Q1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
A1.We are a Black Metal band with some folk influences from Marostica ( Veneto ). Our lyrics are written in veneto language, also known as venetian, to be more precise the upper-vicentino "dialect".
Q2.You have a new ep coming out in June, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
A2.For the upcoming EP we pushed a little bit more on the structure of songs, more harmonization's on rhythm guitars, more tempo and "vibe" progression through the whole tracks. Also on vocals we tried to experiment with overlaying multiple takes, but honestly on that side i will have to spend more time for the future releases.
Mixing and mastering process are different too, this time I chose to reduce the amount of gain and the goal was to keep the recording as natural as possible. Andrea of MSTR Sound Studios did an amazing job and helped me out a lot.
Lyrics are in rhyme, so that was an additional challenge for me.
Q3.This is also your second release since you released your first EP "Anguana" back in 2018, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?
A3.Good question, basically... Work! Not for music but for my personal goal to buy a house with some fields. I'm a simple but old school dude so I like farm life, try to make as much as I can at home, woodworking, food processing and preservation and so on. Sincerely I'm a better worker than musician! haha
Q4.A lot of your lyrics cover Witchery and Folklore themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?
A4. Since I am a Black Metal fan, the dark side of everything is pretty intriguing, but I have always been a fan of traditions, mythology, folklore in general. So for me it was pretty easy to combine everything with the love for my culture, so I started to read a lot of books which tell me something more about our past, at 360°! So that's how I got focused on those topics, but my lyrics often have a more profound meaning rather than the simple folklore, folklore is just the "shell", and I used to fit inside some more introspective stuff. I want people to think, not just absorb.
Q5.I know that the band was named after the water nymphs from the Alpine area, how does this name fit in with the musical style that you play?
A5.I was simply searching a simple name that connected our music to this passion for local folklore. Anguanas are common in our popular stories and tales! Nowadays everybody "crashed" into Nordic mythology and history and folklore that forgot to check their own culture leading too often extreme music into something repetitive.
Q6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is present on the EP cover?
A6.For this EP i wanted to somehow replicate the vibe of the previous one, so i was looking for the right image.
I usually go to flea markets where you can find tons of black and white photos, but i never found the right one. Until one day i visited the town hall for some ordinary life bureaucracy and, surprise surprise i have seen a frame with this image! The first time i have seen it I said: " ok this one will be the next EP cover!". It was a print so I asked if it was possible to have it in digital format or another smaller print ( the frame was really big, around 50x70 cm ) but everybody pissed me off for almost one year. One day i decided to go with my girlfriend with a camera and a black towel in order to place it on the light direction, and we took some photos, so finally after a few photoshop fix's we got it. It represents an old house located probably in Montecchio Precalcino or nearby, I have no more info's.
Q7.Has the band done any live shows or open to the idea?
A7.Yes, we have done a live gig at Alpenacht III back in 2019 ( you can find the video of our performance on the Venetic Black Metal Front YouTube channel). But for many reasons I never felt comfortable during live performances, mainly because I consider it more important to make records instead of playing some live gigs, in addition I feel the pressure of the responsibility to not make mistakes. As I previously replied to Question 3 I spent a lot of time working and it was pretty hard to handle the preparation for a live performance.
Oh, I forgot to say that we never play together in the rehearsal room! For time/space problems we share tracks with our computers.
Maybe a new live performance will be planned to perform this EP... But I won't promise anything.
Q8.The band is also a part of the 'Venetic Black Metal Front', can you tell us a little bit more about this movement?
A8.That act was born to help the local scene to still be strong, organize some concerts, posts on socials, some informative articles etc. In the last year for personal reasons we slowed down but in future we will do some more live concerts and we will manage to let it grow but we have no rush. We also make some releases but being a label was never the real aim.
Q9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
A9.We are an underground band and I am humble, i won't tell you that thousands write to us, but we have received great support from all around the world, especially from Europe for obvious logistic reasons ( but i shipped also to US and Japan!).
We still have some die hard supporters and I always appreciate when someone shares my music, or writes me a message simply saying that they like what we do and is waiting for some more. Many from our area wrote to me, enthusiastic about our lyrics and I hope to see more bands with lyrics written in veneto language.
Fun fact: when we got in touch with Nykta i was buying from them various cds and we ended in a trade. When he got my tape told me that he really enjoyed my music and asking if i was interested to release a CD version, well, nowadays i can tell about a real friendship, not a simple mutual collaboration.
Q10.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these parts that the band members are a part of?
A10.For me ( S. ) Anguana is the only active project that i have so i speak for the guys:
Necromorg is working on the next Etnom EP, still working also with Dolomia Nera, a label who is focused mainly in releasing local bands on vinyl.
Bestia is doing live shows with Prison of Mirrors, Inverted Matter and Defacement, also preparing new releases with the aforementioned bands.
Q11.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
A11.Actually, I won't fool anyone by promising something that even I don't know how and when it's going to happen, clearly it's a goal I want to achieve. Depends on how much time I had to use for my home, animals and other stuff. Necromorg is always asking to me for a full length and every time i came out with an EP haha :D
I also like to mess around with synths and other noisy devices, samples etc so maybe in the future I will also release a 100% electronic/ambient tape following the style of the last 2 EPs outros.
Q12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on the band and also what are you listening to nowadays?
A12.That answer is a little bit intricated since we work to Anguana tracks separately.
I usually write the structure of the songs, riffs, harmonies and all the instruments except for drums and vocals. I write lyrics too. Necromorg and Bestia do their own part for singing and drumming respectively.
So speaking for me ( S. ):First of all I started to play with Brünndl when I was pretty young and that influenced Anguana a lot. Also I would say Windir, some Kampfar, Absurd, Goatmoon, Cor Scorpii, Storm, Isengard, Ungfell, Nattfog to name some famous ones as well for some underground gems like Vargaskri, Nimbifer, Ravensirkl, Jordslået and local stuff like Frozen, Near, Strigoi. I got also got many inspirations for "solo" melodies from Oi! bands and to be honest '90 dance music ( especially for dream/progressive stuff), those have a really good melodic side if transposed into some more heavy. Folky music like waltzers, polkas and other popular tunes works very well for the rhythm side.
For the synth outros I clearly take inspirations on more experimental stuff such Burzum's synth albums, Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, and various other electronic and ambient projects. As everybody can understand, I am an "omnivorous" listener.
I consider also some local acoustic musicians like I Belumat as a strong influence (not in musical terms) but as i said in A4. to tell something more deep that a story, and let people think, they sing in our language so that's help to make the right "play of words" to get the message right.
Q13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
A13.With our music we don't aim to create something new or innovative, nowadays people in order to be "different" often act as bullshits and i hate this trend.
We are normal people who like to put efforts into music and offer something good to hear, no rockstar ego here for real. People should always remind to: be humble, work hard and make quality and not quantity.
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Anguana/3540438626
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