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Interviews
Hour Of Penance - Giulio Moschini
18/04/08 || Kampfar
Hello and fucking welcome to an interview you probably won’t bother reading, you know, this not being Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden or some other fucking unity mentioned to pieces already. Oh no, this is something as unusual as an Italian death metal band, even more awkward, they are very good, bordering on excellent. So, pop your attention span pills and learn what makes Hour of Penance tick.
Global Domination: Are you on drugs?
Giulio: Nice question. We don’t like the “common” drugs”, we’re more into kebab and porn, both used and abused on a daily basis. That’s the real Hour of Penance fuel. Oh, and Death metal is our real drug, how can I forget it!
That aside, am I the only one thoroughly digging “The vile conception”, or have you found other raving reviews such as mine? I’m sure you didn’t find any as good, only wondering if you get some of the attention you deserve.
We’re receiving a good feedback, and so far I’ve read only positive
reviews regarding “The vile conception”. But I have to say that your
quote “Awesome Effort Mafiosos!” on your review is definitely the best
compliment we’ve received so far.
I’m not going to say I’ve meticulously gone through the whole of your discography to be fucking prepared for this interview, but I have heard enough to be sure you wouldn’t be this unknown if you stemmed from a renowned (death) metal country, such as, say Poland. You know, Italians are supposed to make power metal and progressive rock, not death.
That’s right my friend. We come from a third-world country in terms of extreme music and death Metal, and as you can see, trying to emerge as a band in a country dominated by power metal, gothic and other stuff like that, it’s not really an easy job. Sometimes when I look at the other countries, such as mentioned Poland, the first thing that comes into my mind is: “damn, why weren’t we born there”. Poland is delivering most of the finest European death metal lately, but I have to say that also in Italy something is finally moving. On April the 19th the first real “Italian death metal festival” with Italian death metal bands exclusively will take place, and that’s really good. Although we have some cool bands here, the scene totally sucks. I remember 2 or 3 years ago, I went to a Suffocation gig here in Rome and there were only 200 metalheads… that was really embarrassing.
One of the few aspects of “The vile conception” I found a reason to nag about is the way ye have mixed the drums, making them sound artificial and shit. Mind you, they are played fucking great, only wish you made them sound a bit more natural, especially the kicks. Are you with me?
Yeah man, I’m totally with you, but try talk about drums with our drummer, Mauro…that’s why we used those triggered bass drums, haha. Don’t know if you ever experienced a CD recording, but that’s how the things work; you will always have to argue with your drummer since the only thing he cares about the album you’re recording is his drums. Besides we used the triggered drumkit also to give a more “modern” sound to the drums. Everyone use triggers nowadays.
I’m better at battling a chainsaw than any given instrument but many of our readers are musicians keen on knowing nerdy details. Therefore I ask you to tell us a bit about your set up, you know, what guitars you use and such bullshit.
For this recordings we aimed at the best production we could achieved so I used a lot of stuff during the recordings of “The vile conception”. Basically I recorded 4 guitar tracks for each song, 2 tracks with the Engl Fireball and 2 with the Mesa dual rectifier, the results were really satisfying. I use a 7 string guitar, a LTD model, and when I can bring with me, a Peavey Triple XXX amp. Hope your nerdy readers are satisfied.
Visiting your rather mediocre website told me you are heading out on a European tour with Origin and Impaled later this year, but apart from that it told little about your stage activity. So, are you lazy as a Spaniard during fiesta or will there be other shows as well? Has there been an increase in offers since the release of “The vile conception”?
Hehe, I’m too lazy to update the main website… you know, MySpace
nowadays is the real website of a band, it really helps promoting your
band, so usually I update MySpace but I forget to update also our
website. We will have some promotional shows here in Italy, and some
festivals in April, “The tattooing death metal fest” (the first Italian
death metal fest I mentioned before) and the “SWR
XI Fest” in Portugal, which is a pretty big festival and we will have
the opportunity to share the stage with other great and more famous
bands. And yeah, there has been a definite increase in offers since the
release of “The vile conception”, and Unique Leader is working hard to
get our ass in many tours. We’re totally satisfied the way they’re
working for us.
What do you think about our website, GD? Fucking ace, ey?
Yeah not bad, not bad at all. The hatemail section is really funny, you guys are crazy.
The cover art for “The vile conception” is without doubt looking fucking fine. Care to explain the thought behind it? I also think I read it was done by a relatively famous dude, a name I now have forgotten. Please do a mention.
The artwork was done by Pär Oloffson, a great artist I would say. Lately he has worked with a lot of bands, mostly Unique Leader ones. His style is very unique so when we started looking for an artist my thoughts went directly to him. The meaning of the cover artwork is tied with the overall concept of the album. Basically the ugly women raising her newborn dead into the sky is the personification of our Mother earth, portrayed in a decadent and cadaverous way, while the newborn dead is the personification of our century… born 8 years ago but already doomed to an inevitable end doomed by holy wars and filthy economic interests.
Tell us a bit about Unique leader, are they good to you? Do you, as a band, feel prioritized, or are there any big names on their roster blocking your Sun?
They’re doing great so far for us. CD’s are well distributed and promoted, and Erik is always there to accommodate the band’s needs. Unique Leader has a great band roster, but there’s no priority for us, each band get the same treatment. As you see this year a lot of Unique Leader bands are touring, we’re touring with Origin while Decrepit Birth will tour with Cryptopsy, and then a month after there will be another gutting Europe tour with some Unique Leader bands.
Are you busy doing interviews, or am I the only one who bothers? I’m not going to bother asking if they can be compared to this one, all the time I know they fucking can’t.
Yeah, quite busy lately (seriously!) but this interview tops every single interview I’ve done so far.
A mixed bag follows… I fucking hate Christianity and look upon Catholicism as a cult of choirboy raping, a view shared by many. How is it to live in a country pretty much responsible for this whole cult, are the Vatican’s presence felt in everyday life? Do you support the idea of blowing up both the Vatican and Mecca?
Man, living here totally sucks, and I agree with you, blowing up both the Vatican and Mecca would be the solution for the overwhelming of problems we’re facing today. But it’s not the only thing I would love to blow up here in Italy… government should be erased too. (waiting for the CIA to knock at my door)
Have you heard the joke about Italian tanks, during WWII, having 10 gears backwards and one forward? I think it is fucking funny, one of the best.
Hahaha, damn. Yeah, I’ve heard that one. Well it’s true we can’t be proud to be Italian, and the WWII was really one of the darkest periods Italy has ever faced. It’s really sad to see the decline of this country that was once the heart of the culture. Today everything is getting worse and we’re really becoming a third world country by many aspects.
Talking about Italy, mention some extreme metal bands from your shores blatantly overlooked.
Well we have a good underground scene, a lot of good bands! To mention a few Onirik, Fleshgod Apocalypse (our singer’s side project ), Septycal Gorge, Blaphemer, Vomit The soul, Nefas, Putridity, and the list goes on.
What’s your favorite Italian supercar? Oh, talking about cars, have you ever seen a program called “Top Gear”? If not, you are truly missing out; just like the death metal community misses out on you guys.
“Top Gear”?! Nope, never heard of it. Is it about tuning cars? If so, I should check it out.
Is Rocco the most famous Italian alive?
Haha, yeah, Rocco Siffredi is one of the few things that really make every Italian proud to be. He exported the Italian porn everywhere, and he’s also a wise person. We’re fans of him, definitely. And it is probably better to have him as most famous person than Abba, haha.
Abba was never a person, nor I a Swede. When did you move out from your parents? You see, I’ve seen this documentary about Italian men not moving out before they are close to sterile, thus leading to your country having the lowest birthrate in the whole of Europe.
A documentary? Where, on “National Geographic”? Damn, it is true man, we can’t move our ass out from our parents basically because this shitty country doesn’t give you the possibility to work and build up your own life. To get a good job, one which pays enough to let you to survive the overwhelming and expensive bills you have to pay monthly (a house in a decent part of Rome, and not in the worst suburbs, costs at least 1200 Euros per month…), you have first to study in a university for 5 years and then have the luck to find a work; but meritocracy is a concept that our country has forgot, and therefore you can only get a job only if you’re friend of someone that already have a job. Funny, uh? Luckily, I’m still young. Anyway, why move out from your parents when you can still fuck with your girl in the same house where your parents live? That’s a good deal I think.
Mild mockery asides, what does the future hold for Hour of Penance? Are there any goals you have yet to achieve?
Touring, touring and touring, that’s our primary aim right now, and
obviously improve as a band recording by recording. We would like to
“live” thanks to this music, and will work hard to make that happen.
Name the 5 most important death metal bands.
Hmm, that’s an hard question… I would say Morbid Angel , Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse, Angel Corpse, Hate Eternal. But there’s more and more, especially in the underground. The bands I mentioned before are those biblical bands you can’t miss a single records.
By the pictures I saw you certainly looked to be younger than me, implying you perhaps are still listening to extreme metal exclusively. Now, are you?
Yeah, I’m 22 and still listening mostly to extreme metal. But there are some interesting post rock bands that I’m discovering lately, namely acts such as Isis, Jesu (ex Godflesh) and Pelican.
On the top of your head, what is the wickedest person you can think of? Me, as always, has the name Carl Panzram popping up, a truly sick individual you can read all about at www.crimelibrary.com. I’m not exactly a fan, but his story is nonetheless a testimony on how utterly fucked life can turn out.
Damn, just came across his page, and yeah, Panzram was indeed seriously fucked up. Have you noticed that most of this serial-psychopathic killer comes from America? No surprise George W. Bush comes from there, I bet he feels very much at home. Well, probably the most fucked up person I could think of is Adolf Hitler, although is psycho-profile is really interesting.
No offense, but you are wrong, as wicked serial killers are found all over the globe. Anyway, Lacuna Coil is Italy’s very own Nightwish, and I ask: do you think either of them would be popular if they hadn’t had like quite sexy women fronting their bands? Has your vocalist ever thought of doing a sex change operation, so to broaden the appeal of your band? Ah, fuck that, he is an excellent growler, one of the best. Make sure you keep him.
Hahaha, you’re right, having a female and hot singer is without any
doubt a good card to play. I really should tell Francesco to have a sex
change operation, maybe a good pair of boobs only so he can still do
some growls.
I suggest ye name him Francesca then. Did you laugh when that fat fuck Pavarotti died? You know, he consumed as much as a small African country and in return the world got to hear him scream. Not a good deal, if you ask me.
Not at all, I agree. He stole so much money here in Italy that with all that money he stole we could have paid the national debt we have.
Do you think suicide is cowardice? I think it is ace, something everyone should do before they turn old and into nothing but a burden. You know, animals have the decency to go die in the woods when their time is up. I fucking love animals, so much one of them sharp teethed ones bit my cock off. Safe to say its hunger wasn’t quenched.
Nah I don’t think so. If you’re tired to live your own life just kill yourself and don’t bother with your problems. I mean, life is hard, everyone has their share of problems, why take care also of the problems of some depressed cunts? Damn man, seems you like bestiality porn. Which one is the best animal to fuck with? I might give it a try.
If you are after a wicked blowjob, I suggest calfs. Is it easy to notice that I’m a schizophrenic?
You’re not schizophrenic, dude, you should become a comedian or something.
What do you think of downloading and such matters? I would like to add that hadn’t it been for it, well, then your top notch music would most likely never had reached my ears. Oh, please tell where we can get hold of your music, an address or something. You sure are excellent, but it’s not like your record will be found in that many stores. Yep, I’m manic depressive as well.
I agree with you, file sharing and such nerdy trickery really damage the small labels and such, but on the other hand really help a band to emerge and build its own fan base. But to be honest, I think that there should be a limit or something to the p2p system. Nowadays there are a lot of systems to discover bands and hear their music, such as MySpace and Last.fm. I used to download some albums and then buy the CD if I’ve liked it, but now things seems are getting worse with all that BlogSpot on Google. Just type the name of the album you’re searching for and you get it for free months before the real release date. That sucks. Buy albums and support the band you love, although this could sound gay!
Do you think about death a lot? If not, quit playing death metal already.
Yeah, sometimes, but I’m too young right now to think already about death – the latest it comes, the best.
Shit, my A.I.D.S is acting up, so it is time for me to thank you for your time and effort. It was a pleasure discovering you. Peisa på
Thanks a lot for giving us this opportunity and for making me laugh a lot. Definitely the best interview I have answered so far! Tack så mycket, jag älskar dig!! Hej då!
