Kisser started performing in 1984 in a three-piece band called Esfinge, which he formed with school friends and where he played guitar and sang. The band mostly played covers of heavy metal bands such as
Black Sabbath,
Ozzy Osbourne,
Iron Maiden,
Venom and
Metallica. Two years later the band renamed itself Pestilence and, in 1987, recorded a demo called
Slaves of Pain. The songs on the demo were afterwards reused by Sepultura on their albums
Schizophrenia and
Beneath the Remains. Pestilence was, however, short-lived and ultimately split up.
Sepultura during the Maquinária Festival In 1987, Kisser met the members of Sepultura and went to see the band play live while he was on a vacation trip to
Belo Horizonte. On the day of the concert he joined the band as an improvised
roadie for vocalist/guitarist
Max Cavalera. He also jammed with the members during the intermissions. Following the departure of original lead guitarist
Jairo Guedes, Kisser auditioned for the position of lead guitarist. The same year he performed with the band for the first time in
Caruaru, Pernambuco and recorded the album
Schizophrenia. His involvement in Sepultura helped shape the band's evolving sound. Max Cavalera said of him: On Schizophrenia and Beneath the Remains, Kisser co-wrote the lyrics with Max, whereas the whole band wrote the music. For
Arise and thereafter Kisser began to write songs of his own. Kisser has also occasionally provided backing vocals both live and on the records. He also fronted the band in 1996, at the Castle Donington Monsters of Rock festival, when Max Cavalera was forced to absent himself in order to attend the funeral of his stepson Dana Wells.
Hail! Kisser is also a member of the metal tribute band Hail!. That band's rotating cast of members include
Tim "Ripper" Owens,
Paul Bostaph,
David Ellefson,
Mike Portnoy,
Jimmy DeGrasso,
Phil Demmel and
Roy Mayorga. Hail! Was formed in the late 2008 by Ellefson and music manager Mark Abbattista. The band's original lineup, which consisted of DeGrasso, Ellefson, Kisser and Owens, started a series of concerts in 2009 in Chile. The band then toured Europe and played an exclusive concert in Lebanon. In 2010, Hail! went on a second European tour and played a number of US shows with the following line-up: Andreas Kisser, Tim "Ripper" Owens, Paul Bostaph and James LoMenzo.
De La Tierra In December 2012, Kisser formed the Latin American supergroup
De La Tierra with
Alex González of
Maná, Andrés Giménez of
A.N.I.M.A.L. and
Sr. Flavio of
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. The band first released a teaser and a number of behind-the-scene footages of the recording before releasing their debut single "Maldita Historia" in 2013.
Film composition Kisser worked on three Brazilian movie soundtracks. For No Coração dos Deuses ("In the Heart of Gods"), a 1999 drama film, he worked on the score with
Igor Cavalera and
Mike Patton. The soundtrack was recorded at the Estudio ION in São Paulo in June 1998 and produced by André Moraes. In 2001 Kisser worked alongside Tony Bellotto, Eduardo de Queirós, Charles Gavin on the score of the award-winning crime film
Bellini and the Sphinx. Kisser collaborated again on the soundtrack for the 2008 sequel
Bellini and the Devil.
Solo work In August 2009, Kisser released his solo debut album entitled
Hubris I & II. When not active with Sepultura Kisser experimented musical ideas, wrote and recorded demo material, some of which had been gestating for 15 years prior to the album's release. In 2007, he uploaded a few short videos of the recording process through his YouTube account. It finally took Kisser 6 years to complete the album during which he handled a great part of the production duties himself. In the months following the release Kisser played a few shows in Brazil to promote the album and took part in a music video shoot for the song "Em Busca Do Ouro". The album was eventually nominated at the 2010 Latin Grammys in the "Best Brazilian Rock Album" category.
Guest work and collaborations 2014 Kisser worked on various musical projects. Between 1995 and 1996 Kisser recorded a number of demo tracks with
Jason Newsted and
Tom Hunting under different monikers. For the first project the trio recorded three demo tracks under the name Sexoturica which later became part of the compilation album
IR8 vs. Sexoturica. For the second project, called Quarteto da Pinga and which included
Robb Flynn, they recorded two tracks and a cover. In 1996 Kisser renewed his collaboration with Newsted on another project called Godswallop which included Carl Coletti on drums and Sofia Ramos on vocals. Furthermore, Kisser has made multiple guest appearances on other bands' albums, providing additional (lead) guitar and/or vocal accompaniment. He has been featured on the album of bands such as
Asesino, Astafix,
Biohazard, Burning in Hell, Claustrofobia,
Korzus, Krusader,
Nailbomb,
Ratos de Porão and
The AK Corral. In 2005, Kisser took part in the recording of the
Roadrunner United album. He played guitar on the tracks "The Enemy", "Baptized in the Redemption", and "No Mas Control". He also played at the 25th Anniversary Concert. In 2008 Kisser worked on a Brazilian Beatles tribute album Álbum Branco, which was recorded at the Bavini Studio in São Paulo. He played guitar on the tracks Piggies and Helter Skelter. Beside his work as musician, Kisser has been involved in projects as producer. In 1992 Kisser co-produced Hammerhead's album Shadow of a Time to Be. In 2004 he recorded three songs for the Brazilian rock band Sayowa which appeared on the band's debut album Treme Terra. The same year he helped produce Necromancia's album Check Mate and provided additional guitar and backing vocal on the album's title track "Greed Up to Kill". In 2006 he produced Sayowa's second Album. The album was also co-produced by the band itself and Stanley Soares.
Other musical endeavors In 1992, Kisser unsuccessfully auditioned for the temporary position of rhythm guitarist of
Metallica, as a temporary replacement of
James Hetfield, who had suffered severe burns on his left hand and arm during a live show in
Montreal. Kisser had been recommended to Metallica through Phil Rind of
Sacred Reich who was well acquainted with Jason Newsted. In 2008, he took part in the Scorpions
Humanity World Tour in Mexico and Brazil as a guest musician, recording the "Amazônia - Live in the Jungle" DVD. In 2011, Kisser replaced
Anthrax guitarist
Scott Ian for some European tour dates (2–16 July), including the Big 4
Sonisphere Festival shows in Gothenburg, Sweden as well as Knebworth, UK and Amneville, France, as Ian and his wife
Pearl Aday were expecting the birth of their first child. Kisser played a few concerts with Brazilian Beatles cover band Clube Big Beatles in
The Cavern Club in Liverpool and, in August 2012, was given his own brick in the Cavern Club's wall of fame. He thus became the first Brazilian to have one, and the first modern metal guitarist to be honored in that way. ==Equipment==