The Glory Of The Romans I

After the huge success of our series about the Greek Metal Scene (Stories from the Aegean). We proudly bring to you the first part of our series about the Italian Metal Scene (The Glory of the Romans). The format of those articles are almost the same with Stories from the Aegean.

Extreme Music lovers will enjoy reading this part as the whole participated bands of this part are Black Metal, Death Metal, and Doom Death Metal bands. You will know the greatness of the Italian Metal Scene, and dive into its secrets through this series of short interviews with great Italian Metal bands.

PS: The article is published on March 6, at 6:30 am (CLT) on the occasion of Uranus move to Taurus. It is a rare astral phenomena so it should be celebrated with.

Let's move together to our list! 

GRAVEWORM

Caption: Graveworm Live at the Music Room, Dubai

Graveworm's name is one of the most celebrated names in the history of the Italian Metal Scene. So, It should be mentioned when talk about the Italian Metal Scene comes. With more than a 25 year career and a huge discography, Graveworm is standing among the icons of the Italian Metal who established the earliest Gothic sound in Italy. We were honored to have this interview with the legendary Graveworm and we talked with the band about the Italian Metal Scene in general, their whole career, their upcoming album, the position of the Italian Metal scene and their experience in Dubai 2 years ago. 

Stefano Fiori (Gravewom's Vocalist) answered our questions. 

As this series aims shedding more light on the Italian Metal Scene, we started with Fiori by asking him about the scene in Italy. 

 "The Italian Metal scene is growing from year to year. There are a lot of great new bands and some established bands like Fleshgod Apocalypse, Lacuna coil, Rhapsody of fire, The Foreshadowing and many more," He described. 

Caption: Graveworm Live through their tour with Kataklysm, 2018, PC: Graveworm FB page

Regarding the position of the Italian Metal Scene in Europe whether it is well appreciated or not. He added, "Of course there are countries like Scandinavia where it seems that behind every corner there is a great band, but I think the scene in Italy is big , great and will grow more and more."

Graveworm is one of the earliest Italian bands who succeeded to establish their own definitive sound. So, we moved to talk about Graveworm's reasons for choosing Gothic/Black Metal to perform. "When we started back in 1990 we all listen to bands like Cannibal Corpse, Massacre, Napalm Death, Dismember and other Death Metal bands but we wanted to have some melodic and atmospheric parts in our music. 

One of the best bands in that time who had keyboards in it was the German Band Crematory. So at the beginning, we did a lot of covers for them, then when we started with our own songs they where similar to their music style," he explained.

After that, Fiori commented on the position of the Black Metal scene in Europe. "I started with bands like Emperor, Marduk and others and some of them still playing in the same way. That´s cool. I like it."

Nowadays I have to say that I´m not so in the Black Metal Scene, I prefer more Death Metal bands like Kataklysm , Hypocrisy and some more," he continued. 

Last year, Graveworm announced that the band is working on new album that's why we asked Fiori about the updates of their new album. He revealed, "We are still working on the the tracks. In the tracks you will realize that Steve wrote a lot of them. He has his style and there is definitely some old Graveworm parts in music,"

"Lyrically, I don´t have found the point that I wanted to have. I am still working on it. Not satisfied at the moment. So I cannot tell you more because I don't know at the moment," he added.

Shortly, Fiori was asked about which current names in Italy drew Graveworm's attraction. "My favorite Metal band in Italy at the moment are Fleshgod Apocalypse. I like their sound and the way they play live. Really awesome," he mentioned

Another band is The Foreshadowing, something different, melancholic and really atmospheric. And there is a band near my home , Dead like Juliet. A Metalcore band who is getting bigger and bigger , Really cool people and an awesome ass kicking band," he added. 

After that, we asked him about his opinion in the Metal industry in Europe. "I think is like everywhere. Bands don´t sell a lot of albums because of Spotify. It is a good way of promoting a band but nowadays I have the problem that I don´t find new bands on it. Because I found myself focus on old stuff when I was young. You found great playlists with different music styles but there are always the same well known bands. I prefer to go to underground shows and discover there some new bands," he explained. 

Finally, we wanted to know more about Graveworm's relation with the Middle East, so we asked Fiori first about their performance in Dubai 2 years ago under the organization of the great JoScene. 

"Great!!!! It was a really great experience for us and an awesome journey. All was perfect. We had a great time over there and we hope we will come back as soon as possible. The concert was great and the people where awesome. Great audience," he cheerfully expressed.  

Caption: Graveworm Live through their tour with Kataklysm, 2018, PC: Graveworm FB page

Then, we asked him about his opinion in the Middle Eastern scene and whether it will attract more names to perform in the region or not. 

"Of course, why not, Great land, great people and there are some good promoters who are working hard to bring great bands over there. In my opinion the scene will grow fast over there and a lot of bands will take the opportunity to play over there. I will recommend everyone to go to play there. I have met a lot of great people there and I cannot wait to come back," he commented. 

Frostmoon Eclipse

Caption: Frostmoon Eclipse Memebers, PC: Frostmoon Eclipse offcial FB page

One of the earliest Black Metal bands established in Italy, with a massive discography, Frostmoon Eclipse is one of the brightest marks in the history of the Italian Metal Scene and the band gave us the honor of having this short interview with it. We talked with Frostmoon Eclipse about the Italian Metal Scene in general, their whole career throughout 20 years, their upcoming album and the position of the Italian Metal scene. 

Lorenzo Sassi (Frostmoon Eclipse Vocalist) answered our questions

We started with Frostmoon Eclipse with talking about the scene in Italy. Sassi expressed, " There's not much I could tell you about the Italian scene. There are some bands worth being mentioned. It is not really the best Metal scene ever, if you ask me." 

Then, we aimed to know how Frostmoon Eclipse sees the Italian Metal scene that's why we asked them about the major changes of it based on their experience. 

"The few good bands from the past grew old and most of them quit; loads of shitty new bands are using the internet to look cool and try to find themselves a spot in the music scene failing tragically at that. Then, you can find some new pearls here and there but it's mostly stuff coming from old school fellas," Sassi described. 

Caption: Frostmoon Eclipse Live, PC: Frostmoon Eclipse Official FB page

"Italian Metal bands are mostly renowned for stuff like the Power Metal scene from the late 90's, or some historical names we all know. I believe that Italian Metallers should travel more, learn what the real "masters" do and put the lesson in good use," he commented on some Metalheads opinion that say that the Italians are considered Black Metal masters alongside the other leading European Black Metal scenes. Shortly, we continued talking with Frostmoon Eclipse's opinion in the Italian Metal Scene and we asked him about Frostmoon Eclipse's relation with the other Italian Metal bands. 

"We have this "relation" you're talking about just with people we know personally or members of other projects that involve us. I personally couldn't care less about the future of the scene, in fact the title of the first track from our "Another face of hell" album can do the talking better than me," Sassi answered. 

Currently Frostmoon Eclipse is preparing for their new album that's why we asked Sassi if he can give us more details about the new album. 

"Of course. Our new album is called "Worse Weather To Come" and it will be out soon via Belgian label Immortal Frost Productions. It's an album filled with sadness and hopelessness. I think it's more emotional in some way, like it reaches deeper inside than our previous records. It's some of the best music we have made in a long time and I can't wait for it to be released," he revealed

Caption: Frostmoon Eclipse Live, PC: Frostmoon Eclipse Official FB page

"Also, through the next months, we will release a compilation made of b-sides, live tracks and cover versions of some classics we love. It's called "The Legacy II", being it the second time we do something like that, and it will be out for Italian label Black Tears Prods," he continued. 

And regarding their music writing process in general"Actually we've always had a smooth time writing and recording our music, we have our own vision and it's beyond genres and definitions; I guess it's the people approaching our music who may find it challenging. People often expect to find some classic Black Metal but this is not our case, as you may have noticed," Sassi described. 

Finally, Sassi revealed to us the unforgettable Italian Metal release in the history from his point of view which is "Heavy Demons" by Death SS.

 L'impero delle Ombre 

Caption: L'impero delle Ombre Live, PC: L'impero dell Ombre Official FB page

Founded in 1995, L'impero delle Ombre is one of the legendary Italian Doom Metal band. It performs a unique musical combination. It also has a special performance style. Moreover, the band added new musical style to the Italian Metal music which is Cemetery Rock. We talked with L'impero delle Ombre about the name and the genre of the band, the upcoming album, the Italian Doom Metal scene, and their opinion in the Italian Metal scene in general. 

John Goldfinch (L'impero dell Ombre Vocalist) answered our questions. 

L'impero delle Ombre band's name is a strange for mostly of the Metalheads in the Middle East and the genre the band listed on their official platforms needs more definition that's why we started with Goldfinch by asking him about the name of the band and the genre. 

"L'impero delle Ombre aka The Empire of Shadows" was born in 1995 in southern Italy in the region of Puglia. Regarding Cemetery Rock", it is a definition that I created to describe certain artists that I loved and that have influenced me so much to push me to form a band that just came within the canons of the Cemetery Sound," Goldfinch explained

"That is the classic Italian Dark Sound starting from the 70s with artists like Jacula/Antonius rex, Spettri, Il Balletto di Bronzo, Metamorfosi,Goblin, le Orme up to the Gothic Metal Doom of Death ss, Paul Chain, The Black,Black Hole etc," he continued. 

We continued with Goldfinch about L'impero delle Ombre music. Last year, the band members were busy due to recording their album. So, we asked Goldfinch about the updates of the new album.

"The new album is at the final stages of recording, it lacks very little! It is titled "Racconti Macabri Vol. 3" and will go out again for the Italian label of Genoa Black Widow Records that follows us from the beginning," Goldfinch revealed.

"Stylistically it will be a return to our first homonymous disc, so more 'simple guitar riffs and more' dark mood, esoteric, decadent but with a dark touch Prog, will go out 'hope this year obviously in vinyl and CD and a special limited edition, we'll see!," he added. 

Caption: L'impero delle Ombre Live, PC: L'impero dell Ombre Official FB page

Then, moving to the Italian Metal Scene from the eyes of L'impero delle Ombre. Regarding their description for the Italian Metal Scene, "The Italian Metal scene has always been in my way to always see quite valid, with some peaks of absolute international value, but unfortunately was born and remained a cult scene and underground due to labels, promoters and infrastructure inadequate to metal music or not Pop," he explained. 

Commenting on our wondering if the Italian Metal Scene is well recognized internationally or not, "No, unfortunately, as I said before, Italy had and has bands of absolute world value such as Strana Officina,Vanadium, Death SS, Paul Chain, Requiem, Bulldozer, Sadist and thousands more. But not an Anglo-Saxon country or Germany who have another economy, another culture and a gear more 'especially in the brain without the interference of the fucking church, the mafia, ignorance unfortunately we will never take off!" he expressed. 

Next, we asked him about the main problems that face the Italian Metal bands. "There are no spaces to play live and get paid, unless you put yourself in the hands of agencies, lack of adequate financial reimbursements, lack serious promoter who invest effectively on new bands. And then it is obvious that the economic crisis of country weighs on the future of the independent music scene like the metal and the mood of the people!" he explained. 

After that, Goldfinch told us about his relationship with the Middle Eastern Metal scene. "I can not follow the metal scene of your area, and I'm very curious, believe me! unfortunately it is a problem of promotion linked I believe the Italian problems that I told you before .... even if in my collection there is no lack of scattered works of Turkish, Middle Eastern bands. I am reminded of an Israeli group of hard rock from the 70s, the Jericho later became Jericho Jones, fantastic!" he said. 

Finally, he mentioned to us his favorite Italian Metal releases. They are: "Black Mass" by Death SS, "Detaching from Satan" by Paul Chain, "Above the Light" by Sadist, "Strana Officina" by Strana Officina, and "Dark Quarterer" by Dark Quarterer. 

Finally, Goldfinch sent a message to the whole Metalheads in our region. "I thank you for this space that you gave me and maybe it will make us know a little bit in your part, maybe opening a window in that part of the world so fascinating and rich in culture ... who knows in the day we will play live them , would be a dream! long live cemetery rock !! 

(EchO)

Caption: (EchO) Band Members, PC: (EchO) Official FB Page

(EchO) is one of the impressive Italian Metal bands. It has a good fan-base in Europe, and the band participated in different European Metal festivals. It is not the first time to catch (Echo) on our blog, we talked before on the occasion of From Dusk Till Dawn, Doom Metal Fest at Belgium. So, we are already friends and they accepted the invitation to be on this list happily as the rest of the other bands who gave us a best way of cooperation. We talked with (EchO) about its upcoming album, the Italian Metal Scene, the Doom Metal scene in Italy and its upcoming steps. 

Simone Saccheri ((EchO) Guitarist) and Mauro Ragnoli ((Echo) Guitarist) answered our questions

We started with (Echo) with their latest participation at "From Dusk till Dawn" festival in Belgium. "From Dusk Till Doom" was amazing, definitely one of our best live experiences ever, both on stage and in general, although the doomy sounds the mood was very good and we had a lot of fun!," Saccheri expressed. Next, About the name of the band, it is so simple but deep at the same, but it is always written with capitalizing the final O.

"The name comes from the nymph Eco, from the Greek mythology, who fell in love with Narcissus but unable to confess him her love she ended up consuming herself in cry until only her voice remained echoing though the mountains," he explained

and "We actually started as Echoes of Perdition, but we did’t like to sound too close to a famous song from a famous band that was release a little before we started the band so we decided to simplify the name in Echo, which also had a better story than the original name, later we added the capital O and the brackets just for a graphic reason, the name (EchO) with the capital e and o and the brackets just wants to emulate the form of a sound wave expanding!"

After that, we moved to talk about the Italian Metal scene in detail. About the scene in Italy in general,

"The metal scene is very much alive, we have a lot of bands doing great albums in various sub genres of metal, and some also being recognized very well abroad for their efforts.
What is becoming difficult in here is actually playing live, in our area in particular there are little to no clubs to make shows anymore for small bands like us.I really consider heroes the few promoters and clubs that are still moving the scene and keeping it alive, and we as a band can’t be more thankful to have them," Saccheri expressed.

Then we moved to the economic crisis in Italy and how could this economic crisis. According to Ragnoli, "Economic crisis is affecting everything around us, starting from our day jobs to the art in general, not only music."

Caption: (EchO) Band Live, PC: (EchO) Official FB Page

"Metal is more affected by this problem because it has always been something not popular here in Italy, many venues are closed and some are on the way to be closed, owners can't stand the fact that taxes are eating them alive, so either they close or they move to more "popular" music, or tribute bands," he added.

"Also consider that people are not going to shows anymore, so no people means no tickets and no drinks for the club owner... it is like a dog biting his own tail, we all know there's a problem, but we can't found a way out.. it's a very weird moment, I hope for Italy that art in all of its forms will rise again and start to be considered as part of our day life and not only a hobby," Ragnoli finalized.


Next, Saccheri continued his talk with us about the position of the Italian Metal Scene if it is well recognized or not. 

"I wouldn’t say that, but I can say for sure, and without any sort of blind patriotism, that we have nothing to envy to metal scenes from the UK or even Germany or Sweden to name a few, and it would be awesome to have it recognized outside, but I guess that it’s more a cultural problem than anything else, I don’t think metal has ever been as popular as it has been in the UK or Germany here, and that means we have a smaller scene here, which will make it harder for a band from here to shine outside," Saccheri answered.

After that, we moved to (EchO) new album. Saccheri told us some fine details about the upcoming album.

"2018 was busy year for sure! We recorded drums in September in my parent’s home, we have very cool photos and videos on our facebook page! In November we went to Onda Studio in Imperia and finished the production of the record, the entire work was recorded by Francesco Genduso from the band Plateau Sigma, who also owns Onda," he said 

"The album was later mixed and mastered by Greg Chandler from Esoteric in his Priory Recording Studios near Birmingham, in the UK. We will reveal soon some more details, including the artwork, and a few friends that contributed to some of the songs and made them very very special but for now we can’t say more unfortunately," he continued.

Finally, he told us the Albums that are considered as unforgettable marks in the history of the Italian Metal Scene from his point of view. 

He finalized, "Though question to be honest, more than single albums I can name some bands that left a visible mark on Italian metal, and that helped our scene being recognized abroad, starting from Death SS for sure, who had a great carreer since the early 70s, and in more recent years bands like The Secret and Nero di Marte did very well, both in terms of quality and in terms of success in Italy and abroad, but the list should be much longer.

“A calling to weakness” from Canaan is probably an Italian album that had a big impact on us as a band.

Tethra

Caption: Tethra Full Lineup, PC: Tethra Official FB Page

Tethra, founded in 2008, is one of the most active Doom Metal band in Italy. The band members are working hard to promote their music, in addition they cooperate with other band in Europe as Evadne. They also perform in different European countries. We discussed many issues with the band about their music, their career, and their scene. 

Clode Tethra (Tethra Vocalist) answered our questions 

Tethra is a really active Doom Metal, they are working on new album, they performed in different European countries so we asked them about the Doom Metal Scene in Italy and their relation with the other Metal bands. "The Doom scene in Italy, which is about Doom Death, Funeral, Sludge, Heavy Doom or Stoner is constantly moving in a vibrant, uninterrupted flow of excellent music and, even if the bands dedicated to this particular musical genre are not so many, we try to help each other by sharing our experiences in terms of tours, recording studios and, in general, in everything related to our world. We are also in constant contact, via social networks, even with other bands from all over the world," Tethra expressed. 

Then, we continued talking about the scene in Italy. He gave us a nice answer for our wondering regarding the position of the Italian Metal Scene internationally. "Our country has never been inferior, as a musical quality, to those of the rest of Europe. What, in my opinion, we have always missed is a proper promotion and a network of contacts that can convey our music in the world. In this case, social networks have been a great help and allow us every day to talk and reach all the people interested in our music," he explained.

"By the way, I’m also forced to say that Italy has never been the best country for heavy metal. Compared to other European countries, like Germany for example, the number of heavy metal listeners is lower and this translates into a more difficult spread throughout the scene. Plus we have to record the closing of many historical venues that were a great way to “spread the word”," Tethra continued. 

After that we discussed with Tethra the issues of the economic effect of the latest economic crisis in Italy on the Metal industry there. "The economic crisis that has been gripping Italy for more than twenty years has allowed us to take nothing for granted. For example, many tours that previously passed regularly in our country now avoid us because less and less people are able to afford the cost of the ticket for the shows," he explained

But I believe that the Italian music scene has never been as prolific as now, every day a new value band is born and the new technologies allows us to record albums at a much lower cost than in the past. This is positive but, when the scene is mainly composed of musicians, everyone is able to satiate with their own music so the underground bands are recording less and less presence at their shows," Tethra added. 

Next, Tethra was founded in 2008, through those 11 years so we asked Clode Tethra about the lessons they learnt and which advice they can give to the other rising bands. "We don’t have the presumption of wanting to teach anything to other bands but I can definitely say that to create good music, in addition to technical skills, passion and time is also a bit of luck that allows you to meet people with a common musical vision . In our specific case this has always been the highest rock to overcome," he answered. 

Caption: Tethra Band Live, PC: Tethra Official FB page

Currently, Tethra members are working on their new album, and Tethra gave us a detailed image for the latest updates of the album.

"We are about halfway through the composition of the new album and our goal is to record it by the end of this year. Also this time our sound has undergone an evolution and we have adopted solutions from other musical genres, even extreme ones, that until now we had never thought to try. By our nature we don’t like repeating ourselves, we prefer to be inspired by what happens around us, in fact, in each of our albums you can find from melodic parts to brutal ones. We don’t let our music have boundaries and Doom, in particular, lends itself very much to our interpretation, for example you just think the great difference of mood between funeral and heavy/epic doom. We have a sea of possibilities to choose from," he revealed. 

Regarding their 2019 plans, Tethra mentioned that the band is working on the album, and searching for a good label and they will play at some selected shows. Then, we moved to Tethra relation with one of the greatest names in the European Metal scene, Evadne. He expressed, "We shared the stage with our friends Evadne two times, in 2013 and in 2018. It’s always a great pleasure to passing some times with the Spanish guy because, despite of our musical proposal, we are all really funny people and every time we have the chance to meet the affinity between our bands is getting stronger and stronger."

Finally, we asked the band about their relation with the Middle East. "I’m in contact with Dark Matter from Iran, they are a really talented band but, I know, in this time they’re having problems to play in their country. Since this musical genre was born, there have always been these discomforts created by those who understood metal has the merit of uniting people and opening their minds. It’s a really powerful music that is, unfortunately, giving way to faintly subversive sounds like Trap," he explained. 

Rome In Monochrome 

Caption: Rome In Monochrome Band Live, PC: RIM Official FB Page

Through their “Away from Light”, the Italian Rome In Monochrome has expressed unique depressive taste from Doom/Postrock Tunes. The band doesn’t only attract listeners from Europe, but from Egypt too. So, as I am writing the first part of “Glory of the Romans”, RIM should be mentioned. Plus, Valerio Granieri (RIM Vocalist) is one of my closest friends. So, he accepted this invitation happily.

Valerio Granieri (RIM Vocalist) answered our questions

I started with Granieri with his relation with the Egyptians, especially the great Egyptian Metalhead Mohammed Saad. He cheerfully replied, "Well, it was funny, especially because I honestly didn’t think there was such a big metal/doom fan base down there in Egypt."

"My fault, maybe I should have known this but I was never in touch with anything/anyone from the Middle East, so…well, life is just a sequence of unexpected things happening while you try to control it so, glad that I’ve got in touch with you all. I found out a lot of passionate people and careful and faithful listeners and he is certainly one of the most experienced. This certainly changed my way of looking down south," Granieri added.

Next, we moved to RIM latest album "Away from Light" which is really unique part of darkness. "Music is a picture of what you are in the moment you write it: our music is based on a cruel introspection and I am proud to say that what you hear is just us, with no filters and no everyday influence. So it’s not about “what I thought about” or “what anyone of us thought about," he explained.

"There’s no need to think, organize, or prepare: it’s just us. Obviously there’s a constant editing activity a new song is written, to reach the final arrangement but we never thought about what Away From Light had to be, before it was born. We are thinking a little bit more about the new one because we absolutely don’t want to write the same album twice: our inspiration is moving so we will move with it. The constant edit activity goes forever and the songs grow up with us after they have been released, also," Granieri continued.  

Last year, RIM performed in Belgium and Netherlands as a mini RIM tour, so we asked him about this tour.

"Oh, it was great. We had a great response, people supported us a lot. We played in great venues with a good sound and good food and drinking. We met a lot of fantastic people and we thank a lot them all: I’ve seen a lot of great bands and a lot of people that wants to get in the ring for the sake of “our” music. It was beautiful to see," he expressed.

As we are talking about the scene in Italy, we asked Granieri about the main problems that face the bands here.  

"Well, there’s a lack of common goals, I think. And there’s always that feeling of jealousy about the ones that really break up and stop being an underground thing, that’s always treated like a traitor and a sellout. That way of thinking that a band is good only when three or four people know it is everywhere, here, from Metallica, to Lacuna Coil to the small cult band that gets a good deal. Very sad," he answered.

"And it’s very sad to see always the same faces attending lives, and a lot of people that are happy to pay a lot of euros to see live for the 10th time always those “big” bands that we know very well. The best way to kill underground. Anyway, there’s a lot of people I respect in our underground scene and many true friends, also. This makes me hope that tomorrow’s gonna be better," he added.

Caption: Rome In Monochrome Band Live, PC: RIM Official FB Page

We still continue our talk about the scene in Italy. But, this questions was about the economic crisis in Italy and how it would affect on the Metal industry in Italy. 

"For sure, obviously yes. It’s hard to find someone who wants to risk his/her money to promote original and underground music. It’s not a matter of musical trends, we can find them everywhere (not just in Italy) but it’s only business: people is not curious to hear new stuff so small venues prefer to offer stage to cover/tribute bands who guarantee sold-outs or almost. It’s a deadly combination of not curious listeners and not forward-looking business-men, that don’t want to properly pay a band that plays original music. The best way to kill underground, pt. 2," he commented.

Then, Granieri was asked about if the Italian Metal scene is well organized or not. "No, I think it’s the opposite: Italian metal scene is well recognized outside our borders but it’s underestimated here, in Italy," he replied.

Then, we asked him about the Metal albums released in 2018. He expresses that it was "Full of good music and of good performers, not properly supported by people and music industry."

Finally, we asked him about RIM 2019 plans. "Oh, we have started. There’s a lot of material about to be arranged, we have to choose what to include and what will be cut out. I wrote a lot of stuff to work on (and so some others), the first song was completely transformed when we played it all together and this is the way we will work on all the other ones. All the lyrics are done, and will be just adapted," he revealed.

Ars Onirica

Caption: Ars Onirica Founder, Alessandro Sforza, PC: Ars Onirica Official FB Page

Ars Onirica is an impressive one-man Doom Metal band. Founded by Alessandro Sforza, the band succeeded to attract many listeners through their lately released album, "I, Cold." The band was suggested to us by RIM Vocalist Vlaerio Granieri. And, we are honored that Sforza that accepted our invitation. 

Alessandro Sforza (Ars Onirica) answered our questions

First off, we started with the band name which "It means "art of dreams" in Latin," according to Sforza. Then, we moved to the band's music. Ars Onirica is creating a beautiful combination of music, so we asked him about his musical combinations and his main influences. 

"I'm happy that you like it, in the album I've tried to combine many influences in a particular way, you can hear some modern and older black/doom influences close to bands such as Katatonia, Anathema, Forgotten tomb and Shining mixed with some acoustic atmospheric parts. Personally I really love sad and desolating atmospheres in music, but landscapes and paintings - especially the dusk ones - had a great influence too," he explained. After that we moved to Ars Onirica relationship with Rome in Monochrome. 

"We really estimate each other "Away from Light" from RIM it's a masterpiece of the melancholic music. The main theme of the album is the loss, the desolation that you feel when you loose someone forever and you don't have any chance of changing all that's happening around you, you can only wait and try to find a way to ease your pain," Sforza revealed.

After that we moved to talk about the Italian Metal scene in general. When it comes to the Italian Scene many Middle Eastern Metalheads think that Atmospheric Black and Doom Metal are the common genres in it. That's why we asked Sforza to comment on that.

"It's right if you think about bands such as Novembre, The Foreshadowing, Doomraiser, but probably these sounds in Italy are living a second youth nowadays, especially the Doom Metal music;  every day I discover new great bands from my country, a new scene is growing with great acts such as Rome in Monochrome, Shores of Null, Plateau Sigma, Silvered, Witches of Doom, Nightgaunt and many others.," he expressed.  

"Anyway, there's not only Black or Doom in Italy, but also power/prog metal (Arthemis, Dgm) and a lot of death metal (Fleshgod apocalypse, Devangelic, Hour of penance, Hideous divinity, Coffin birth)," Sforza added. 

Caption: Ars Onirica Live, PC: Ars Onirica Official FB Page

Then, Sforza described the Italian Metal scene. "The Italian Metal Scene is full of great music in every genre from Power Metal to Black Metal and I think that our music nowadays has become really appreciated internationally, as proved by the success of bands like Fleshgod apocalypse or Lacuna coil," he expressed. 

Regarding the position of the Doom Metal music in Italy, "We love this kind of music, as I told you before a new scene in Italy is growing, there is a lot of interest about the sad tunes," Sforza described. Regarding the challenges that the bands face, he commented, "Probably the same challenges that every band must face in the rest of the world: the overload of music that makes difficult to emerge and to let know your proposal and then the fall of CD sales."

After that, Sforza told us that he is aiming to have many live performances in the near future. Finally, he told us the unforgettable Italian Metal releases through history in his point of view: Necrodeath "Into the macabre" and "Fragments of insanity", Death SS "Heavy Demons", "Black Mass" and "In death of Steve Sylvester", Sadist "Above the light" and "Tribe", Novembre "Wish I Could Dream it Again" and "Classica", Labyrinth "Return to Heaven Denied", Rhapsody "Legendary Tales", Bulldozer "IX", Necromass "Mysteria Mystica Zofiriana", Athena "A New Religion", and Dark lunacy "The Diarist."

So guys, that was our first part of our series of articles about the Italian Metal Scene (The Glory of the Romans..Metal Tales from Italy)

Stay tuned for the upcoming part!

Written by: Rana Atef (The Metal Sister, Egypt’s Metal Reviewer, Metal Roos, JoScene, Jorzine, and Rock Era Magazine) (Egypt)

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Special Thanks to:

Matteo Antonelli: Masked Dead Records, Hateful Desolation band Vocalist (Italy)

Stefano Fiori: Graveworm Vocalist (Italy)

Lorenzo Sassi: Frostmoon Eclipse Vocalist (Italy)

John Goldfinch: L'impero delle Ombre Vocalist (Italy)

Simone Saccheri: (EchO) Guitarist (Italy)

Mauro Ragnoli: (EchO) Guitarist (Italy) 

Clode Tethra: Tethra Vocalist (Italy) 

Valerio Granieri: Rome in Monochrome Vocalist (Italy) 

Alessandro Sforza: Ars Onirica Founder (Italy)

Lord Mist: Forstagrath, Hateful Desolation, Astray, Hecate Founder and Composer (Egypt)

Tarek "Kabv" Shehata: EX Worm Guitarist (Egypt)

Muhammed Saad "Egypt Slayer" (Egypt)

Lina Ardila: Graphic Designer andTattoo Artist (Colombia) 

Note: to send your biography, media releases, new or to join our series, please send us via knight.dark10@yahoo.com or send a message via our page. 

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Egypt’s Metal Reviewer and The Metal Sister are two sister blog project established by Rana Atef a.k.a (DaRk~~KniGhT) in April 2018. She is aiming to provide the Middle East with professional and constructive Metal reviews. In addition, building a bridge with Middle Eastetn Metalheads and Western bands. 

Plus, the blog is trying to build a unique Metal news exchange service between the blog and other western blogs, webzines, magazines and pages.

Also, the project is widely open for all bands from the whole world.