Rodrigo Mello

Rodrigo Mello — Brazilian drummer known as Rod Indian — was the drummer of Symbols's classic line-up, the one that recorded the band's first two records with Edu Falaschi on vocals. Symbols emerged in São Paulo in 1997 and released Symbols (1998) and Call to the End (2000) — melodic metal with a progressive streak, sung in English, made by people aiming at the international circuit at a time when that meant producing everything themselves, with no big label structure behind them. Drums in this repertoire must handle changes of metre and tempo without losing momentum — that is what separates well-executed progressive metal from a pulseless technical exercise. Mello played with the group again at the classic line-up's 2012 reunion. His path belongs to the generation of São Paulo musicians who, in the wake of Angra and Sepultura, proved international-standard metal could be made in Brazil — and out of which came the vocalist Angra would choose in 2001.