ART
OF DARKNESS
DO
YOU REALLY WANT TO READ AN EPIC SAGA? THEN READ THIS INTERVIEW AND LEARN
HOW ART OF DARKNESS CONQUERED THE WORLD...
1.TELL US IN A FEW WORDS THE MOST IMPORTANT
MOMENTS OF THE BAND'S HISTORY. WHICH IS TODAY'S LINE UP?
Heber: Our crucial moment itake
place in the beginning of the year 2k when Art Of Darkness was formed but
apart from that I think the band's history can be sum up briefly in 3 points:
the recording session of our first promo-cd in December 2000, because
it was our first experience in studio, we learnt that the arrangement of
songs is one of the most important thing. The second moment is the recording
session of Mind Suicide in March 2002 cause we had more experience than
the first time; we've interacted with Tommy Talamanca (sound engineer as
well as proprietary of Nadir Studios) in stage of mastering and editing.
The last moment goes back to the September 2002 when Emilio (guitar) and
Marco (bass) decided to abandon the band. Now the line up is: Flavio at
vocals, Sergio at guitar and Heber at drums but we're looking for new components.
2.WHY HAVE YO NAMED THE BAND ART OF
DARKNESS? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?
Sergio: We’ve choosed this name
cause kicks ass, only for that reason, there are not hidden meanings (not
religion meanings or stuff like that).
Heber: When I go pissing I don't
know why I raise the "toilet board"...but I know it's right!..:))...so
I don't know why we named the band Art Of Darkness...we liked it.
3.WHICH ARE THE BAND'S INFLUENCES?
COULD YOU NAME SOME OF YOUR MOST BELOVED ALBUMS?
Sergio: well, i like music that
sounds good, there’s not difference for me....i like music from easy litening
to brutal death...........anyway my favourite albums are legion, rust in
peace, master of puppets, necroticism, innuendo..
4.COULD YOU GIVE SOME GENERAL INFO
ON THE BAND RELEASES? COMPARE THEM. WHICH ARE THE SIMILARITES AND WHICH
ARE THE DIFFRENCES BETWEEN THEM? ARE YOU STILL SATISFIED BY YOUR LATEST
RELEASE OR IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO CHANGE?
Sergio: We recorded our first demo-cd
in september 2000 in a putrid studio near our city, and you can imagine
by yourself how it sounded.......we’d a lot of enthusiam and will to play
but we’d not experience and no idea of what was to record music. we did
our best but anyway we were not satisfied by it. This time we’ve choosed
a very big (and expensive) studio, so our cd has a clean and powerful sound
and musically all things has gone in the right way, in fact we’re completaely
satisfied of this demo-cd......the main differences between our two demos
are the experinces we’ve reached and the songwriting, cause our first songs
were simply a collection of riffs played at the maximum speed, while in
our last recording we’ve focused on the structure of the songs (verse -
bridge – chorus) and on precision of the excecution of them. i think that
in future we’ll add some electronic stuff as a background of our songs
and we’ll try to use more vocal experiments.........but .naturally we’ll
continue to create killer riffs!
5.WHAT ARE YOUR LYRICS TALKING ABOUT?
ARE YOU PESSIMISTS?
Heber: Our lyrics talk about life,
death, position of individuals in the society, man's depraved soul, etc....In
fact our attitude to a problem is never pessimistic...is realistic! Pessimism
is peculiar to losers...and we're not losers!
6.COULD YOU SHARE WITH US YOUR LIVE
EXPERIENCES? HOW DID YOU FEEL BEFORE GETTING ON STAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME
AND DURING THE LIVE SHOW?
Heber: We always try to transmit
heat, motion, rage and spite. We're usual person but when we step onto
the stage we change into ungovernable beasts! Once a lad came to us after
our performance and said "oh my fucking god....too much violence for me!!"...yeah...exciting,
it's exactly what I want to hear! I remember that the first time I felt
sick but when I went up the stage everything changed...it was simply fantastic!
7.WHICH WERE THE REACTIONS OF THE FANS
AND PRESS? WHICH WAS THE BEST AND WHICH WAS THE WORST REVIEW YOU HAVE RECEIVED?
Heber: The reactiona of the fans
and press are good...very good, someone try to compare us to some old famous
band but our definitive decision is that there's nothing in comparison
with us and our music cause every band has its peculiarities; so it's very
risky and audacious to make comparisons; if things go on like this there's
a danger that whatever people say will be banal.
8.TELL US ABOUT YOU WINNING THE DEMO
OF THE YEAR 2001 CONTEST. WHICH OTHER BANDS PARTICIPATED, WHAT DID YOU
WIN AND HOW DID THE WHOLE PROCEDURE TAKE PLACE?
Heber: No, it wasn't a real contest.
Our demo (Art Of Darkness-2001) became "Demo of the year 2001" on Stronger
Than All, a program broadcasted by RTP, a local radio; I don't know which
other bands partecipated and how the procedure take place. The only award
was our pride.
9.YOU SAY IN YOUR BIO THAT THERE WAS
A TIME WHILE COMPOSING SONGS TAHT YOU WERE ALMOST ABOUT TO DISBAND. WHY?
WHAT KIND OF PROBLEMS WERE YOU FACING? WEREN'T TEH SONGS YOU WERE COMPOSING
GOOD ENOUGH? HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO SOLVE ALL THESE AND MOVE ON?
Heber: When you work hard and you
see that nobody seems to be interested in what you make then you begin
thinking if everything you do is only for your pleasure...and it's very
demoralizing.
10.HOW ARE YOU THINKING TO PROMOTE
YOUR WORK? WHICH ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS?
Heber: Magazines, Webzines, Labels,
Management, Promotion, Distribution....in other words we'll pinch every
form of help from everbody'll be able to give it.
11.IF YOU HAD THE MONEY TO MAKE A PROPER
EPXENSIVE VIDEO CLIP, HOW DO YOU IMAGINE IT TO BE AND FOR WHICH SONG?
Heber: I imagine a mexican with
a sombrero on the head walking with his white little dog along the street,
then they disappear from the framing.....so an evocative shot....their
carcasses thrusted to the screen...now only splash of brain are visible...but
don't worry...it's only the beginning. Don't you think it's fine? MMhhh
for which song? I think Maniac Illusions or Eclipse.
12.WHICH IS THE BEST PART IN YOUR MUSIC
AND IN THE BAND IN GENERAL AND WHICH THING DO YOU THINK YOU SHOULD CORRECT?
WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU NEED IMPROVEMENT?
Heber: There aren't best parts
or worst parts in our music....nothing particularly...you either like our
music or you don't like it, either one ore the other thing!
13.MANY EXTREME METAL BANDS EXPRESS
RACISTIC IDEOLOGIES. WHICH ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?
Sergio: I’m not racist.
Heber: No racism for me! I think
it's one of the biggest form of ignorance.
14.HAVE YOU SENT THE CD TO ANY LABELS?
WHICH WERE THE REACTIONS THIS FAR?
Sergio: Only few labels have taken
back to us, but nothing positive....anyway we sent our cd last summer...we’re
still waiting.
15.IF SOMEDAY YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO
MEET THE CREATURE THAT CREATED THE UNIVERSE, WHICH WOULD YOUR BIGGEST QUESTION
BE?
Sergio: No questions, i’d say only
“beh ciao, come va?” (it’s the italian for”hi, how r u?”)
Heber: What did it go wrong when
I was born?
16.IF TIME TRAVEL WAS POSSIBLE, WHICH
HISTORICAL PERIOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT AND WHY? WHAT WOULD YOU MISS
THE MOST FROM OUR TIME?
Sergio: the 80’s!!!!!!!!!!!I was
a child so i coudn’t go to see on stage queen old metallica, old megadeth,
slayer, anthrax, iron maiden and many others shows!!!eh eh eh!!
17.WHAT PROLOGUE AND TITLE WOULD YOU
LIKE THIS INTERVIEW TO HAVE?
Sergio: Mhhhhh..........for prologue
i suggest a thing like “How Art Of darkness has conquered the world”..........i
leave the title to you.......
18.THANK YOU!HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK
YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?
Sergio&Heber: we hope not!
anyway thank you for this interview and thank to every guy who’ll read
this interview!obviously we hope you’ll like our cd!!!:-P and visit our
web site, i’ve (sergio) just redesigned, so now u can find out our guestbook,
live pics, a more useful download section and much more!!!!
remember: italian do it better!!!!!!!!;-PPP
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