CADAVERIA (Eng.)
– Hello, thank you for taking your time. What’s the band currently up to, just after releasing your new opus?
Well, personally I’m answering interviews almost every day… The band is actually busy with the album promotion and preparing some live shows we will play in Italy during the next months. We have just finished writing the screenplay for a video we will shoot in few weeks. We are absolutely excited about fans and critics’ very positive reactions to Horror Metal album!
– First of all, why did you pick “Cadaveria” for the band’s name? Does it fit with your music?
This was the nickname I got around twenty years ago, when I started singing. When I founded CADAVERIA band in 2001, there were no reasons to abandon it. As the band mirrors my soul and expresses my intentions, I decided to use my nickname for the group too. This name deals with my interest for the “after-death” imaginary, for cemetery stuff and for all what is obscure and forbidden. Surely this perfectly suits to our new album’s atmosphere and with the band new zombie-look.
– You have just unleashed “Horror Metal”, your first album in 5 years. What were you up to during these years?
We supported our third album In Your Blood with live shows in Italy and abroad till 2010. In the meanwhile we were writing the new material and starting the pre-production. In 2009 and 2010 the bass player Killer Bob and I were also busy with DyNAbyte’s second full length… Basically we have entered the recording studios in 2010, but only in 2011 we put the final touch to Horror Metal album. We didn’t leave the studio till we thought the tracks were perfect.
– Since you were formed you released your first three album almost in a row, but after having taken 5 years to release your new opus; how were you feeling about it?
We were sure this would have been the best album even released by CADAVERIA. We were looking forward to releasing it, but contemporaneously we wanted to take the necessary time to care about all details. We were changing the record label and we didn’t need to respect any deadline. This allowed us to listen to the album many times before releasing it and to do all the arrangements we had in our mind.
– And how’s being the feedback for the album so far? Are you satisfied with it?
Yes, we are completely satisfied and the same is for our fans. Magazines and webzines all over the world have appreciated it a lot. The songs quality is very high, you know, there are no tracks put in the album just to reach one hour length;)
– I could say this is your most mature and complete album to date, it provides the listener different musical elements that some of your previous pieces didn’t offer. What’s your view on this? Are you happy with the final outcome?
I agree with you. Horror Metal is the perfect representation of CADAVERIA essence, made of darkness, sickness, melancholy and power. The sound has its roots in the old school Black and Death Metal, but reinterpreted in a contemporary way. You can also find echoes of Gothic Metal and of the Eighties New Wave, imbued with some Black Sabbath feelings. It is hard to describe our style in few words.. finally Horror Metal is properly the best way to define it.
– This being said, how was the songwriting process for this new record like?
Well I started writing the first lyrics some years ago and the same did Dick Laurent with the guitar riffs. Living far from each other, the first ideas were shared through file exchange. Everyone had the opportunity to think about the tracks on his own, developing new ideas, so when we meet in the rehearsal room we started contaminating each other and the real creative process began. After we recorded the album, we took some time to do a premix and after this we entered in the recording studios again, to add the keyboards parts, the guitars harmonisations and to re-record some vocal parts I didn’t like. We can say that part of the writing process was done directly in the studios.
– I also feel the sound this time around is even darker and harsher; was this something you aimed for or did it came naturally?
That’s what we were searching for, but partially it was born naturally, as some guitar riffs are dark and oppressive by themselves. The music perfectly matches with the lyrics taste and at the same time I tried to perform the lyrics in order to emphasize the mood suggested by the music. In other words, I have used a different vocal approach, according to the variegated style of the songs.
– It also has really eerie and somber atmospheres. Does this fit with the album’s name?
Well, people have always labelled CADAVERIA style as Horror Metal. When we finished recording the album and started thinking about a possible title,
we immediately understood Horror Metal could describe the album atmosphere in the best way. On the other hand it is a simple title, easy to remember.
– In fact it seems you have also made your image fit with the album in general, as the booklet seems to be inspired by zombie stuff. Could you please tell us how did you come up with the idea and how did you work on the album’s artwork?
We are used to renew our image every time we release an album. Cinema has always been a great source of inspiration for us; this time horror movies were our mentor. I particularly like the fact we used a band picture for the cover and the large use we made of the white colour. Besides the band pictures and the lyrics, the booklet shows some handmade drawings, by my friend Roberto Savino. Each image represents a specific moment of the lyrics. The CD is enveloped in a slipcase, under which a second cover is hidden. So basically the album has a double cover.
– You are a band that has never been stagnant to a certain musical style, you are constantly evolving. Is this important for you both as individual and artist?
Absolutely! Our music is born spontaneously and it expresses who we are. Each album is like a picture of a specific phase of our lives. Evolution is a natural and necessary process for life and for art.
– And due to this, how could you describe this new “Horror Metal” with just 3 words?
Genuine, malefic, complete.
– During all these years, have you opened to new musical influences? As, despite being always brutal, you don’t seem to have boundaries.
Personally speaking, I’m a very curious person, who always want to explore new meanders in order to learn and improve. Musically speaking, I listen to many kind of music and this helps me to open my mind. Probably also my experience with DyNAbyte opened new mental frontiers to me. Dealing with Industrial stuff as well as with sound editing software is quite interesting.
– I read your lyrics deal with your real experiences and thoughts, would you mind to shed some light on what stories have inspired you to write lyrics for “Horror Metal”?
The song Apocalypse is clearly inspired to Apocalypto movie by Mel Gibson and deals with a monologue about an imminent catastrophe, that means also a punishment for those who usurped others’ culture and freedom. The other songs contains my thinking about life and death or are inspired by experiences I made and people I met. Some lyrics deals with my dreams and nightmares or about my phobias. In this album the is space also for occultism, cosmic energies and witchcraft as well as for power and romanticism. Sometimes some places are described: they are the places where I live, wrapped in the Winter fog..
– Your first albums were released via Scarlet Records, but your previous one, “In your Blood”, came out with French label Season of Mist. You have now started working with Barkerteam, a sub-division of Scarlet Records. So, first of all, weren’t you satisfied with your period with Season of Mist?
The deal with SOM was just for one record, so it was natural to change the label after In Your Blood release. We were looking for a label having the right enthusiasm to promote our new album in the proper way. As you said, Bakerteam is a division of Scarlet Records, for which our first two albums were released, so it has been like a return to home. Together with Worm Hole Death, our publisher, they are doing the work we were expecting.
– And secondly, why did you decide to go with Barkerteam?
‘Cause we already knew the guys working in it and we knew we can trust them.
– Italy seems to have a great Metal scene, you guys are a proof of it, having played (or still playing) in bands as NECRODEATH or OPERA IX among others. Beside we can find bands as LACUNA COIL, GRAVEWORM or LABYRINTH among many other but, how do you see the Italian Metal scene as insider? Both bands as shows, venues or the audience.
Sincerely I don’t know many other good bands apart those you mentioned. I think the Italian scene is lacking in young talents. The economic crisis is having an impact on the audience, they still buy some CDs but try to save money not attending to live shows and the number of good venues is decreasing year after year.
-From Queens of Steel we have always brought special support and promotion to women into the Metal scene, so I can’t actually help asking you a couple of things about this matter. First of all, could you say there’s discrimination into the Metal world? In any way, as I don’t just mean giving women into this music a wrong role or undervaluing their work, but also making differences just because the gender can be considered a way of discrimination.
Personally I never experienced any kind of discrimination, apart from those two or three misogynous people I met in these last twenty years. Anyway, I think this affects the human genre, not especially the Metal scene.
– I would also like to know your view on the role society use to give women into this scene, as it seems to be harder for ladies to be noticed at first because of their skills instead of the physical “skills”.
I think it depends on how a girl approaches to the scene, if just with a bra or full dressed.
– And are there any female singers that have influenced your vocal style?
Sabina Classen a little bit, just ‘cause she was the only one I knew when I started singing. However, rather than a real source of inspiration, she was above all a testimony of the fact I could do it and a certainty I was not alone.
– Finally, what are the near-future plans for the band? Do you plan touring to support “Horror Metal” on stage? And beside CADAVERIA, any new plans for DYNABYTE?
We will play some live shows this Spring, in the meanwhile we will shoot and edit the video for the song Flowers in Fire. Probably the live dates abroad will be concentrated in Autumn. Dick Laurent is already at work on new material and the same is doing LJ Dusk for DyNAbyte…
– That’s all from my side, thank you once more for answering our questions. If you now want to add some final words; last lines are all yours.
Well let me thank you for this space on Queens of Steel dedicated to CADAVERIA and to our new album Horror Metal. It is in stores now, so I invite all the readers to check it out and support the band. This are the links to connect with us: www.cadaveria.com, www.facebook.com/cadaveria
