HOUR OF PENANCE (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. You are now touring the States with THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, NILE and SKELETONWITCH, how is this tour going so far?
Giulio : Hello Tania , thanks for having us onto these pages. Actually we’ve just came back to Italy , anyway tour has been fucking awesome. We had a great feedback from the U.s fans , we didn’t expect that since this was our very first tour in the U.s , but there was a lot of people waiting for us.. so seeing THAT support it was just amazing for us.
– First of all, which is that «hour of penance»?
Giulio : Hour of Penance is the moment in the christian / catholic religion in which you pray for your sins and clean your soul from impurities.
– You have recently unleashed your latest opus, “Sedition”. How’s its feedback being? Are you satisfied with the final output of the album?
Giulio : all the reviews we had so far were very positive , we’re totally happy the way the album was received by fans and press. Prosthetic records is doing a great work in promoting the album , we’ve been featured in some of the biggest magazines out there as Terrorizer , Decibel , Legacy . We actually received good reviews also in magazines that usually don’t write reviews on Death Metal and extreme metal in general , that was kinda surprising ! We’re definitely satisfied and we can’t wait to bring the new songs on stage.
– You have always been a quite technique band, with this element in your music, is it easy to add some emotion as well to your musical creations?
Giulio : Let’s say generally speaking death metal is a music without boundaries so a musician has definitely infinite ways of writing death metal songs. We’re actually more into the old school way of playing death metal so we’re more focused on the songwriting than on technicality. I found “Technicality” somehow a problem of the music today , most of the bands out there are way too busy in showing their ability with their instruments than writing good songs that not only musicians can enjoy.. So we paid a lot of attention to that while we were writing SEDITION where in my opinion technicality and songwriting are well balanced.
– Anyway you also have managed to get a straight-forward sound. Do you think this is something that makes you guys stand out from other bands in the style?
Giulio : I think that is something that comes out from your musical background.. as I said before we’re more into the old school death metal where bands played this music with anger and violence.. is it something that makes us stand out from the other bands ? Thanks for pointing us that out ! eheh
– In fact the sound on this “Sedition” reminds me to “The Vile Conception”. Will you “follow” from now on this rawer direction?
Giulio : I don’t know to be honest , I like to think as SEDITION as an evolution of our music that of course had his way through The Vile Conception AND Paradogma and the past albums. The Vile Conception was probably the album that marked the moment in which we carved our way of playing Death Metal , with the features that you’ll always ear in an Hour of Penance album since we don’t like to betray our fans by changing too much here and there.
So yeah we’ll always follow this way of writing and playing death metal because that is the way we like to ear death metal , by being fan of it we’re expecting to ear a death metal band to sound as a death metal band the way it was intended to be !
I like a lot bands that are coherent during the years , to mention just 2 names , Cannibal Corpse or Nile.. they’ve managed to put out great quality albums without “betraying” their fans but still evolving as a band and improving their sounds.
– This time I think you have had a really good production. Would you mind to shed some light on its process?
Giulio : We worked once again with our friend and producer Stefano Morabito and recorded everything at his own studios ( 16th Cellar ) here in Rome. Easily to say that we love to work with him not only because he’s a friend of us but also because he knows very well the band . So we decided to work again with the same winning team .
– All this being said; how could you describe this new effort in just 3 words?
Giulio : Death fucking metal !
– The album is entitled “Sedition”, what’s the meaning concept behind this title? I think it could have a link to some latest events that have happened in the world.
Paolo : “Sedition” is a title that explains clearly what is the main theme of this work: rebellion against everything that stands in the way of knowledge, embodied by the serpent in the cover. We want to get back our future and regain the glory of our past, where Italy was the cradle of art, knowledge and power. The catholic church must be swept away for this to happen, since it has dumbed down every positive force in this country, and now we’re left with nothing. So every song tells the story of a new holy war, from different point of views, to finally destroy the jew-christian ideology and establishment and be again free from all their lies.
– And beside this, could you tell us what did you want to express with the cover artwork?
Giulio : we always try to evoke the main theme of the album through the cover art , that’s something we’ve started doing from The Vile Conception.. so basically what you can see on the cover is te representation of the main theme on the album ( see question above )
– You released your debut album, “Disturbance” with Xtreem Music. How did the contact with a Spanish label arise? How did everything go with them?
Giulio : in 2000 the band released its first demo that caught the attention of Xtreemmusic Rec , then the band signed for 2 albums – Everything went fine , it was a good start for the band .
– After this released you worked with Unique Leader Records and this “Sedition” is your first piece with Prosthetic Records. Are you satisfied with how is this cooperation working so far?
Giulio : we’re totally satisfied and glad of working with professional people as the Prosthetic records guys , that’s something we were looking for !
– In fact this label has some really big bands on its roster; do you think you will now go to the next level for HOUR OF PENANCE? Anyway you are already a really well-known and established band into the Metal scene.
Giulio : That’s true , Prosthetic records always helped band to get stronger and bigger , that’s what we hope for Hour of Penance too but to be honest you have to be an hard working band in the first place to get those results and that’s what we’ve always done so far !
– You have filmed a «video» for “Sedition through Scorn” (though I don’t actually know if its an official video). How was the experience like? Do you plan shooting any other clip for this album?
Giulio : That’s not technically a video , it’s just a lyric video done by one of our friend ( Estremarte ).. we should film a video of a new song !
– And finally, what are your near-future plans? No European tour dates?
Giulio : We have a ton of options and we’re picking the best for Hour of Penance at the moment. In the near future we will play at the Metalitalia.com festival with Moonspel , Lordi and other italian bands then we will play at the last day of the Hellfest in France which is something that we’re really looking forward. In July we will play at the three Extreme Fests with Cannibal Corpse , Exodus , Marduk and other killer bands !
– That’s all, thank you once more for answering our questions. If you want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Giulio : thank you again for taking your time and interviewing Hour of Penance , we’re really looking forward to come back to Spain ! If you haven’t done yet be sure to check out our new album SEDITION!
