Mighty Elric, mightier sword!Sorcerer and swordsman, slayer of kin, lord of a dying race, king of ruins, dragon master, champion of doom! And the story continues...Elric in an unendless source of inspiration and Enrico Paoli is here to proove us so!

1.CIAO!COME STAI?

• Molto bene. Grazie. Weather in Italy is getting sunny and hot !

• We have already recorded our new album. It will be released in Japan on October the 24th and in Europe on November the 5th. It's called "Stormbringer Ruler - The Legend Of The Power Supreme". Once again we have recorded our new album in the New Sin Audio Design studios in Loria, a small town in the countryside near Treviso. We were really happy with "Dragonlord" and we decided to go back in the same studio. The result of  "Stormbringer Ruler" is even better than "Dragonlord". The final result is really powerful and we just love it ! It's a much more complex album than "Dragonlord" and a kind of natural evolution. It's much more powerful and EPIC than  "Dragonlord" but we also tried a few new things. We have a couple of  very fast tracks, really heavy called "True Leader of Men" and "The Hurricane Master", more acoustic parts with Celtic tones, we have a piano ballad in a kind of Queen style called "For Evermore", a lot of Celtic harmonies, more choirs and even a female vocalist in a couple of tracks. The song "The Ride of the Valkyries" is our homage to Richard Wagner  and to the opera "Die Walkure". It starts with an operatic part where Morby sings like a opera tenor, then the song kicks in and it's one of the most EPIC mid tempos we have EVER done. In the middle part we play an arrangement of the "Valkyre" theme by Wagner and the last part is done with acoustic guitars and female vocalist, Leanan Sidhe from the band Beholder sings a duet with Morby. In the song "Dawn Of A New Day" there's an acoustic break in the middle with 4 entwined vocal parts. We wanted to add a few new things without betraying our metal roots. I'm sure all the Greek metal warriors will love it !

• Well, if you know me you know I can't do an album without any reference to the Elric Of Melnibonè saga. All the cover paintings have Elric has character. Different things inspire lyrics but there's a mini concept, consisting of four parts, based on the last part of the Elric saga. It's called "The Chronicles of the Black Sword - The End of an Era" and the four parts aare "The Bearer of the Black Sword", "Horn of Fate", "For Evermore" and "Dawn of a New Day". These are based on the final fight between Chaos and Law. A song is based on Frank Herbert's "Dune". The rest are all very powerful themes, all Epic and dramatic. No fairy tales here.

• Yes, I will definetly write about Corum for the next Domine album. I love both the two Corum trilogies but I was taken too much by the Elric saga for the previous albums. These things are not really done on purpose. It's a matter of inspiration.

• Well, I like many things about the Elric character. It's not a one-way hero. He's complex and dramatic and this makes him really interesting. I love his inner struggle and his noble ways, this amazing Emperor of a dying race, with his loyalty to unspeakable gods of Chaos and his frightening magic powers and his frightening black sword. Most of the fantasy heroes are simple, one-way characters, with stupid reasons to act the way they do, maybe barbarians or just blue princes. Most of the times, heroes are white and villains are black. This is a simple way to tell stories and the Elric saga was so different and terrible, with many dramatic and also touching stories. In reality, people are always shades of grey, everybody has  good and evil sides, you can choose to live your life according to what you believe. I found the character really inspiring for my music, his fight against many characters in a strange world and his final submission to Fate. Elric a common person ? No, I don't think so ! Not many people become the pawn of Fate doomed to bring the end of the world.

• Well, actually "The Lord Of The Rings" very loosely inspired "Dark Emperor" from our first album. I read the book in Italian and English languages but I find really difficult to write about it. I don't like too much the more Fantasy side of the book, the one with the hobbits, Elves, gnomes. I love the Battle of Isengard and Helms Deep, the fight of Gandalf with the Balrog. You know, the darker side. I don't know, maybe in the future.

• We have a very loyal fan base. I think we had a good response from "Champion Eternal" and a much better one for "Dragonlord". I'm sure "Stormbringer Ruler" will surprise a lot of people because it's a much more complex and mature album. As I said before, the new album is a natural progression from "Dragonlord" with new things and new ideas, still true to our Metal roots. We are trying to make interesting albums; albums that stay interesting  even after many listens. A lot of bands do albums that sound all the same or with songs that catch you on a first listening and then get boring after 2 listens. We are trying to avoid that.

• We haven't changed record label. If you are talking about our deal with Metal Blade, that's only for the release of the album in USA, Canada and Mexico. That was a great honour for us. That's one of the label that did Metal history. We are still signed to Dragonheart but we have partners in USA, Brazil, Japan and Taiwan that press and release the album there. Dragonheart Records was founded with "Champion Eternal" and Domine is still the best selling band. We don't have any kind of pressure except for the one WE put on ourselves. We have become really demanding on the music/recording quality side. We recorded "Champion Eternal" with nothing but after that we wanted to improve, we worked a lot and we got "Dragonlord". Then "Stormbringer Ruler" which is another step forward. We will work really hard to do even better with the next album. We have already booked the studio for November 2002 for our fourth album. Of course, when a band signs on a big label, the pressure increases. That's because all the expectations are really high and a band could have very important chances to take. I'm not one of those people that despise bands like Metallica. When you sell millions of albums and you have a big Music industry around you, you must have a really strong pressure to deliver a good selling album, you can not just say "no" to things you don't like.  I don't know, I guess we should live that situation to know how it really is and how you would react.

• Yes. That's the main reason. I have many interests but I really feel the need to write songs and lyrics. Domine is my life. I could never write music for other bands, maybe something only for myself. It could sound simple but I simply feel the need to put music on a tape and get all the other guys playing it. That's what I am. I get a lot of inspiration from movies, books, paintings and other people's music of course. I love art with feeling, any kind of music or books or movies. I hate things made of plastic, cold and senseless. I like to tell stories and listen to them.

• I get this question in every interview. I think that if you write by cliché you are boring, any kind of cliché, being sword and heroes for classic Metal, Satan and anti-Christian stuff for Death and Black Metal, love for pop songs, science fiction fro Prog Metal, drugs, girls, alcohol etc... There's no formula to copy with no real inspiration or real interest. You must write good lyrics, with feelings and real interest. People see the difference. You can not just write down Blood, Fire, Death, Sword, Steel and that's it ! If you write because you have something to say, you can go on forever. Musicians and poets are writing about love, war, and everything in between since the beginning of Time and there are still very good results.

• There are a lot of artists that I admire. I love (in no particular order) Queen, Michael Moorcock, Thin Lizzy, Kansas, Ritchie Blackmore, H.P.Lovecraft, Kate Bush, Michael Whelan, .A.Mozart, Stanley Kubrick, Clive Barker, Jethro Tull, Gary Moore, L.V.Beethoven, J.C.Debussy, Chris Achilleos, Frank Frazetta, Kiss, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ron H. Howard, Dario Argento, Glenn Hughes, Manowar, Warlord, Genesis, Robert De Niro, Nicholas Cage, Jenna Jameson, Steven Spielberg, Randy Rhoads, Ken Russel, Black Sabbath, George Lucas, Styx, Journey, David Lynch, Iron Maiden, H.R.Giger, Stevie Wonder, Ridley Scott, Aaron Copland, Planxty, Renaissance, Anglagard, Yes, Gentle Giant, John Elefante, Stephen King, Frank Herbert, Spike Lee, Dead Can Dance..just to name some artists that make this world worth living in.

• Simple, the first line-up was not good enough. A LOT of people are asking me about the early demos and I even got offers to release them on cd but  the truth is : they are terrible ! That's the truth. The songs were good and the feeling was strong, with a lot of young enthusiasm but the band was not at an Album level. That's why as soon as Mimmo and Morby step inside the band, we did our first album and people bought it. We were finally a real band. There were also other reasons, the Italian metal scene was terrible, really difficult, with no places to play and no media or record label interest. But the main reason was within the band itself. We were just young kids playing heavy metal for fun with no professional attitude. When we started to look for quality in the performances, the line-up fell apart. Now Domine is a strong unit, we have recorded 3 albums and played many gigs. We are good and happy musicians.

• Not many. Most of the bands I like are not so young. I love DoomSword, great Epic Doom stuff, really similar to Domine, Beholder, a great Power Metal band with an amazing female vocalist, The Lord Weird Slough Feg, Mesmerize, Gothic Knights, Falconer, all true classic Heavy Metal bands. Of more recent bands, but not so young, I like Ten, Spock's Beard, Solstice, Symphony X, Ataraxia, Nevermore.

• Yes, after Rhapsody were successful a lot of Italian bands tried to follow their path. Some of them are good, most of them are just copies, but it's not true that there are thousands of Power Metal bands around. Not even many labels signing bands, there are actually just a few labels that deal with Metal in Italy. The game is always the same, only the good bands will go on and all the others will turn to something else, maybe the trend of the moment. To be honest, I don't care too much about what other bands do.

• You mean, bands or lyrics that I really like and that I feel near ? REALLY difficult and far too many. I give you just a few ones. Queen - " Father To Son". Thin Lizzy "Black Rose". Kansas "The Wall". Rainbow "Stargazer". Genesis "Firth Of Fifth". Just to name a few, I'm sure I'm forgetting some really important songs that changed my life.

• Well, really difficult. Maybe "Horn Of Fate" from the new album or "Dragonlord" or "Stormbringer". There's still a big difference between the songs people/fans like and the ones I like. I'm proud of the more difficult ones, the ones that mean something to me on a more personal level, like "The Battle For The Great Silver Sword" and "Dawn Of A New Day" from the new album.

• Yes, I'd love to. My fave soundtracks are the ones for "Dune", "2001 : A Space Odyssey", "Suspiria", "Excalibur". I recently bought the cd of  the original soundtrack of "Final Fantasy", "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow" and "Planet Of The Apes", very good scores. Of course, I'd like to score an "Elric Of Melnibonè" movie.. easy answer, isn't it ? I'm actually really curious about the ones for "The Lord Of The Rings" and for the next  "Star Wars".

• I know the writer but I've never read his books, Good tip ! I'll get one of his books. Well, it sounds great and interesting. Yes, you definitely find that kind of behaviour in many people. Human beings are strange creatures; they find a lot of ways to hurt themselves. That's sad because every person could be able to do great things. Deep inside every person is wonderful and sensitive but a lot of persons hide that under.ehm.shit !

• I'd like to make a world tour and be successful enough to record albums and tour for many years. Not necessarily as rock stars but in a decent way, in a way you could perform at your best without be put down by technical or money problems. I was talking to Morby once and we wondered how it would be great to reach our 10th album, like a lot of the bands we love. We would like to be recognised as a true heavy metal band that have something personal to say and make people happy while they listen to our music like many great artists did it for us as fans.

• I hate tribute albums, we said no to the one for Helloween, Warlord and Manowar. I think those tribute albums are just useless. We recorded covers for Queensryche's "Queen Of The Reich" and Rainbow's "Stargazer" but those songs are only in the Japanese edition of our albums, as bonus tracks. I enjoyed doing them but you will always have your mind to the original ones. It's a way to say "thanks" to those artists but I want to keep those covers to a low importance level, not as part of our albums. Maybe in the future we will put together all our covers in one cd, just for the fans that look around and maybe spend a lot of money for the Japanese versions.

• a) RUNNING WILD.
• Uhm . I like their early albums and their true metal attitude. They have some of the most loyal fans around but also some of the most closed-minded ones. They want the same album over and over, forever. I know some people will kill me for this !
• b) OMEN
• Just loved them. GREAT band. One of the best US Metal bands.
• c) MANILLA ROAD
• Well, Mark is a friend. I love "Crystal Logic", "Open The Gates" and "The Deluge". A great source of inspiration for the mix of heavy Metal and Sword and Sorcery lyrics, the way it should be done. A very under-rated band. They deserved a lot more than they got.
•  d) CANDLEMASS
• I loved them for some time. I still love "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" and "Nightfall". Great atmosphere. Maybe, they have lost something during  the years.
• e) CIRITH UNGOL
• Wow ! "King Of The Dead" !! I can actually see the hordes of Chaos descending while listening to the guitar solo of  "King Of The Dead".Amazing. Totally unique and under-rated. That's Metal !
• f) MANOWAR
• Classic band. "Into Glory Ride" is one of my all time fave albums. Great singer, great songs, powerful and Epic atmosphere. This is Heavy Metal, not pop music with double bass drums !
• g) JAG PANZER
• Uhm, I'm not a big fan but I like them and I like their true metal attitude. "Ample Destruction" was a good album.
•  h) DOOMSWORD.
• Well, they are brothers of the sword. One of the best heavy metal bands in Italy. Their new album is just GREAT!!!

• New signings are DoomSword and Mesmerize. Both bands have a debut album on their back. I was talking to the DoomSword guys even before their first album, they did a good demo. It's a band very similar to Domine in many ways, we share the same vision of Heavy Metal with Epic tones and themes and we love the same bands and writers. Their second album is called "resound The Horn" and it's one of my all time fave heavy metal album. Truly Epic. Mesmerize is a classic heavy metal band with a great singer, Folco Orlandini, who was responsible for the vocal part on Time Machine's cult album "Act II : Galileo". Morby also sang in a Time Machine's mini cd, so that's another common point with Domine. I guess the Italian Metal  scene is pretty small ! Anyway, mesmerize album is called "Off The Beaten Path" and it's an amazing mix of Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath Dio-era. Before these bands I signed Beholder and Powers Court, 2 heavy metal bands that have a very personal approach. Beholder have two singers, male and female, and the girl, Leanan is truly talented. Powers Court is a very original Power Metal band from US. They could maybe be described as a mix of Mercyful Fate and Iced Earth. For sure they are not one of the millions Helloween clones. I don't know much about Greek metal. When I was in Athens, some kids played their demo for me and they sounded a lot like Domine, I really liked them, I don't know if they did something, they were looking for a singer.

• So far no plans for touring. We'd like to make another tour like the European one we did with Riot, Anvil and Agent Steel last year but it's not so easy to find a good tour to be part of. Not only but now most of the tours are cancelled for the terrorist strike to New York. We want to come back in Greece for sure, the gig in Athens we did in December 1999 was amazing. It was our first gig with Stefano on drums and the feedback from the fans was terrific. We will definitely come back when the new album is out.

• I want to thanks all the Domine fans out there. Thanks for your support and I hope you like "Stormbringer Ruler". Keep metal alive. Thanks to our Greek fans for all the years of support, hope to see you all soon.

• Thanks you very much for your interest in the band
• Hope it's enough.
• CIAO!