2012 has been a very tough, unsettling, confused year. The
weather systems and natural equilibriums are changing fast, making us all
vulnerable. We are also under ruthless attack from the (financial) forces of
Greed and Misfortune, and things are not going to get better any time soon. So
let me wish you all a more positive and proactive 2013 where each of us can
find the strength to reclaim our own wyrd, ørlǫg or karma! "Gæð a wyrd swa
hio scel!" (Fate goes ever as she shall), we read in Beowulf: that is
true, and yet there are many different paths we can choose from, each leading
to a different outcome. We always determine our own destiny, even by being cowardly
passive, an ill-omened temptation many of us fall victim of.
Thanks to the inspiration provided by devoted musician friends
and the Avantgarde Metal crew, a small but very special congregation of people
dedicated, as myself, to the underground forces that relentlessly plough
through the substrata beneath (but only in metaphor!) the business-focused, too
often shallower mainstream, a couple of years ago I decided to come back to
writing about extreme metal. After a forced gap lasting 5 long years, when a chain
of serious events in my personal life eat up all my time and energy, it was as
if I had never gone away because, essentially, this had been and always will be
my life. A very long life dedicated to understanding Music, Art and Science for
a deeper purpose…
Only a few hours ago I wrote this in the preface to my
latest interview (and one of my most rewarding moments): “Exploring the
manifold facets of the complex psychological mystery that is the human
conscience can have huge consequences on a personal and universal level.
Artists are the astronauts of the black vastness of the cosmos and it is not
only our duty to report back to earth, but to keep our feet firmly rooted in
it, because that’s where we can cultivate a profound relationship with Nature,
truly merging ourselves in the interconnected fabric of Life & Death. Let
us reclaim our honor, integrity and innate powers - our lost magic if you will
- to change ourselves and the way we live…”
Should any of you find all the above annoyingly pretentious,
or perhaps just naïve hippy-punk drivel (there is a natural link between
hippy/punk ideals and black metal: Hexvessel is the latest glaring example!), it
does not matter since I am not here to preach but simply to share and learn.
Thanks to the encouragement from a much esteemed colleague
who shares similar purposes and intents, I shall use these newborn pages to
gather together some interviews (all published on AGM, except for the Amebix
one) I very much wanted to pursue in the last 2 or 3 years. Another few
interviews so far published on the Italian printed magazine Rockerilla will
hopefully soon be translated and uploaded on this blog (A Forest of Stars, Bolt Thrower, Helrunar, Ramesses, Ulver, Virus, Voivod
and Die Kreuzen amongst others).
A few amazing artists will be invited to join me in conversation very soon,
something I look forward to immensely!
As you can see, the field is rather heterogeneous, or so it
would appear… Hope you enjoy too!
Strictly in alphabetical order:
ABORYM (2010): Salt of the earth... Turning your life
around… Anarchy...
ALCEST (2010): Transcending human life...
AMEBIX (2011): The beginning of everything…
CYNIC (2010): The rollercoaster of life… Meditation...
DORDEDUH (2012): How to change the world…
DORNENREICH (2011): Heart-to-heart…
ENSLAVED (2012): Vikingness and universality…
(The above is the succinct version of the two in-depth
interviews which appear in this very blog).
FEN (2011): The cycles of nature and the cosmos…
LES DISCRETS (2012): Eros & Thanatos…
NEGURA BUNGET (2010): Holding on to an ideal…
ORANSSI PAZUZU (2012): The stunning beauty of lucid
atheism...
WEH (2012): The subtle pain of living... Norse lore…
WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM (2011): Reclaiming the
significance of being human…
