This was a bit delayed, but here is our interview with our previous artist of the week, ADE. I spoke with their vocalist, Flavio, about the band and their ANCIENT ROMAN DEATH METAL \m/ Give them a good listen below and enjoy the interview!
MT – You guys write some massive music. And you have an awesome theme behind it, especially considering you’re from Rome. How did you come up with the concept of “Ancient Roman Death Metal”?
F – Every country has roots that sink into an underground world of history,myth, and legend. The most famous to bring their epic past into metal music were the Scandinavians, with music influenced by Norse mythology.We wanted to focus on our own history, and recreate in music the tales of the Empire of the Wolf.
MT – Who knows? Maybe you'll start up a new niche to compete with Viking Metal. How did you end up with the name ADE?
F – We wanted to express the concept of “Ancient Roman Death Metal” in just one word, and what could have been better than the name of the god of death himself?
MT – That might be the most brutal thing I've ever heard. Speaking of which, George Kollias is a known name in the realm of Death Metal. How does it feel to work with such a talent?
F – When we started writing “Spartacus” we didn't have a drummer, and while composing we were going faster and faster on each song. When we were done with the pre-production we thought “who the hell is gonna drum this?”. We contacted George hoping that he would appreciate our work, and when he agreed to work with us we couldn't be anything but honoured and excited!
MT – That's awesome. And with his help you guys are currently gearing up to release that album, “Spartacus”. Can you tell us a bit about the writing of the record?
F – It's been an endless process and it took a lot of effort, but it was worth it! Rob and Fabio did a great job writing brutal tunes, and I enjoyed reading again about Spartacus, the gladiators and Crassus. Having the opportunity to use Early Reflection Studio for all that time let us have a great time though being there every day for the whole mixing process, which was really stressful, but we wanted to deliver some perfect brutality to the listeners and we hope we did!
MT – After giving "Spartacus" a listen, I'd say you've succeeded. What are some of the specific themes of the record?
F – I like to tell the story from the neutral point of view of the gods, who see humans as “playthings of death” and are amused by them, but I also like to highlight the will of the fighter and the strength of his faith, whatever his faith is. That's what this album is about: celebrating the struggle for freedom, the determination of the warrior, the inescapable bitterness of death.
MT – Do you have any favorite songs on the album we should watch out for?
F – It's hard to choose, but we can say that the one that we feel is the “single” is “Mars Unpredictable Favour”. It has all the elements we try to express in our music: epic, technical, fierce, and its lyrics represent the spirit of the Legionarius and his will to fight.
MT – Ohhh yeeeah, that's a great song. What are your plans for the rest of 2013?
F – We have two Italian gigs in May celebrating the official album release and we are planning more to spread the fury around. We are also working on the concept and tunes of the next album. We can only say that you will find all the elements of Prooemium Sanguine and Spartacus, possibly improved, and it will be set in a very long and bloody war.
MT – How many live shows have you played? Any favorites?
F – Less than twenty. We try to play the right amount of gigs at the right pace. We believe in “quality over quantity”. Our favourite of course was at Wacken Open Air, a great opportunity to play in front of an international audience and to meet musicians from the rest of the world.
MT – I didn't realize you guys played Wacken! That's intense! Now it's time for the fun round. If the spirit of Spartacus himself rose up and granted your band one wish, what would you wish for?
F – We would doubtless wish for the Italian metal talents to find their way in the maze of agencies, venues and labels. There are a lot of worthy musicians out here who can deliver serious ear damage and we wish for them to have an opportunity to do that.
MT – Good wish. I agree there's a ton of talent coming out of Italy, yourselves included. Anyways, those are all of my questions. Thanks for your time! Any shout outs you want to give before we finish here?
F – We want to thank our legions for their incredible dedication. We are constantly amazed by and grateful to them.
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