1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
-Hi everyone, Taliesin speaking! We are a Symphonic black metal band from Verona, Italy. This band exists since 2006 and, even if it starts just as a kid passion, it has become something more serious trough time, until we’ve reached a moment when we told ourselves “Where do we want to get with this project? Let’s get it to another level and see what happens”, so here we are!
2.You have an album coming out during the end of October, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
-The sound is very majestic, all the orchestral part of the album has been an hard task to write and compose, but this gave us a great orchestral wall back and this is very important for the band .We’ve tried (and I think we’ve reached our goal) to play symphonic black metal with a lot of influences from classical music, this is what change from the last release, it’s more melodic as well as faster and harder!
3.This is your first release in 5 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?
-Unfortunately it’s not easy to find a line-up that works as an ensemble, in the same direction as we are doing now. The past five years went very fast and we changed three band members in order to get to the current line-up, which is where we’ve spent our time, looking for the right guys to play with us and writing down all the stuff for this album.
4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
-The lyrics I wrote, tries to talk about different stuff, from religion as a chain for free thinking/ free thinker, to characters that are symbols for this ideology (the track “Cenere” which means “Ash” talks about Giordano Bruno) , and also about ancient pagan rites that have been wrong-seen through time like the night of Samhain and all the wonderful Celtic pagan tradition, that now are wrongly associated to Satanism, evil and stuff like that.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Eternal Samhain'?
-As I told you before, the band started as a teenager band so, when I was 16 (none of the current members were involved when it all started) we were looking for a name that could stand for something really evil, and seems to us that an “eternal night of the dead” could be the right one as meaning. Than we’ve got in touch with Celtic symbology and tradition and the word “Samhain” seemed great, so here we are, “ Eternal Samhain”
6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
-The best shows we’ve played are for sure the support slots for Fleshgod Apocalypse a couple of years ago and the support for Nocturnal Depression at the Eresia Metal Fest last summer. We cannot forget our Show at Padova metal Fest and the gigs at Il Blocco music hall and at Alchemica Music club, that we consider our home.
The Live show we play is very powerful and we try to communicate our energy to the crowd…what else can I say, just come and witness by yourself!
7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
-Yes we do. We will be touring Italy this winter to promote the album, there are many things getting ready for this spring but I can’t say anything at the moment…just wait, it will be amazing!
8.Currently you are signed to RNC Music, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
-It’s just great! We never had any experience with a label and RNC’s family hosted us and helped us a lot under every aspect about a release with a label and all the stuff like that.
9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of symphonic black metal?
-at the moment the album is not out yet so I don’t know, but I can tell you that the release of the single is going very well, in just 3 weeks we’ve reached more than 70 countries worldwide and the general feedback seems to be very good so far!
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Hope as far as we can! We are trying so hard to make this project becoming our life’s job, it’s not easy and we know it but we won’t quit so easily!
11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
-Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, Dark Funeral, Carach Angren and the Italian pride Fleshgod Apocalypse are the bands that have more influence on us. We listen to a lot of different kinds of music, all metal genres of course, but even folk and classical music are genres that we love to listen to.
12.Does Paganism or Occultism play any role in your music?
-Yes it does but as a cultural matter. We do not believe in a kind of god, nature and ourselves are our gods. we could talk about what we believe or think for several hours of course!
13.What are some of your non musical interests?
-There are so many things we love to do, like sports and other arts, but basically music is our true love and passion.
14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
-yes,We would like to thank all those who made this possible!
Starting with our great friend Rian Grigoletto from Orange Studios Verona who always believed in us, Alberto Rapetti that produced us and Paolo Brentegani for the realization of our videoclip “Ode al Vento”. Nico Spinosa, Ros Manica and Gioia Camposano of RNC MUSIC that guide us through the difficult world of music business and Niccolò Baldari of Devoured Agency for our upcoming gigs and tour.
We would also like to thank our friends, girlfriend and families for their full support, and finally you guys for this interview!