Interview with Asphodelia vocalist – Samuela
14th February 2017Asphodelia is a 4 piece folk/symphonic metal band from Italy who released their debut EP ‘Vengeance’ on May 26th, 2016.
Samuela took time out to have a quick chat with us and tell us about what the band had been getting up to, here is what they had to say.
Hello, Linzi, this is Samuela from Asphodelia, thank you and all the staff of ‘All About The Rock’ for this interview.
No problem at all, happy you were able to take time out to speak with us today!
My pleasure!
Asphodelia released a lyric video ‘Flowers of Evil’ back in June 2016 to give us a taste of what to expect from the new album ‘Welcome Apocolypse’, the video gaining over 1000 views.
Can we expect a live video anytime soon?
A live video is something we are actually planning to do as soon as we get the chance, but the priority, for now, is a video clip for our first single, and we are currently working on it.
You released the new album at Walls of Sleep Studio in December, how did the recording go for this? Did you enjoy your time in the studio?
We really enjoyed recording. Walls of Sleep is the name of our personal studio, run by Ruggero and me, where we did all the tracking and the pre-production. The recording work is smooth and easy when you have the luck to do it on your terms and time, in the comfort of your own place. Whenever we had an idea, we just plugged in the guitar or the mic and recorded it, no matter if it was 2 am and we had our pyjamas and slippers on.
The artwork done for the new album was done by Digital Arts, does the artwork have any significant meaning or have any relation to any of the songs off the new album?
The artwork is a representation of an imaginary apocalypse: an unnatural, radioactive sky, a black cold sun, rocks collapsing and oceans rising, sinister crows flying over the disaster in a bad omen. The idea of an imminent apocalypse that we all are contributing to creating, is the main concept of the whole album.
How did you come up with the name ‘Welcome Apocalypse’ for the new album?
‘Welcome Apocalypse’ is the title of the opening track of the album. The song is a sad, bitter anthem to the end of the world, which is more than near – it is actually happening day by day, war after war, crime after crime, disaster after disaster, right under our indifferent, anaesthetized eyes. The world and the whole mankind are dying faster than they are supposed to, because of wrong decisions, wrong actions, wrong behaviours for which we all are equally responsible. Wars, pollution, diseases, selfishness, individual evil actions and their consequences, all of those are leading the world to collapse, and it is all our fault.
We realised that the idea of a man-caused Apocalypse is a recurrent theme in the whole album, so we decided that ‘Welcome Apocalypse” would be a perfect title.
You have got Andrea Cislaghi from the band Macbeth featuring on the track ‘Dust’, what was it like working alongside Andrea?
Andrea is just amazing. He is a talented, versatile vocalist and a good and friendly person. We’ve always been big Macbeth fans, and when we started thinking of a male vocalist to guest on our song ‘Dust’, his name was the first to come up. When we first contacted him, we were not confident at all that he would say yes, so guess how surprised and excited we could possibly be when we found out that he loved the song and was happy to lend his voice to it. His parts added a real value to the song and we are so proud to have his artistic contribution to the album.
What can we expect from the new album?
It will be strong, powerful, passionate melodic metal with a slight Mediterranean mood, too little ‘invasive’ to label our music as folk metal, but still present as a distinctive feature of our sound.
Can you give us a hint about who the second guest is featuring on the new album?
We can not reveal much for the moment… we want it to be a surprise 🙂
How are you expecting your fans to react to your new material?
In May 2016 we released a promo EP with 4 songs that will be included in the new album, so we could test the water early enough before the album release. Our fans loved the new songs, so we realized we were moving in the right direction. We also had the chance to perform the new songs on stage, during a mini-tour in Spain and Portugal in 2016, and the response of the audience was enthusiastic. All we can say is, we are very happy about the new songs and we hope our fans will be just as happy as we are.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
The final mix of the album is almost complete, so now it is time for us to search for a record deal and, most of all, for tour opportunities. We feel ready for what comes next, and we can’t wait to bring our music on stage!
Is there anything you would like to say to your fans?
Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you! The mix and mastering of the album was totally crowdfunded, so we really have no words to explain how blessed and grateful we feel. We can only promise that we will keep working hard to release the best music we can make, to reward your trust and support!
Thank you for your time today we really appreciate it!
Thankyou!
Check out Asphodelia HERE
Band photography by Carlo Arnone
Photo editing by Dark Light Digital Arts
