SANGRE FOTO

"At that time I was widely criticized for being Mexican and listening to music for whites, which was how the Mexican community perceived Metal." Henry "Sangrón" Sánchez

SANGRE is a veteran Chicano band based in Los Angeles, California led by Henry “Sangrón” Sánchez, best known for being the second vocalist and official member of BRUJERIA since 2014. They have just released their new album “Stronger Than Death” through from BLOOD BAST DISTRIBUTION, a subsidiary of NUCLEAR BLAST. We have spoken with Henry to find out about both BLOOD and WITCHCRAFT.

Henry, welcome Summa Inferno, we hope you are well.

Where are you currently and how is the coronavirus pandemic affecting you both personally and as a musician?

I am in Southern California at home with my family. During this pandemic I have been busy taking care of my children and doing renovations at home, reforms that normally during spring and summer I don't have time to do since they are seasons when I usually go on tour around the world. As a musician and financially it has affected me a lot since all the dates we had confirmed were canceled or re-scheduled. The musicians who depend on the benefits of the tours are affecting us a lot since we have lost an entire year of work, something unprecedented.

With all those dates canceled, what situation do you see yourself in the following months?

It will be impossible to tour in the coming months, especially due to travel restrictions and social distancing for concerts and events that are now due to the pandemic. At the same time we are feeling a lot of social unrest due to police brutality and repression in protests around the world. I hope we can get back to touring and performing live in 2021 and that things get better. Let's hope that this extraordinary situation is a learning experience for all and we adapt to the new conditions. I am not sure how the capabilities of the clubs will be controlled, if the use of a mask will be mandatory, the meet & greet meetings will probably not be possible. We'll see what happens.

Let's talk about you. Tell us who you are, where you are from and how you entered the world of Metal music.

My name is Enrique Sanchez and I am from Redlands in California, a small town east of Los Angeles. I am a Chicano and first generation Mexican-American by my father, he was born in Mexicali and my grandparents with Michoacán, México.They moved to Mexicali in the 1950s to be closer to California for work reasons. My grandparents were farm workers, farmers who were part of the "Bracero Program", a plan with which the USA used migrant workers for jobs that whites did not want to do, such as picking fruits and vegetables. They crossed the border and lived illegally for many years. My father got his green card and US citizenship when he turned 14.

I did not grow up in an environment where Rock or Metal was heard, I grew up listening to music from Motown, 80s pop and Hip Hop. I also watched a lot of fighting on TV and that's where I discovered Rock and Metal since many American wrestlers used this music for their presentations when they came out to the ring. I was investigating until discovering bands like Motley Crue, Alice In Chains, Black Sabbath and shortly after Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica and Pantera.

At that time I was widely criticized for being Mexican and listening to music for whites, which was how the Mexican community perceived Metal. When I turned 15 I discovered Korn and Deftones who dressed more like I did at the time and that connected me with them and made me feel accepted within the Metal community. Later I discovered that several of those musicians were also of Mexican origin.

In 1999 I met a guy named Abel Carrino at work and he also listened to Metal music, we started exchanging CDs and talking about bands and one day he invited me to a rehearsal with another guitarist friend named Roberto Ruiz. We played pure versions of the bands that we liked and thus our band, BLOOD was born.

Apart from singing in SANGRE you ended up joining BRUJERIA as second vocalist. How did it all happen? What is the current situation of the band?

I met Juan Brujo in 2002 at a concert in Los Angeles when I spent my time handing out flyers and demos of my band and promoting at the entrance of the clubs. We often saw each other at concerts and became friends over time. When BRUJERIA decided to do their first concert in Los Angeles, he offered to open the show with SANGRE. That was the beginning of the relationship between the two bands, since with SANGRE we have toured and played opening for BRUJERIA in the United States for many years. 

In 2012 SANGRE started playing a version of "Matando Gueros" at concerts and we decided to record it in the studio asking Brujo for permission, which he gave us. In 2014, Brujo suggested that I replace Fantasma live for concerts in South America. I accepted the opportunity even though it was a great challenge. Brujo and I agreed on the nickname "El Sangron" as a reference to my band. After several tours Brujo offered me to be a permanent member of the band and of course I accepted. Since then I have performed with Brujeria in the five continents and we have performed hundreds of concerts together.

BRUJERIA is currently working on a new album and will release a new single soon. All dates have been pushed back to 2021 but we will be back when all is over and it is safe to travel and act again. 

SANGRE has just released a new album. How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your band?

My band BLOOD just released their new album “Stronger Than Death” on May 8th through Blood Blast Distribution, a subsidiary of Nuclear Blast. This album is the mix of melodic Death Metal, Groove Metal, Hardcore and Latin influences. It is strong and powerful but it also has a melody.

The lyrics on this new album are really intense and impressive. Could you explain what their concept and message are?

We wanted to use the lyrics of the songs as a platform to raise awareness about various problems that affect us as a nation and as a human race. Topics such as police brutality and racism, school shootings, the stupidity of wars, stress suicides, the opioid crisis, drug addiction among other concerns we have. Album title "Stronger Than Death" plays with the idea of the different ways and causes by which we can all die but not in the act of death itself. We also reflect on the things we can do to leave a legacy and transcend, defeating death. The music we create will survive our lives and hopefully the themes we address in the lyrics and the debate we propose will outlive all who have died from the causes we have previously cited.

How was the experience of touring several times throughout Mexico, as musicians of Mexican descent? I suppose you have had the opportunity to get to know a little bit about the metal scene in our country. What Mexican bands would you recommend?

We have played many concerts in Tijuana and Mexicali but our first tour was in 2014 with the band MULUCPAX. We became friends through social networks and we organized concerts together in Guadalajara, Leon, CDMX, Toluca, Texcoco and Queretero. We also gave concerts at the Tiangis del Chopo, which was an incredible experience to share with hundreds of Chilangos punkers and metalheads. It was a successful tour and we made many new friends. At the beginning of this year we made a small tour opening for BRUJERIA, with all the tickets sold which was a great opportunity for SANGRE to make itself known to a new audience, people who did not know us or knew about us. A couple of us speak Spanish and were able to connect with people. Most of our songs are in English but we have a song titled “43” (Cuarente y Tres) that is totally in Spanish and which has received very good reception from the Mexican public. The Mexican bands that we liked the most are Mulucpax, Strike Master, Cemican, Dark Matter, Leprosy and Thell Barrio. 

In the past, they toured in the USA together with MOLOTOV, one of the most recognized Mexican rock bands of the 90s. How did this opportunity arise and how was the experience?

In 2013 SANGRE won the opportunity to open a complete tour for MOLOTOV throughout the USA, there were 23 dates of the so-called The Jägermeister Music Tour. Back then our band was sponsored by Jägermeister and after proving our worth the brand together with the manager of MOLOTOV they decided to select us for the tour. We were very happy but we had many doubts because both bands are very different in terms of style. We were a little intimidated since MOLOTOV are a veteran band with a lot of experience and many followers, but soon we all became friends and the tour was excellent, with very good attendance results. It was incredible when MOLOTOV invited us to play together their hit "Puto!" one night and thereafter they invited us every night to go on stage with them. We even decided for the New York concert, which was the last date of the tour, to do together a version of the Public Enemy / Anthrax song classic, “Bring The Noise”. You can search the video on YouTube without looking for "Molotov feat Blood bring the noise". 

They have also had the opportunity to tour Europe to even perform at the renowned English festival Bloodstock Open Air!

After performing at Bloodstock Open Air with BRUJERIA in 2017, I met the organizers and gave them a BLOOD CD. I kept in touch with them through social networks and they liked our music which made us invite them to perform at their festival in 2018. It was for us the first time today, not in the UK, we had a great time. We met many metalheads, we were able to do some sightseeing and we even got tattoos. Last year we returned to visit the United Kingdom within the European tour that we did together with BRUJERIA, VENOMEOUS CONCEPT and AGGRESSION, four bands sharing the bus and having a good time.

What is the future and the plans and wishes for BLOOD?

We are presenting this new album but also writing more music. We hope to return to normalcy and return to the road, concerts, tours and festivals when all this pandemic is over. We are talking with promoters from South America, Canada, USA, Europe and Mexico. We are using this time to create a plan and strategy regarding the band's next steps. We hope to announce a tour with a great band soon. We are a band made up of four tireless, very committed and hard working musicians who together are stronger. We hope to see you soon. Take care!

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