Monday, June 11, 2012

Thanatos Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the project for those that have never heard of you before?
1. My project started in the late summer of the 2011, when I decided not to continue playing black metal to find some new forms of musical expression. So I’ve begun to show interest in drone-funeral doom and dark ambient: Thanatos was born as a consequence.



2. How would you describe your musical sound?



2. Thanatos’s sound is a dark, gloomy and chilly ambient which’s influenced by bands like Tangerine Dream, Sunn:O))), Vonn, Cult Of Luna for example. Moreover I am trying to integrate elements coming from Psych-rock, prog rock, because they were my first “love”, but also because I would convey the idea of something ever-changing, something that’s not stable.



3.What are some of the themes that you bring out in your music?
3. The most relevant themes you can recognize in my music (in spite of it’s all instrumental) are firstly the relationship between human being and the forced industrialization, solitude, sorrow, decay, depression caused by the lack of meaning in life. Secondly the tracks deal with the well-known lovecraftian universe, but, despite of that someone could believe, he has not weighed so much on my choices when I composed the songs.



4. I know that the project name out out of Greek Mythology, what are your interests in this field?
4. To tell the truth, the name “Thanatos” comes out from Sigmund Freund’s theory. According to him the human beings have two struggling principles in them: one is Love (Eros), the other is Death (Thanatos). For me the latter is stronger: war, suicide, homicide as well as the spreading depression which affects also the young people, show us how much men are bewildered by the modern society. They aren’t able to find an answer, a meaning, a value to fight for. Thanatos, deleting completely the song-writing and providing only atmospheres created by synths or other artificial instruments, wants to portrait this terrible situation. By the way, mythology, especially Scandinavian myths, is one of my interests outside Thanatos.



5. Currently there is only 1 member, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you choose to remain solo?
5. No, I don’t believe I call other musicians to play with me in future. Thanatos was born for being my outlet, so I could not share with anybody my feelings: I’m shy. In addition I can’t stand not to have the full control on what I’m composing.



6. Recently you put out a split album, what are you opinions on the other project that participated?
6. Wear and Tear is an excellent band! I love so much the way Dave depicts his fall-out landscapes and the suffocating atmosphere he’s able to create. It was a great honor to make a split with him!



7. The split album came out on Aggressive Productions, how did you get in contact with this label and how would you describe the support that they have given you so far?
7. Aggressive Productions belongs to Dave from Wear and Tear that I knew on Facebook. One day speaking about our musical projects the idea of making a split came out. Aggressive supported me creating the artwork and printing the physical copies of the album. I am very satisfied with what they done.




8. I see that alot of the songs are based around Lovecraft's writings, what is it that interested you about this author and do you read any other authors?
8. H.P. Lovecraft is an underestimated novelist: he was able to forecast what it would happen during the second half of the XX century. Men are afraid and in many case lost, without the belief in one superior being that could give to them a certitude. Lovecraft understood this issue, picturing in his “morbid” tales so it comes naturally that I’ve chosen him as a fil-rouge to collect all my tracks. By the way I read everything I find: T.S. Eliot, Thoreau, Waldo Emerson, Marx, as well as Leopardi or Ungaretti.



9. Are there any other musical projects besides this one or is this full time?
9. Thanatos is and it will be my only musical project, notwithstanding I wish to have time to follow other acts.


10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
10. Well, I guess the next Thanatos’s releases probably deal with the same elements I’ve previously described. Indeed three new tracks are almost ready to see the day light. Maybe I could say they are a little bit more experimental, but all in all, they don’t seem to be so different from what I’ve composed so far. During summer I’ll work on an EP, for sure, and on one or two split album. One of this could involve Silent Carrion. It’s a just an hypothesis, nothing more.


11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
11. Mmh…this a difficult question. I grow up listening Scandinavian black and death metal as well dedicating myself to progressive rock, blues, krautrock, folk music et cetera. It’s strange I end up to play drone or dark ambient! However while I was composing “Everything was destroyed, the end is near”, I was listening to Neurosis, Cult Of Luna, Monarch. Besides I am also a reviewer therefore I come in contact with myriad of musical styles that I could be influenced by them without being aware of it! Nowadays I’m very into what post-rock ensemble’re doing: they are the future of the music. On the contrary I don’t care a damn of nu-metal or alternative metal. It’s genre born from mainstream view of the world!


12. How would you describe your views on Occultism?
12. My vision in Occultism? I am very fascinated by the cults of Nature for example, or by paganism as well as celtic religion. But, to be honest, I don’t like magic or something like that: I don’t believe neither in spells nor in divination, but in the ancient spirits who live in the woods or upon a river, some manifestations of the indictable life of Nature. Men has nothing to deal with genuine occultism.

13. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of dark ambient?
13. Thanatos is not known outside Italy, so I can’t tell to you how, on a worldwide level, people have react to my work.


14. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
14. Outside the music I am a common dude: I come out with my friends, I practice sport like football and jogging, nothing special. But also when I am not putting myself in Thanatos’s shoes I am searching in what’re happening to me a mood, an atmosphere, an idea I can use for the project.



15. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
15. Thank you for showing interest in Thanatos.





 
 
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