Getting all dark and continental on you today.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
Despite that we are all Italians, we actually come from all of Europe. While Zoppy, Joy and Davide live in Bologna, where the band was born more than ten years ago, Federico lives in Nottingham, England and Alessandro lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. So it is for sure a nightmare to be all in the same spot for the rehearsals, but that keeps us motivated to do what we love. And that brings you the most sharp, violent and death metal from the insane minds of your old neighbours, the Italians.
How did you meet?
Through the underground metal scene in Bologna, which was very huge back in the first years of the new millennium.
How long have you been playing as a band?
The band was born between 2006 and 2008 with almost a whole different line-up, of which Federico is the sole original member, and founder, remaining. As typically occurs in underground band formations, the line-up has changed a lot over the years with each new member bringing his own personal style and influences.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
The name wants to remind that very often humanity is convinced that everything is sick and there’s no hope, but this is just the illusion of a mental disease used to justify our laziness in changing.
What are your influences?
As you can hear from our music we cannot deny that most of our influences come from northern Europe, such as the unique Gothenbourg sound of Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, Soilwork and At The Gates, but also from the modern deathcore scene of bands such as August Burn Red or Heaven Shall Burn. Lately, especially in the last release you can hear more Gothic inspiration from Alessandro’s background, more hardcore/metalcore style techniques in Zoppy’s drum and also a bit of black/dark gothic from Joy and Davide’s previous experiences.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We are aiming to have a very powerful and characteristic sound combing modern and melodic synth parts with the more traditional death metal riffs, to create a melancholic atmosphere. We love to use also technical solutions more related with a prog ambient as odd tempos or more metalcore as breakdowns to keep the composition fluid and dynamic. In general we try not to put any constraints of a characteristic musical genre during the composition of the songs.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Our latest work After The Storm (That Never Came) is a loud scream of our peremptory need, as human beings, not to look aside, not to bend our heads of what we are witnesses happening all over Europe. Our lyrics are trying to tell the stories of those who came before us and faced the horror of a World War (“We Are Storm”) and who is coming now, with the struggles of being hated only because from another country and culture (“Through the Fence”). We also do not forget the violence of the armed hand of justice (“Red Wine Stained Cheek”) or the incredibly harsh time any woman has to face in everyday life (“For Hell is Empty”).
Summarising we can say that our lyrics speak about the fight and the need to unite us as individuals and groups of people against all odds. Now more than ever.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Our shows are something we care almost more than anything. Everything is planned, usually with our sound guy, Stefano, to give to the crowd all the emotions our songs are filled with. We played all over Italy in the first years consolidating an Italian fan base, and then we hit the rest of Europe, especially the eastern part, playing in Romania, Hungary and Slovenia where we had the opportunity to hit the stage of the Metal Days, sharing over the years the stage with Aborted, Beneath the Massacre, Bleeding Through, Bleed From Within, Dreamshade, Dying Fetus, Neaera and many more.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
There was this time that this fan…no, no we cannot speak about that…
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Our tuning is a classical B minor, so we use a 7 strings guitar by Ibanez, a Jackson Warrior’s 6 strings tuned in B minor and a 5 strings ESP bass guitar. For amps we like to use Warwick, ENGL and Brave alongside the good old Marshall and Fender cabinets. In live shows we also use electronic synth to recreate the essential atmosphere we are aiming for.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
We are now touring around Europe to promote our latest work After The Storm (That Never Came). We had a very good response from all the reviews, the album sales and the digital plays and now is the time to hit the stage and make you mosh!
What are your plans for 2018?
As said we will continue our tour till November and then go back to Italy where we will play a couple of live shows for our Italian fans and friends. We will probably go for another mini tour in the beginning of the new year, but we are also working on new songs and we may enter the studio in mid 2019.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Useless to say that it would be a great honour for us to open one of the sacred bands that inspired us to take this path. There are a lot of very valid underground bands out there that are not gaining the attention their music deserve such as Ex Cinere Resurgo (Bologna), The Red Coil (Milan) or Angerdome (Ravenna), so anyone who wants to share the stage with us is always welcome!
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