Macbeth
Macbeth a while ago released
their third album, "Malae Artes", which has a fair share of melody and
power, of complexity and simplicity. The arts of hell are here to enthrall
everyone who will stand in its way and Fabrizio, on behalf of Macbeth,
has pleasingly answered to all our questions and proved to be a friendly
person. So, here's what we got out of this...
1. HELLO! “MALAE ARTES” IS A VERY GOOD ALBUM.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT, NOW THAT IS COMPLETED? DO YOU THINK THAT IT REPRESENTS
ALL THE EFFORTS YOU DID? WHICH WAS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM THAT YOU HAD TO
SURPASS DURING THE RECORDINGS?
Thank you! Yes, we’re proud of “Malae Artes“
and we are sure about the quality of the album, I like all the new songs!
Malae Artes is always in MACBETH’s style but it’s a step ahead into something
more mature. We do things without the intention of going mainstream. Everything
comes out naturally and I believe that now we are heavier compared to the
music we did in the past and we learned to work in a different way, keeping
the songwriting simple but intense. Recording sessions spent in Milano
were more "fun" than part of a plan to do an album… ;))
2. WITH YOUR THIRD ALBUM, I THINK THAT YOU HAVE
ADDED MORE MODERN ELEMENTS IN YOUR SOUND AND YOU HAVE REDUCED THE SYMPHONIC
PARTS. DO YOU AGREE? CAN YOU TELL US, WHICH ARE THE NEW ELEMENTS THAT YOU
HAVE ADDED IN YOUR MUSIC IN COMPARISON WITH YOUR PREVIOUS 2 ALBUMS?
We had an evolution, of course, because that's
normal… you grow up, you listen to different kinds of music, you have different
experiences. We took care of everything that had to do with the sound and
especially the guitars, more carefully. The guitars are really in your
face on the new album and we used seven string guitars and you can hear
the powerful sound compared to the past. You also clearly see that we matured
in the way we write songs. We went straight to final result avoiding all
the useless things that you put into the songs. So the songwriting is fairly
different. We've always been artistically free and never scared of what
people are going to say about this album. We are very sure about the quality
of the album.
3. MOST OF THE GOTHIC METAL BANDS ALBUM AFTER
ALBUM THEY TEND TO REMOVE THE METAL ELEMENTS FROM THEIR SOUND. YOU ON THE
CONTRARY HAVE RELEASED YOUR HEAVIEST ALBUM SO FAR… CAN YOU TELL ME, WHICH
THE REASON THAT MADE YOU RELEASE SUCH A HEAVY ALBUM WAS?
We wanted to do an album that’s really difficult
to get you bored as it is really varied, so it is not very important to
say if this is a gothic album or not ;) We like to play and record in studio
only songs that make us happy, only music that we like to play…
4. LET’S TALK ABOUT THE LYRICS. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE
FOR THEM AND HOW IMPORTANT ARE THEY FOR YOU? CAN YOU TELL US IN A FEW WORDS
WHICH IS THE THEME OF EACH SONG INCLUDED IN “MALAE ARTES”? IS IT A CONCEPT
ALBUM?
I write lyrics… “Malae Artes” lyrics were
born from my everyday life. So, life experience is the biggest influence.
I can say the main subject of the album is the truth. But I can be inspired
by everything, by movies, soundtracks, books, basically by reflections
of my life. All songs deal with lies, deceit, double faced people… Anyhow
the album is not a concept. “Nuda Veritas” (the intro) is a prelude
to many reflections upon appearance. But be careful! Do not expect a negative
album because our lyrics will teach you to open your eyes to search the
other face of everything. We are really positive people… This time lyrics
are easy to understand, and that's why I’m really satisfied. Anyway you’ll
find important subjects.
5. ONE OTHER THING THAT IMPRESSED ME IS THE DARK
TITLE OF YOUR NEW ALBUM, WHICH IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN IN LATIN MEANS EVIL
ARTS. SO WHICH ARE THESE EVIL/MALEVOLENT ARTS ACCORDING TO YOU?
Yes, “Malae Artes” means something like “arts
of hell”. I was thinking of liars when I chose the title. I fear liars…
6. MAYBE THIS TITLE IS SYMBOLIC AND YOU MEAN ROCK/HEAVY
MUSIC, SINCE MANY RELIGIONS CONSIDER THIS MUSIC AS EVIL ART?
No, I don’t care about religions…
7. DRAGONHEART IS A LABEL THAT MAINLY RELEASES
CLASSIC HEAVY/POWER METAL ALBUMS AND YOU ARE ONE OF THE FEW BANDS PLAYING
A DIFFERENT STYLE OF MUSIC. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT? DOES THE LABEL UNDERSTAND
WHAT YOU WANT TO DO OR DO THEY TRY TO MAKE YOU IN ANYWAY CHANGE YOUR STYLE?
As I said, we've always been artistically
free. So we play what we like to play and our label likes our way of working
;) I think this is very important for musicians, isn’t it so?
8. ARE THERE ANY OTHER BANDS THAT HAVE SIGNED
TO DRAGONHEART AND YOU LIKE? PLEASE NAME THEM.
9. ON YOUR NEW ALBUM YOU ALSO HAVE A COVER SONG.
CAN YOU TELL ME WHICH ONE IT IS AND WHY YOU CHOSE IT? WHICH ARE THE NEW
ELEMENTS THAT YOU HAVE ADDED TO THE SONG IN COMPARISON WITH THE ORIGINAL
VERSION?
The band likes that song very much. It was
perfect to test our new sound on the new album so we recorded our heavy
version of “How can heaven love me” and the result was good ;)
10. WHO DO YOU BELIEVE CAN UNDERSTAND AND EXPLAIN
BETTER THE WORLD: A PHILOSOPHER OR AN ARTIST AND WHY?
No one can really understand and explain the
world…every one has a different idea about the world but I think none is
the right one.
11. IN YOUR OPINION THE CREATION OF MUSIC IS BASED
MORE ON THE EMOTIONS OR ON LOGIC?
I guess the creation is based on emotions
and feelings but to explain what you feel you have to use logic too…
12. IF YOUR MUSIC WAS AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT
BE? IF IT WAS A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
Fascination and enthusiasm ;) And if
it was a painting it would show many details and messages in a thousand
shades…
13. WHAT TITLE WOULD YOU LIKE THIS INTERVIEW TO
HAVE THAT WOULD BE USED AT THE SAME TIME AS A REFERENCE TO MACBETH?
Think to the Chinese Yin-yang, the black and
white shapes in a circle that represent interaction of the two energies.
Our sound is melodic and powerful at the same time. Two opposites in one…
14. ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? IS THERE A CHANCE
TO COME FOR A LIVE SHOW HERE IN GREECE? DO YOU HAVE ANY CONTACTS WITH GREEK
METAL FANS?
We’re playing live all over Italy, because
our management planned many gigs. Yes, we receive messages from Greek fans
asking us to reach your country for a show… We hope to play in Greece soon
;)
15. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME! THE LAST
LINES BELONG TO YOU. LEAVE A MESSAGE TO THE READERS OF BEHIND THE VEIL
WEBZINE…
Thanx a lot Nikos and Behind the Veil for
the cool interview! Thanx a lot to our Greek fans ;) Buy Malae ARtes
and visit our web site: www.macbeth.it
Nick "William_Kidd"
Parastatidis
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