Shaman was a Brazilian progressive power metal band formed in 2000 by former members of Angra, Luis Mariutti and Ricardo Confessori. Some time later, guitarist Hugo Mariutti, Luis’s brother, joined the group and completed the formation that lasted until 2006.

Still at the end of the same year, Ricardo Confessori announced the return of the band with a new formation with Thiago Bianchi, Fernando Quesada and Léo Mancini. In 2013, Ricardo Confessori leaves the band. Not wanting to continue without the last original member, the three new members form the band Noturnall.

The band returned again in 2018 for a tour with its original lineup, which was interrupted on June 8, 2019, due to the unexpected death of vocalist Andre Matos.

In September 2019, Hugo Mariutti, on a social network, reveals that the band’s new vocalist would be Alirio Netto. The band continued until then.

The band was originally formed in the second half of 2000, when musicians Andre Matos (vocals and keyboards, ex-Viper), Luis Mariutti (bass, ex-Firebox) and Ricardo Confessori (drums, ex-Korzus) left the band Angra. At the same time, the three decided to put together a new project. This still did not have a guitarist, so Hugo Mariutti (HenceForth), Luis’s brother, was called by the newly formed group, initially just to help with the compositions.

Return of classic training

On May 25, 2018, Shaman announces his return for a special show with the classical lineup in São Paulo, at the Audio show house. This return came after thousands of requests and even a campaign with the hashtag #voltashaman (#returnshaman). After an arduous battle by the fans against the rigidity that the original formation showed in returning to the band’s activities, the members answered the call of the fans who were surprised by the unexpected news. After a few weeks, shows were announced for Brasília, Belo Horizonte, Rio Janeiro, Manaus (along with Arch Enemy and Kreator), Fortaleza and Recife. In February 2019, it was announced that the band Shaman would play alongside Avantasia as a special guest on their tour of Brazil.

Death of Andre Matos and arrival of Alirio Netto

On June 8, 2019, vocalist Andre Matos died of a heart attack. Months later, the entry of vocalist Alirio Netto (Queen Extravaganza, ex-Age of Artemis) into Shaman was announced, in order to complement the band and start the new phase of Shaman.

The band then started the “Nagual Fly Tour”, a tour that toured Brazil, honoring Andre Matos and promoting the return of Shaman with the new vocalist, Alirio Netto.

On February 22, 2020, the band announced on their social networks the launch of a contest in which fans could send their own artwork for the cover of Shaman’s new single, “Brand New Me”. The artwork was chosen by the band members themselves.

On March 13, the band releases the single “Brand New Me”, Shaman’s first work with Alirio Netto on vocals. The single was released in digital format and is available on major audio streaming platforms. In the same period, a music video for the song was made available on the band’s official YouTube channel.

On May 1, Shaman released a video clip on their official YouTube channel of the band performing the song “Turn Away” (from the 2005 album Reason) live, with Alirio on vocals. The recording was taken from the first concert of the “Nagual Fly Tour”, which took place in São Paulo.

The definitive end of the band

On January 10, 2023, on his official Instagram, Luis Mariutti announced his departure from the band, after the political positions of drummer Ricardo Confessori on his social networks, and some political differences with him. Soon after, on his official Instagram, Hugo Mariutti announces the end of the band.

“Today’s episode of Ricardo served to alert me to a lot of things. There were very serious things there, spoken about, things that nowadays don’t fit anymore, right? We, with our family, with our children, are things that people don’t preach, on the contrary, we’re always there checking to see if things really change. So, this episode made me see that nowadays I’m feeling very out of Shaman”.

Although the bassist did not mention what the episode was, it is worth remembering that Ricardo Confessori made posts and comments about the terrorist acts committed by followers of the former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro last Sunday (January 8) and was involved in heated discussions with followers on social media.

In an interview with KazaGastão, the YouTube channel of journalist Gastão Moreira, Luis Mariurtti broke his silence about the end of the band, which had nothing to do with the political positions of drummer Ricardo Confessori, but because of his prejudiced lines.

On January 9, in addition to having published criticisms on his social networks related to the current president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, after he condemned the coup acts in the Federal Capital, he also made homophobic offenses to the veterinarian and musician Mateus Ferreira, who even promised to sue the drummer.

Commenting on the subject, Mariutti revealed that, while living with Ricardo, he had already heard other prejudiced statements, including those directed at his wife:

“It wasn’t for politics. It was out of prejudice, out of prejudiced statements. There is a sentence there, for example, about feminism. My wife is a feminist and passes on these concepts of equality to our daughter. And she is the one who produces our events, it is my wife who hires Ricardo. Then sometimes, because she was with me, [I’ve heard] ‘does the guy’s wife [or Mariutti’s wife "Fernanda Mariutti”] want to give her opinion?’, or ‘ah, that Yoko Ono’.“

The group’s lead singer, Alirio Netto, lamented the end of the band but made it clear that he also does not agree with Confessori’s attitudes.

The drummer Ricardo Confessori also broke the silence and spoke about the end of Shaman, which occurred after the musician’s statements in support of the Bolsonarist movements that destroyed Brasília. Confessori spoke about his next steps in rock in a live stream on his YouTube channel, which he began to like the members of Black Sabbath who made a heavy sound, also saying that the members of Sabbath “are alpha guys, they were not there for anyone, stuck their foot in sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, that the crowd went crazy for the lifestyle that the guys had and that they are what we call today red pills.”

He also said that he was interested in Brazilian rock and wants to make it grow, that he saw other musicians from Brazil wanting to rock abroad, in Japan, the USA and Europe and that he didn’t want to “imitate Edu Falaschi”. He also mentioned returning with his band, the Confessori Band.

“I’m interested in rock from here. I want to make it grow. I see other musicians from Brazil wanting to rock abroad, in Japan, the USA and Europe. I don’t want to act like an Edu Falaschi. No one is a gringo sucker. real rocker. I always got into music not for technique. I was never an extremely technical guy. I could be, but I always preferred feeling and attitude.

I have my Confessori Band back. We’re back in action. We’ll be coming out with new material soon. It’s my solo job and the people who will play with me fit that profile. No more blue pill musicians, who are afraid to say anything. Who put their tail between their legs for anything. We are rock!“

PAST MEMBERS

Andre Matos †
Luis Mariutti
Hugo Mariutti
Fábio Ribeiro
Ricardo Confessori
Thiago Bianchi
Leo Mancini
Fernando Quesada
Aliro Netto