Review Fix chats with Blackning’s Elvis Santos (Drums/Backing Vocals), who discusses the band’s origin and goals for the future.
Review Fix: How did you guys get together?
Elvis Santos: Blackning came from Cleber asking me to join in a project with him, in late 2013. It was something about a new band. So, we met, talked about what he had in mind and planned some goals. Then at the beginning of 2014, we started righting some songs, that would become our first album, Order Of Chaos. Then, we called Francisco Stanich to play bass with us, that came right on time to record the Order Of Chaos bass lines. In this “power-trio,†we’ve done the Order Of Chaos (2014) and ALieNation (2016), and a Brazilian tour for each one of those. We did some big things with this line-up, like opening-acts to Onslaught, Krisiun, Exciter and Sacred Reich. In 2017 we changed the lineup, first with a second guitarist, “Zozi†Fernando, then, with Ricardo “Brigas†in charge of the bass guitar replacing our friend Stanich.
Review Fix: What is your creative process like?
Santos: In Blackning, everyone comes with ideas, there isn’t something like someone is in charge of bringing new ideas, that’s for everyone in the band. In general, instrumental stuff comes first, then we try some rehearsals to feel the song, make some changes for making it sounds better, and than start righting some lyrics. Our lyrics, basically, are reflected from things we watch happening in our country, our lives, our diary situations, not only about a politician, you know? It’s about talking about things that happen to you, what you watch in the news… It’s basically, a point of view from someone living some situation.


Review Fix: What do you think makes this band special?
Santos: I think is our truth in our job, there are no fake things, you know? We’re not the guys that record stuff we cannot play to kinda take credits about what we can’t really do. It’s about bringing everything each one of us can bring, about everything, not just playing, but all process that involves the band, I mean, we live for it, our lifestyle it’s based on it. And we try to show that to our fans, that everything Blackning does, it’s what we believe. I think that our fans can see that and have empathy with that as well.
Review Fix: How would you describe your style?
Santos: We’re a Thrash Metal band on its essence, but we don’t limit our selves to it, you know? We love rock n roll and death metal, we listen to a lot of hardcore, punk rock, and etc. And in the end, it’s a fast and heavy song in a mix of everything we listen. But, old school Thrash Metal is what everyone in the band likes the most.
Review Fix: What are your goals for this EP, after your previous two studio albums?
Santos: Well, we released that EP like a preview of what we’re planning for our next album. We’re just about getting on the ALieNation European Tour, and we thought: “We have different people here from the last thing we released, so, let’s show up to these guys how Blackning sounds with the new line-up.” So, in a week we’ve written these two songs and started the recording sessions, 1 day for drums, 1 day for bass, 1 day for guitars and 1 day for vocals. Just like that, as quick as you can get! We’re really happy with the result and with all reviews we’ve seen ‘till now. It has been great.
Review Fix: What’s the standout song? Is there a story behind it?
Santos: The title track, Eyes in The Mirror. The song tells how life is vulnerable, that in certain despair point in your life, you can watch yourself being so little to some situations, that you can’t see any way out of it, you try, but you can’t fight with it by yourself. We see these situations happening constantly, people that are so deep in a problem that can see a way out, and the only way to its death. It happens a lot with some artists, especially when involves heavy drugs.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Santos: Well, right now we are focused on a great setlist for our first South American tour, that will happen very soon, and we gonna release all details about it as soon as every negotiation gets done, and we gonna be able to share more details of it! We actually have some good riffs and raws ideas for some songs, but we’re going to put all efforts on that after this tour, to start recording the new album around November or something like that, and we’ll certainly have it released in the first semester of 2019.
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