Who I Am, how do you feel it compares to your previous albums?
Peschiera: We tried a new approach for this album. The process of making it was more about doing the whole album at the same time. In the past, we produced singles and released them. Then we would watch and try to understand what was happening and then do another one and release it. So this time we spent a month or two together writing and recording everything. We wanted to achieve the same overall concept. I think that for this album, there’s more unity. This is the main change for the new album, but it’s also the first album on Napalm Records, so we had more money to invest in the production. We had the opportunity to use better equipment and for the music videos, we could invest in better places and instruments to record. That made a difference compared to our earlier releases.
Dead Rhetoric: In trying both ways, did you find that one way worked better or was it just a case of trying different ways and getting different results?
Peschiera: I can see benefits in both approaches. This approach of doing everything at the same time is better because the songs have the same concept and we can create more unity. When we are writing singles and releasing them, we are trying to follow what we are at that moment. The last few albums were written in a period of a year. We change as the time passes, so the songs are changing together. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s not. If you want the tracks to be more unified, this way is better. We can achieve that unified sound, and that was something that Napalm had asked of us. To make an album, and not a bunch of singles. I think I prefer this way too, it was better.
Dead Rhetoric: There are still some songs around for this album that have already been released. How has the feedback been for them?
Peschiera: It’s good. People are liking the songs. We suspected that people might engage less, because before the first single for this album, it had been a year since we had released anything. We thought there would be less engagement because the algorithm wouldn’t work, but it was surprisingly huge. People are liking the new approach. It’s not so different from what we were doing before, generally, and the music is pretty similar. But there are new influences and we are testing new things. I have a good projection for this album.
Dead Rhetoric: As I look in some of the YouTube comments, a common theme I seem to see is ‘how come these guys aren’t bigger?’ What do you feel are the band’s next steps?
Peschiera: That’s a pretty common comment, since the beginning of the band. We are growing, sometimes slower and sometimes faster, but we can see the growth. I don’t know exactly what we would have to do in order to get suddenly bigger. We signed with Napalm Records, and we think that is one thing that can help us get to the next step. But it’s something that is still happening. We think that it’s normal. We are also from Brazil and we have some walls in front of us. If we could move to the US for some time, we might be able to undo some of those walls that are holding us back. We think of that question a lot but we don’t have an exact answer, but we are fighting to get there. But it’s always nice to hear compliments like those. We are always happy to see that people want to see us get bigger.
Dead Rhetoric: Given the title of the album, The Pain Made Me Who I Am, could you go into its themes?
Peschiera: The main concept of the album is the idea that the pain and suffering is something that can make us better. It’s not all about suffering, all of the bad things that happen to us. In the future, it will define who we are. All of the good things are also related to your past pain. That’s the main idea that we are working into all of the lyrics on all the songs. That’s the message that we have with the album. Musically, we have tried to follow that idea. Sometimes the songs are dense and heavy and sometimes they are soft, which represents the pain and the good things that pain can bring.
Dead Rhetoric: What’s your approach to songwriting given the often shifting sound of each track?
Peschiera: We are influenced by many different bands. I can say during this album writing period we were listening to Architects, Bring Me the Horizon, and more aggressive bands like Chelsea Grin. Our songs are a mix of everything we listen to and like. The process to write our songs is really natural. Usually Felipe Hervoso and I work together and start to write some guitar riffs and see how it feels. We try to understand where we are going, so sometimes we have some references, and it comes naturally in real time. That’s something that also changed for this album too. When it was individual songs, usually someone brings an influence or structure, like the guitars or drums, and we start from that point. For this album, we tried to start from the beginning together. It worked pretty well for us, and this new style that we are trying to follow.
Dead Rhetoric: It sounds like you really made a conscious effort to get out of your comfort zone.
Peschiera: Yeah, it was not easy to change the process because working with people is never easy. I can sometimes have an idea and it might be very different from Felipe and we have to find a way to merge those ideas. At the beginning it was tricky but I think now the flow is very healthy and it works pretty well.
Dead Rhetoric: Inserted sound samples are not something you hear as much in metal nowadays. How do you feel they enhance a song?
Peschiera: That’s something we found that helps us a lot. Especially in this internet world. Using the samples helps to engage the listeners. Especially the people who aren’t familiar with our work. Having those samples, we instantly grab the attention of new listeners. Today is all about attention. That’s something that has helped us to grab attention. We used it a lot in the new album because we think that it has worked for us in the past. It’s part of our identity. At the beginning, we tried it to see what happens, but it’s now a part of who we are.
Dead Rhetoric: I used to hear a lot more of that, particularly in extreme death metal, but in even longer samples. The song that sticks out in my mind for AXTY was the ‘uwu’ you put in [“Flowers and Butterflies Lullabye”].
Peschiera: That was a sample that by itself, presented our work to many people. Many people listened to us due to that ‘uwu.’
Dead Rhetoric: What do you feel you are most proud of with the band?
Peschiera: We can see that we are growing, and we are getting bigger. We are reaching more people. Sometimes we ask ourselves if we could be doing something different that could improve it, but we are really happy about where we are now. Again, for a Brazilian band, it’s really special. It isn’t very common for Brazilian metal bands to get US tours and achieve the numbers that we have. It’s something special that we are grateful for. We are happy, but it’s never enough so we are trying to find new ways to do better. We hope that we will get better and better.
Dead Rhetoric: What are your thoughts on the modern metal landscape in Brazil?
Peschiera: Here in Brazil, I can see that it is getting better and the scene is getting bigger. We had some bands from the US and Europe who would come to play a show, but it would be two or three bands a year. The local bands were not doing too much. We have had some bands in the scene but there was not much space for them. Maybe 3-4 years ago, it started to change after the pandemic. Now I can say that we have a scene here. There are more bands playing metal in Brazil. Not professionally, but at least they have some space to present their music and I think its getting better each year. We don’t have many professional bands earning money by playing music and touring, but I can say that there are a few now. It’s improving over here and it’s really nice to see. We are always trying to help the scene, promoting events and trying to bring bands to the public.
Dead Rhetoric: What’s planned for the rest of 2026?
Peschiera: We are planning a big tour in Brazil first. We are setting the dates, and for next year, we are trying to tour the US again and maybe Europe. The first step is playing everywhere we can in Brazil, and then getting outside to the world.
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