Interview

TheNwothm: Hey there Yellow Fever! Can you introduce the band and where you are from?

Yellow Fever: Greetings, everyone! First, we from Yellow Fever would like to sincerely thank you for the space and the opportunity for this interview. We are a traditional heavy metal band with strong ’80s influences, based in the coastal region of southern Brazil. Our lineup includes Calazar on bass and vocals, Devil’s Preacher on guitars and Naberius on drums.

TheNwothm: Let’s start from the beginning—how did Yellow Fever come together, and what led to the shift from Demon’s Crest to your current name?

Yellow Fever: Yellow Fever came into being under that name in 2017. However, the three of us have been playing together since 2012. We started out with a thrash/speed band called Dorsus, which recorded only a demo and a homemade split. Then, in 2014, we formed Demon’s Crest with the goal of playing straightforward, no-frills traditional heavy metal, inspired by bands like Running Wild, Accept, Omen, Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol, and others. The name came from the Nintendo game. With that lineup, we recorded a live demo in 2015 (Gargoyle’s Rising) and played a few shows around our region (the coast of Paraná). In 2017, with new compositions and plans to record a debut album, we changed the name to Yellow Fever. The name was inspired by the impact of this tropical disease on Brazilian history—and because it just sounded great to us. In addition, our 2018 album Epidemic Tragedies took on a strong conceptual tone, with songs based on historical events and literature, involving medieval plagues and epidemics, human misfortunes, as well as piracy and narratives about the civilizing process.

TheNwothm: What was the metal scene like in coastal Paraná when you first started? Has it changed over the years?

Yellow Fever: The scene in our region used to be much more vibrant. As 16/17-year-old kids, we met older people who really shaped us as headbangers—musicians from obscure bands, most of which are now barely active (Soul Assassins, Venomous Blade, Curse, Battalion). The scene has changed completely over the years. Nowadays, there are no real heavy metal events happening on the coast of Paraná. To play true metal—which is rare to begin with—you must head up into the highlands, to the Curitiba area, or go further out to Santa Catarina or even São Paulo.

TheNwothm: Why the name Yellow Fever? What’s the story or meaning behind it?

Yellow Fever: I think we’ve already touched on that question a bit. But here’s another interesting detail: our bassist/vocalist (Jorge Calazar) is a historian who specializes in diseases, science, and related topics. The idea for the name came from his work as a historian, just like most of the references in Epidemic Tragedies, since our guitarist, Devil’s Preacher, also has a degree in history and works as a history teacher. That element plays a strong role in our work.

TheNwothm: Each of you—what was the album or band that made you fall in love with heavy metal?

Yellow Fever: 

Calazar: I’m not very good at listing favourites, but I’d say that Running Wild and Manilla Road had a big influence on that.

Devil’s Preacher: Man, for me it was Black Sabbath’s Paranoid and Iron Maiden’s debut. They were the first Metal albums I ever heard.

TheNwothm: What non-metal influences or hobbies inspire your music or creativity?

Yellow Fever: Our music and lyrics have always been inspired by historical themes, fantasy literature, science fiction films, and games/RPGs. Some examples include: Tolkien, Moorcock, Robert Howard, Sword & Sorcery in general; the Alien and Star Wars franchises, The Thing From Another World (1951), Rosemary’s Baby (1968); Demon’s Crest, Super Metroid, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, D&D, Mork Börg.

TheNwothm: Your debut album Epidemic Tragedies came out in 2018—what were you trying to express with that record?

Yellow Fever: In addition to traditional heavy metal and doom metal elements, this album is heavily influenced and inspired by progressive rock bands like Rush, Genesis, Focus, ELP, King Crimson, Nektar, and others. We brought that influence into the album’s structure, which features only 4 tracks, two of which are quite epic and divided into different movements. The theme is primarily historical and literary. We wanted to express our influences, which ranged from Running Wild, King Diamond, and Cirith Ungol to Gentle Giant.

TheNwothm: What were your favourite tracks from that record?

Yellow Fever: I think most of us like all the tracks, but we tend to value our work more in the track Avery’s Quest, an epic ‘Running Wild-esque’ song based on the story of the English pirate Henry Avery (1649-1699).

TheNwothm: After a brief hiatus, you dropped Death Star in 2024 and followed it up with Mother of Satan’s Son this year—how would you say your sound has evolved since your debut?

Yellow Fever: Indeed, we had a hiatus between the album and now. In fact, we feel that we never truly had the chance to promote our album because of that. But anyway, we believe we’ve evolved as musicians since then, both in our relationship with our instruments and in the addition of other references in our lyrics and inspirations. Our songs are even more grounded in traditional heavy metal with ’80s influences.

TheNwothm: Can you walk us through your writing and recording process? Who takes the lead creatively, or is it a full collaboration?

Yellow Fever: Our band has always been something to be done between three friends. It’s our friendship and passion for heavy metal that shapes Yellow Fever. Thus, our compositions are always collective. We take turns writing the lyrics, but in general, the musical part is always a collective construction in layers, where our references blend in harmony. About the recording. For our first album, it was a very different experience; we didn’t have much studio experience, even though we had already been rehearsing at the place where we recorded. The producer also didn’t have experience with metal, and communication was a bit tricky. But the recording sessions were very intense, with days, nights, and early mornings of work. For the recordings of our new singles, we changed studios, and now we work with someone who understands a lot about heavy metal, which makes things much easier. Not to mention, the place is much more welcoming. Despite that, we still use the old studio to rehearse.

TheNwothm: Can you tell our readers a bit about yourselves?

Yellow Fever: We are three friends who have been playing heavy metal together for almost 15 years, and that’s how we want to keep going. We don’t have the ambition for fame or money, but we want our music to reach all the headbangers around the world!

TheNwothm: Are these recent singles part of a larger upcoming album or concept?

Yellow Fever: Death Star was the band’s first composition, written back in 2014 when we were still Demon’s Crest, but it ended up being left out of our debut album because it didn’t quite fit with the album’s conceptual proposal. In the end, we decided to finally record it as a single in 2024. As for Mother of Satan’s Son, it’s a song written in 2021. We’re not sure yet, but it’s likely to be included in our next release.

TheNwothm: Any details you can tease about the next full-length—title, themes, or possible release window?

Yellow Fever: We already have compositions for an EP and two more full albums. In fact, we’ve never lacked inspiration to write and compose. What we lack is money, or the opportunity for a record label to show interest in our work. But being realistic, our plan is to record and release an EP soon, with 4 or 5 tracks. That will probably be our next release.

TheNwothm: What’s the live scene like for you in Brazil, especially being from a coastal area?

Yellow Fever: In our area, we’re practically the only pirates still active, rehearsing, recording, playing, and promoting the band. But we’ve been trying to play in other places, like Curitiba, where our next concert will be on May 3rd.

TheNwothm: What’s your dream location or festival to play?

Yellow Fever: I think Keep it True. But any place where people truly want to hear us would be awesome!

TheNwothm: What are your live plans for the rest of 2025? What places will you be visiting?

Yellow Fever: We will be playing on May 3rd in Curitiba, a larger city but relatively close to our area, where we’ve played before. We have some possibilities to play in two other cities in Brazil, but nothing is confirmed yet.

TheNwothm: How can our readers buy your music and merch?

Yellow Fever: We still have some cassettes and patches from our first album, but they will probably run out soon. Anyone who really wants to support us, while no other physical material is available, can visit our page on Bandcamp or listen to us on any other music platform.

TheNwothm: Where can fans follow you online?

Yellow Fever: Anyone who has social media can follow us on our Instagram (@yellowfevermetal), where we are most active, or on our YouTube channel and Bandcamp profile.

TheNwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

Yellow Fever: We would just like to thank you again for the opportunity, and to all the headbangers who took the time to read this interview and possibly listen to our music. Thank you very much!