rocknmetalwriter

An interview with Massimo Altomare by Natalie Perez:

Could you tell us more about the history of the band, how things started.

Everything started back in 1998, when we formed the band and started the very first rehearsals in order to find a musical direction. We released two demos around 2001 and 2002 called “Welcome” and “Orgiastic Funeral”. Then, through Sombre Records we got the chance to release a 7″ vinyl and that came out in late 2002. In the first months of 2003 we released a self produced album called “The Third Revelation”, that represents the true turning point of our musical career. Thanks to that demo we signed with Eerie Art Record and released the album “Torment And Glory” in the last months of 2004. Without any stop we immediately composed “Conquering Purity”, and we released it in May 2006 through the Norwegian label Worship Him Records. We got now to recent times, when we’ve been signed to Forces Of Satan Records and licensed to Regain Records for the release of the new album “Imperivm”. All our releases have a lot of differences and show a band in constant evolution. Of course we never denied our past, that would be silly. Simply we want to add always new inspirations and flavors to our sound. Basically we started as a pure black metal act, but soon and since the release of “The Third Revelation” in 2003 we started to accumulate all our personalities and influences in music.

What’s your opinion on your older albums nowadays? Where did you record them? Are you still satisfied with the songs on them, the production, and the artwork? How were the reactions on those albums compared to “Imperivm”?

Of course if I have to give a technical opinion about our older albums, I would change a lot of things in production terms and song writing too. But on the other side I know that they represent our best in “that” period of time, when they were released. So honestly I do not regret anything about our old issues. All our past releases had a constantly growing response by the media and the audience, especially the latest two releases. With this new album “Imperivm” we are getting a very very good response and for the first time everyone is very satisfied with what we done.

You’ve recently released your new killer album “Imperivum”, where did you record it, who produced it? Can you tell us more about the recording process? How are the reactions on this one so far?

We recorded this album were we recorded all our past releases, in One Voice Studios near Turin with the producer Daniele Giordana (known for being the live sound engineer for Hatebreed and other bands). We are very satisfied with this new release, because it shows perfectly our direction and our maturity as band, and last but not least our constant work. The recording process was very simple, we took more time in the recording phase than in the mixing phase. This because we wanted to reach the 80% of the final sound simply with the sound of our instruments, so we took some time into the search of the sound we had in mind. The reactions to the album are good and everyone seems to appreciate our work, this is very stimulating for us for doing better and better.

Who writes the lyrics, what are they about? Is there any concept in them? Are the lyrics an important aspect of the band or are they just there to guide the music?

Of course for us the lyrical aspect is the string spine of this band. We would never exist without a precise and strong lyrical purpose. About this I can tell you that the entire concept of “Imperivm” is about the ancient cult of the pre-christian civilizations, just during the Roman Empire. It was a time of rituals, chaotic and destructive forces. It was a time when people were more involved in occult practices, everyone was involved in this activities. These activities acted with big forces generating materia and non-materia, a spiral of chaotic rituals not just a simple conception of Evil.

How did you get in contact with Regain Records? For how many albums have you signed to them? Are you satisfied with their work? Why did you signed with them?

We had the chance to work with this great label because our original label, Force Of Satan Records driven by Infernus from Gorgoroth, has licensed us to Regain Records in order to grant us a better and wider distribution. We feel very happy by working in this way and we look forward to get a new proposal from them.

When it comes down to writing a new song or an album what’s the process like? Like is it alright here! And you go and quickly write it down or it comes to you when it does?

It is a very natural and simple process. We do not have big secrets behind our sound. Everything starts from a guitar riff usually and then it is processed in the arrangements with bass guitar and drum patterns. We try to keep a lot of instincts and we try to be the most direct possible in our compositions. This can take long time or short time, it depends on our inspiration. But I can tell you that we are a prolific band usually and we have a lot of ideas so our albums were born in a quite quick and fast way.

Have you played live a lot? What tours have you done in the past? What tours are going to take place or are there plans for a tour as a support for a “bigger” band?

We had not a very big live activity in the past, we preferred to focus our energies into composing and releasing albums, but at the same time we did a good number of concerts. We will do some dates until the end of 2008, we confirmed a show in London for the 7th of October and another one in Turin for 25th October. We will look forward for other dates together with our booking agency, and then think at some tour proposals for 2009. We want to push the promotion of “Imperivm” as much as we can before going hardly on the road.

Tell some of your experiences playing live.

We has some extremely good and bad experiences while playing live, I guess like all the bands that go on stage. I remind a very extreme episode when we were playing in a local club near Turin, a very hard and big fight started in the crowd during our set. We were not saying to people to stop that, our singer was praising them to continue as much as they can. At the end of the gig there were a good number of ambulances and police cars outside the venue. That was surely crazy and out of control.

What are your expectations for Black Flame in the future?

We look forward to continue working in this way, by satisfying our loyal followers and at the same time by conquering new fans. Our target is very simple, we just want to go on and carry out our musical and lyrical message: we do not have time limits, until we’ll have this strong will we will never stop. Ten years are passed right now, we are looking for the next ten!

What do you guys do when you’re not out on the road? Do you guys work or schooling?

Everyone of us has a work, which we carry on between musical duties. Sometimes it is very hard to organize things, but it is the only way to maintain ourselves ’til now.

Are there any cool touring/recording experiences or other bizarre stories you would like to share with us?

We had this mini tour in Norway in November 2007 and we have to play in Stavanger after playing in Oslo. It was a very long drive with the bus, since they do not have highways or motorways. It was bizarre that in 600 km we just met three/four cars and everyone was stopping in the same gas stations. We had to be aware of ice, animals on the road and a fucking hard rain. It was more hard to do this than a whole tour! But I’m cool with this experience since we played for a very good audience in Stavanger and we met a lot of fans there.

Could you give me a top 5 of your favourite albums of all-time and a top 5 of your current favourite records?

Hard question. My top 5 of albums is composed by “Sin After Sin” by Judas Priest, also “Stained Class” always from them, then “Show No Mercy” by Slayer, “Antichrist” by Gorgoroth and “Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk” by Emperor. Nowadays I’m listening to a lot of albums, but what goes often in my player is the latest DevilDriver album.

What’s your opinion on the whole music industry scene right now? Like do you think they’re trying their hardest to get albums out on shelves and not seek their way onto the net?

I do not care a lot about music industry. I mean, I see it like it was many years ago and like it will be in the years at least in my opinion. It is a very various world with good band and good labels and of course pathetic bands and silly labels. Believe me… I do not care too much…

Going back to the music business, what do you think of everyone downloading music, possibly even your music?

I do not care too much about that. I mean, people is nowadays downloading music in all the ways possible for them and I mean legal and not. What they must understand is that a band has to sell a certain number of copies to reach big tours and reach better budgets for the albums. Personally I do not have problems with people that download music, but they must understand that what they are doing is not working 100% in positive for the band.

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview, any thoughts or comments?

Thank you very much for the interview, let’s see you on the road! Serpens Vigil Est!

http://www.regainrecords.com/
http://www.black-flame.net/

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