WELT: Sangue is a project created by me and Valerio Scissor almost 7 years ago. The rehearsal with Alex Wank started little bit later during his holidays in Rome, where he generally gets tattooed by me in Yama tattoo shop. With Ink, hiking around ancient places and red wine we start also to give a concrete form to "Sangue" project all together.
After a while we invite to take a part in this project also Marco Meta and Mirko Offender.
VALERIO SCISSOR: SANGUE was born some years ago by me and Welt, due to our need to create something in the world of Metal, which inspires us since the 80s. To do it with the right people who share our mentality has been priority. Follow Metal, be Metal, do Metal!
OFFENDER: I got approached by Welt about 3 years ago regarding the chance of putting out a musical project rooted in the death metal field, we’ve been talking about this idea for maybe 10 years or so. It never happened until now due to our busy days schedule so when he told me that Valerio Scissor was going to take a prominent part of it as well, things got pretty much into place and it all speed up the process. We finally got ready to write material that would take place in the dark and heavy side of metal music.
2. In April you have your first full length coming out, musically how does it differ from
the ep you had released in 2017?
WELT: Prefacing we are always busy with Tattooing, painting and other side projects we tried to gave the right attention to this album too in our free time with more sound studies and collaborations to make it as good as we could do. Especially Valerio S. And I work on various management of the band with the help of the other members. So here the difference with the first ep is that it was only recorded directly in the practice room, as crazy rough 80s/90s xtreme bands tradition.
This new album is full of new experiments in progress very interesting for our personal style, also with some dark atmospheric songs... one step ahead for sure. Thanks to Marco MT for the good job at his recording studio "The Devil's Mark".
VALERIO SCISSOR: It's simply the continuation of our work at the rehearsal place, with the difference that the EP was recorded live on single track, pure instinct and total attitude, like a sabbath where you succumb to the instincts of nature, without filters or compromises. For "Culs", although recorded together, we used separate tracks to let Marco at Devil's Mark Studio do his excellent work.
OFFENDER: The ep was a very rudimentary display of our intents, nothing more than demo material I would say. It served us well to channel the basic ideas on how to shape our sound though,
so the energy and the power it’s already there as an introduction of things to come.
3. A lot of your lyrics cover Etruscan Paganism, can you tell us a little bit more about your
interest in this subject?
WELT: From the early days I put probably more of the other members this ancient Etruscan concept in evidence and i appreciate the way they love it too. they developed it in personal ways as well; from the lyrics to the sounds and the visual arts in the album. As Italians, from central Italy, we had since we was kids influences from ancient Art, and for me Etruria is still full of mystery and with fascinating pagan spirituality. Of course i' m in love also with the dark aesthetics of this ancient civilization. About Ancient Rome concept I think was used many times...look ASTAROTH band from 30 years ago. I love Rome history but in the recent years i have more feeling for etruscans...ancient romans build lot of streets in the ground, instead the etruscans they dug on the earth holy roads...mother earth cults as fuck!
Another common point of view i share with the rest of the band is the visions from old school Horror movies, B-movies and so on.
We have in Italy so many cool directors from 70s and 80s who were also inspired by ancient Etruria, demons in roman underground and ancient ruins full of dark mystery. Our work in this albums is also a little tribute to this artists too. From this films world i' m very happy my friend Claudio Simonetti's Goblin gave us a special "Intro" for the album, a perfect connection between horror cinema and xtreme metal. This honor i had is also from Enzo Sciotti, great person and painter gave us the permission for use one of his artwork for the poster inside the album...total insane !
OFFENDER: The whole Etruscan theme is very much a spark that enlighten the lyrical concept. It is
for me a starting point to paint a vision with words and background from the ancient past, not only through pagan times but from when humankind was just seeing the light of its day and when knowledge and wisdom were the leading factors to practical progress, mental and spiritual. When I write lyrics I often get carried away by the momentum of framing a certain abstract idea or a more concrete concept that might easily shade into the next text and so on. The cultures and folklore lived by populations before the christian plague hide many of the secrets that connect us to the beginning of days. The Etruscan world is our specific roots (4 out of 5 band members are from Rome), so it was natural for us to embrace that concept at first but it’s really about the symbolism and the esoteric tradition of the ancestral world that our vision behind the music is about; a web whose dots are
connected through time by earthly ground and air, blood, fire and death; a bond forever entangled with the blood of our ancestors, from and beyond planet Earth.
4. What are some of the other lyrical topics and subjects you have explored with your
music so far?
WELT: This work is made by M.Offender. Same taste in music, ancient places and dark films....ancestral necro cosmic monsters for ever!!!
OFFENDER: The previous answer covers pretty much this question too, adding the fact that the
astonishing thing about Etruscan was that they lived in connection with a constant spirituality of the earth and the underground. The ‘’divine underneath’’ makes Man feel his spirituality much closer than what the common sense pretends to make us believe.
Blending this sort of untamed formula of ancestral religion with cosmic horror and sci-fi literature and cinema brings my inspiration for lyrics into a vast ocean of possibilities to be put out on paper.
5. A Couple of the band members also have a history playing other types of extreme metal but with this band go for more of a black/death metal style, what was the decision behind going into this musical direction?
WELT: everybody knows Alex Wank from amazing Pungent Stench. He also works in side projects like "the Tempter" and with his Totem shop and Cineploit Records where he produced lot of old school soundtracks lp s from many great artists. Check his stuffs, look sick! Big brother Taneli Jarva (ex Impaled Nazarene/Sentenced) scream for us in the album too as a guest. About me i had in the past some underground bands Thrash/Hc but the best focus in music i had only with Sangue. With Valerio Scissor we have another project idea...coming soon.
Maybe one day i will developed a personal music project too connected to ancient music... it is on my mind since long time, i studied years ago medieval music and i explored ancient greece/roman sounds too. To connect this world with focus into metal style would be very cool.
VALERIO SCISSOR: It hasn't been a clear decision to play Black/Death, I think in SANGUE we have simply played what turned out spontaneous, based on our influences from the 80s and early 90s. A spontaneous process to create something rotten and sick. In SANGUE you can hear what we are and where we come from! I personally believe in spontaneousness in the creative phase, mixed with the various experiences of the involved persons. For SANGUE this is the only way and it couldn't be otherwise.
OFFENDER: There was no real studied decision about the musical direction to take. We all share quite the same taste in music and our listening vary a lot thru different music genres. The Sangue sound is simply a combination of our main musical preferences, which in this case got framed in the death metal landscape. All is driven by an instinct towards arts with a strong background and massage (sonically, visually and conceptually), able to move and raise energies from beneath the surface of a decadent, dying materialistic world.
I personally am active with AKRASIA, a crust band (metal-punk with space rock influences to give just a glimpse of what it is) based in Oslo, were I live. I am also part of MORBO, a classic death metal outfit born in 2009 shared with Andrea from CorpseFuckingArt. I have taken part of other bands/projects in the past as I play in bands since I was 17/18 years old.
6. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Sangue'?
WELT: Sangue means blood in English. And Sangue means lot of important things in esoteric philosophies as well.
VALERIO SCISSOR: "Raw, hard, simple, direct", and at the same time "life, death, power, magic, and emotions" with all that it implies. It simply represents us.
OFFENDER: (Sangue = Blood in italian).
It is the ever flowing stream that divides the shores of Life and Death.
7. Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album
cover?
WELT: Cover art is from Timo Ketola. We just gave to him a couple of ideas but he created this great artwork on his own. Timo is a cool person and very passionate artist, i'm very glad to share with him many experience in life and art.
VALERIO SCISSOR: Timo Ketola is a great artist and friend, one of us, he's seen the birth and development of SANGUE, apart from everyday life as well. He knew exactly what to do!
OFFENDER: Timo Ketola is responsible for the artwork. I like to think of him as a 6th member of the band somehow... his passion towards art is overwhelming and it just sits perfectly next to
our musical vision. His talent is enormous and the cover artwork depicts exactly what your
eyes are able to grasp at first sight: an ancient and visceral ritual.
8. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would
you describe your stage performance?
WELT: No shows. We were born like a recording band. For now no time left for make concerts. Maybe one day in an etruscan grave let' s see!
9. Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
WELT: No
10. On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black and
death metal?
WELT: Looks good from the outside. The feedback i saw from the people is they like the personal ways we tried to mix dark ancient atmosphere with raw metal punk. Hope the new album will give the same stimulation.
VALERIO SCISSOR: I'm coming across positive feedback, somebody wrote "Bears the stench of ancient blood", and I couldn't be more pleased!
OFFENDER: Not too many reviews so far as the album is yet to be released. So far so good though,
both the demo/ep and the new recording were pleasantly received by to those who
heard/reviewed it. There’s a general state of sudden horror in which the listener is
swallowed by hearing the first notes, which is surely a positive thing.
11. What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that
some of the band members are a part of?
VALERIO SCISSOR: Personally I've dedicated my energy, in the limited free time available, in SANGUE. I'm in touch with Welt on a daily basis and something might be boiling it the cauldron, who knows.
OFFENDER: From my side, AKRASIA has released a full-lenght album last year (even though it’s
almost 2 years older than that) and soon a 7” will be out. We play regularly live and work
steadily on new material, despise our slow handling of it.
MORBO is on hold at the moment, as it’s only me (vocals) and Andrea Corpse (guitarrist)
left in the band. We released an album in 2014 and a 7’’ before and after that. We are
seriously thinking of starting writing new songs anyway, despise the unstable line-up
situation.
12. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
WELT: No plans now, just live the moment!
VALERIO SCISSOR: Surely it will make it to a patch on my jacket!
OFFENDER: Into a maelstrom of deadly distortion melted into visions of immortality.
13. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music
and also what are you listening to nowadays?
WELT: Of course classic bands: Celtic Frost, autopsy, Bathory, Venom, Sepultura, Repulsion and so on.
Recent bands: Drowned, Irkallian Oracle, Miasmal, Obliteration, Triumvir Foul, Beyond, Funereal Presence, etc.
listening every days mix of things, especially when i am tattooing or painting, like: Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Terrorizer, Goblin, Dokken, Black Sabbath, John Carpenter, Johnny Cash, Obituary and many more.
VALERIO SCISSOR: I could speak for hours ... I was born in '78 and consequently I worship classic heavy metal, thrash, doom, death, and black. I also have an ear for blues, country, hard rock and some dirty electronica, I'm obsessed by sounds and noise in general. In this period, before playing, I always listen to SLAYER and AUTOPSY.
OFFENDER: Soundwise, I would say: Celtic Frost and Hellhammer, Necrovore, Black Sabbath,
Euronymous’ Mayhem, Sarcofago, Mercyful Fate, Bathory, Funeral Nation, Possessed,
Death SS, Venom, Master’s Hammer.
But being a fan of many other musical genres when I write lyrics I often detach from metal
and go for different musicscapes: Tangerine Dream, Le Orme, Devil Doll, Fields of the
Nephilim, David Bowie, Christian Death, John Carpenter, Dead Can Dance, Ennio
Morricone, Jacula.
My listening vary a lot. In heavy metal I only respect artists who are able to grasp the real,
shocking, anarchistic at times, repellent and uncomfortable approach this music style was
born from. Overproduction, mainstream wannabes, copycats, digital preachers and
comfortable topics have no space in my life.
14. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
WELT: Never stop to work for your dreams and Heavy Metal make us strong!!
VALERIO SCISSOR: If you think you don't have time to do what you love, you're a "testa di cazzo cacasotto"! For the translation, ask somebody from Rome!
OFFENDER:- «A man is the less likely to become great the more he is dominated by reason: few can achieve greatness - and none in art - if they are not dominated by illusion»
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