Well,Friends of Aristocracy!We start now,in all our emotions,the Fifity-Four Interview of this page.Today,the band is Feralia.Feralia play an Black Metal, but now with changes in line up.But,this is a curious second album.Between 2019 and 2020, the debut album titled as Helios Manifesto came to the public. But, Erymanthon Seth and P arrived in the band.
Of the original members, because at first the band had its matrix in 2018 and they are called Khrura and Raijinous.However, I said that it is a second album different from the usual right? The difference is in its name and in the explanations that can be given here. Under Stige\Over Dianam.The basic is the time for two ideas!
That's what I can do for you!
Line-up:
Krhura – bass
Raijinous – guitar / synth / backing vocals
Erymanthon Seth – lead vocals / guitar
P – drums
A1:Talking about the composition work in Under Stige / Over Dianam?
Raijinous: Under Stige was composed by me and Krhura in about 12 months. The writing process could have been shorter, but the pandemic slowed down the whole thing. Over Dianam was written during the lockdown at my place, with the few gear equipment I had available in that moment. Krhura then added ,from his house some musical contributions, and then we sent everything to L’Ossario Studio for the mixing process. So it really was a job done entirely at a distance. When the lockdown finished we were finally able to complete the Under Stige recording sessions.
A2:Would I be pretentious if I say that this album and the ep made in 2020 have brotherhood ties?
Erymanthon: Not at all. Under Stige (Black Metal) and Over Dianam (Dark Folk) are indeed “brother" albums in the sense that they create a play of opposites and contrasts that do not fight with each other, but that give life to something more complete. Dark and Light. Night and Day. Death and Life. Male and Feminine. One can't exist without the other, they complement each other and give birth to something special. That is why we decided for the new release to include both albums.
A3:What´s the idea behind the artwork of the album?
Erymanthon: The artwork for Under Stige represents Charon, the ferryman to the Underworld, who is the one that crosses the river Stige that separates the world of the living from the one of the dead with his boat accompanying the souls of the dead on their last journey. The artwork for Over Dianam, present on the CD, represents the Sun, Goddess Diana and a Deer, all symbols of Life and Mother Nature.
A4:Some literature or film inspire the band?
Erymanthon: Myself personally, I love reading books about different topics, like philosophy, mythology, poetry, literature. I don’t think it has a direct influence on my music, but it can inspire me and put me in a creative mindset.
Raijinous: I studied cinema at university, so yes, cinema has always been a great influence in my life, especially those hidden independent movies from culturally different countries and far from Italy. Regarding literature, I read fiction novels from many different authors, but also I like to read history and philosophy books.
A5:Why the band have this name? Raijinous: I chose the name Feralia, reading about rituals in ancient Rome.
A6:Does it help to make this evil style an inspiration as you come from a religious country since its birth?
Erymanthon: Let me clarify this here: Italy is not at all a religious/Christian country since its birth. Like any other European country, we were Pagans for thousands of years. The most well-known example of Paganism in Italy would be the gods of Ancient Rome like Diana, to whom we dedicated our EP, but we also had Etruscans with their traditions in Central Italy, Celts and their traditions in Northern Italy,where we are from,just to mention a few. Of course, when Christianity came along they destroyed our original cultures and forcibly imposed their faith on our people. Which is typical Christian behavior, really. They did this wherever they went in the world… Anyway, we are not trying to look “evil" or anything like that by playing Black Metal. We are trying to create a different dimension, and to plunge the listener into a different world with our music. And we are also fascinated by our own native cultures and roots, like the Ancient Roman culture, and we try to put that across in our music. We feel that Black Metal is the best way to express our inner selves, it has nothing to do with showing off, seeking attention or wanting to look “evil". For me personally though, I think that my contempt for Christianity and for what they did to our native cultures, and for the fact that people now consider Italy a Christian country because of it, is pushing me to celebrate our own native cultures even more, in music and elsewhere, and to make it clear that no, Christianity is not my culture or my roots, never has been and never will be.
A7:If they could, which location in Italy,deserved a sour review from Feralia and why? Raijinous: a question like this should deserve an appropriate and long answer… Let’s simply put in this way: the problems of southern Italy have very ancient roots. From the Giolitti government (1911-1914) a slow and inexorable decline began. This decline led, even today, the regions of southern Italy to live in the shadow of the northern ones. Governments and mafias, tied together, only made this problem worse.
A8:Black Metal has darkness and esotericism walking side by side. Which of these sides does the band embrace the most?
Erymanthon: Both aspects are present in our music and help us creating a different dimension where we and the listener can dive into, to escape reality. The city we come from, Turin, is considered one of the main “magic spots" in Europe according to esotericism, occultism and stuff like that, so it is very easy for us to make that connection.
Krhura: Yes, the city of Turin is permeated by this mystical aura. That being said, like many fans of this music genre, over the years I studied and deepened my knowledge in some themes tied to occultism, I've been almost obsessed by the figure of Aleister Crowley for years and especially by the philosophy of Thelema, to which our debut album Helios Manifesto is a debtor. Many people perceive the mystical/esoteric subjects as something “exotic" and far away from us, whereas in my own personal path and experience it is an aspect that is part of everyday life, just like the quest for the Divine, which I think is to be found within our inner selves rather than into an external, preterhuman entity.
A9:Interestingly, only the bassist has previous band experience. Does not having this experience benefit the band's inspiration and evil sound?
Erymanthon: That is incorrect. We all have had previous band experiences, and some of us still are involved in other projects. On the contrary of what you suggested, I think that because of all of us having different backgrounds, experiences or even taste in music, we are able to combine different influences and playing styles and to come up with something more original and unique. This promotes inspiration, rather than suffocating it.
A10:This album is conceptual?yes or no?
Erymanthon: It is a theme album, more than a concept album. The Black Metal side of it is focused on the rituality and traditions about death in Ancient Rome, whereas the Dark Folk part of it concerns the celebration and respect for Mother Nature, something which is much lost in the Modern World and is dedicated to Diana, the Goddess of Nature in Ancient Rome.
A11:Look at this sentence: It is clear that evil exists. What perhaps we can question is whether there is good?
Erymanthon: This is a rather philosophical question and one that would deserve a long discussion, but I will keep it brief. Because of my big interest in philosophy and especially in Friedrich Nietzsche’s work, I could say that neither good nor evil exist, as absolute standards. Different people have different moral systems that depend on the culture and history of the place they come from. None of them are “good" or “evil", they are just different, some of them are more compatible, some others are not. “Good", “evil" and “justice" are mental or social constructs, they are not absolute standards. That’s why people invented God, to pretend their moral system was the right one because “God told them", but this is of course not true. It’s just another tool to mentally enslave and rule over people. Birds eat worms, this does not mean that birds are evil, or that this is unjust towards worms, it’s simply their nature. Neither good, evil, nor justice exist in Nature. All that exists is the laws of Mother Nature, on the Earth like in the whole Universe, and they will always balance themselves.
A12:What kind of subject don´t deserve a Feralia song?
Erymanthon: Anything that is “modern", “woke", “political" or “trendy". We make music to express our inner selves, to create a different, imaginary or ancient dimension for the listener and to put our own traditions and roots across. We are totally uninterested in politics and in following the “flavour of the week", we are not making music to gain public approval and we refuse to become part of the trend and to lose our true essence by getting drenched in such topics. Some bands today, even in Black Metal, will do anything to gain public approval and to make sure they are part of the mainstream political ideals or musical trends. We are neither for it, nor against it. We just don’t care and we stay true to ourselves. Modern politics has nothing to do with Black Metal. People should judge music for what it is, and not for what political ideals the band approves. So we make sure to keep our music as far as possible from politics. We are not even interested in politics on a personal level anyway, so…
Raijinous: let me add one thing, scandinavian culture or mythology can’t definitely be one of our sources of inspiration in our lyrics , because it doesn’t fit in our culture and roots. I specify that, because sadly, some black metal bands from outside Scandinavia, talks about northern myths only to “ride the wave” or maybe because they’re not aware about their countries’ culture.
A13:Are Italia and Poland brothers when they decide to make a Black Metal? Raijinous: I’m not quite sure what you meant with this, but I don’t know about any brotherhood between Italy and Poland, regarding black metal.
A14:The band feel differences between Helios Manifesto and now in Under Stige / Over Dianam? Raijinous: the main differences between these three albums concern the steps forward we obtained with Under Stige and Over Dianam: a greater awareness about the sound, final clearer messages and more certainties regarding WHAT Feralia should convey to the listener.
A15:Who is the green omen? Raijinous: the green omen is not a physical person, but a hope. Omen means “prediction”, and is referred to the hope many human beings could embrace a more “green” (respect for the nature, no plastic, less meat, etc..) behaviour towards our planet. This title came to my mind during the lockdown, when the air was cleaner and the nature seemed to take back a more important place on our planet.
A16:Who is Arthemide? Raijonous: Artemis was the ancient Greek equivalent of the goddess Diana, goddess of hunting, wild animals, forests, archery; she was also the goddess of female initiations, of the moon, protector of virginity and modesty
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