Eloy Casagrande shares details about his invitation to Slipknot and his departure from Sepultura: ‘I didn’t want to stop playing at 33’

Brazilians were thrilled to learn that Eloy Casagrande is the new drummer of Slipknotan American band created in 1995. The news was confirmed at the end of April by himself Slipknotwho published a photo on Instagram of the nine members of the group and tagged Big house.

In an interview with LookEloy revealed details about the invitation to join the Slipknot: “The invitation came in December, through the businessman [deles]. He asked if I was interested in auditioning first. I accepted. They asked me to record and send some videos right here, from Brazil.”

“Initially there were three songs, then they asked me for three more, and they asked if I had any plans to go to the United States, and I had a performance scheduled there in January, with my instrumental music project, Casagrande & Hanysz“, he added.

“So they moved my flight forward a little, and I stayed in Palm Springs for five days, rehearsing with the full band. Then they asked me to extend my stay by another five days, so we could record some things. I think that was also part of From this audition, they threw new ideas at me, to see what my composition was like. They wanted to test me in every way.”

The drummer was part of the Grave for 12 years until revealing that he would leave the band in February this year. At the end of 2023, the group announced its farewell tour, but Eloy didn’t want his career to end there: “I received the invitation to audition after the tour was announced. The big thing, the reason I agreed to audition, was the end of the tour. Grave. The band was going to break up, and I didn’t want to stop playing drums at 33 years old,” he said.

There was a chat with the Slipknot, I asked about their schedule, if it would be possible to combine the two bands, but they said no, there would be no way, I would be exclusive. So it was my decision, to end the Grave. It was complicated, I informed them when I had closed the agreement, on the 5th or 6th of February. That day I called a meeting and explained the situation. That was it, an individual decision.

The musician also recalled his achievements with the Grave: “It was a huge learning experience. It took many years, three studio albums. Live albums. A lot of composition. A lot of time we traveled together. I look back with great affection and admiration. In addition to a feeling of great gratitude, for all these years. Because they, at that time, welcomed a twenty-year-old drummer, giving a great responsibility to a child.”

“But I’ve always prepared myself for this, and I believe I’ve matured a lot. Also traveling, getting to know different ethnicities,” he continued. “We went to around seventy, eighty countries. We played in Mongolia, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, China, Russia, Ukraine. It was, without a doubt, the greatest school of my life.”

It’s hard to imagine metal as a whole without both bands, I think there would be a gap. O Slipknot had an influence on the Grave, they say it openly in interviews and everything. When I took the test, I talked to the Shawnand he said that, when they were releasing their first album, it was through the same label as Grave. At the time, he went to one of their shows, and there they were distributing the first single from Slipknot. So the bands have an interconnected history. We have done shows together in the past, I believe there will be others in the future as well. This debate about who comes first, who comes later, the chicken or the egg, I think is kind of pointless. We have to take advantage of what each musician and band offers, understand the scenario and respect the history of each.

Big house he also confessed that he got in touch with the new drummer of Grave, Greyson Nekrutman: “I had already met him in January. When I found out it would be him, I sent a message, wished him good luck. And he also, now, when I was announced, wrote to me. That’s what’s cool, that we have this union, at least in the ‘drumming’ world”.

“I’m friends with Jean Dolabellaa great friend who went through GraveI talk to the Greyson. When the Jay Weinbergwho was playing with the Slipknot until I joined, he came to Brazil, we went out for lunch. We maintain these friendships, and I just wish everyone the best of luck.”