| INTERVIEW
WITH WITHOUT FACE (italian
version) by Giancarlo Bolther I was impressed by your record, it has a real new sound, between gothic and prog metal, what kind of music do you want to create? (Thanks!.) To be honest we have never been thinking on that what kind of music we want to play. It all just came naturally, although that was obvious that we want to create something peculiar, an own stlye of music, which is without face? Do you believe to be more into metal or into gothic scene or you are trying to find a new way? Yes we are trying to find a new way, something that is unusual. I think with the very melodic and technical progressive music mixed with the unusual vocal style makes something rather original and new. Astronomicon is a killer album and i believe that you deserve a great attention, but how hard was for you to find a good deal? (Thanks again.) It was very hard? I mean a few years ago when we started to look for a foreign record deal we had ?no? answers again and again, which was very disappointing after a while?we sent cds to so many companies and we got the same answers "your music is great, but we don't deal with this stlye" I think it was a bit too extreme for many labels, and finally we got a deal from the American Dark Symphonies Records. Would be hard to explain how happy we were! And then about a half year later we just got a letter from Lee Barrett that he heard a song on the Internet and he would offer us a world-wide deal..-that couldn't be refused! Can you tell us more about the songs and the making of the new album? After the line-up changings exactly after the recordings of the first album Deep Inside (since that there is a new keyboard player, bass guitarist and female vocalist: me) we started to do a lot of gigs, and it was just a year later when we started to write new songs togather. By that time the band had a big concert experience, and we were really ?togather? when we started to write songs. It was a very long procedure though, we work a lot on a every song, and they are only ready when they were recorded in the studio. We always change something! About the songs..you mean the lyrics? (I guess.) They are rather weird and mysterious. Mainly they are inspire by Poe, Lovecraft and Anne Rice. And one of them by a friend's short story (Norbert Uzseka: "The Garden"). And 2 are my own ones. Weird Places: is a strange idea of the so called "other side", it's something like a huge chaos. There's a guy who gets to a strange place, he doesn't know that he died "he only realises at the end". Pit and Pendulum: it was inspired by Poe's short story "The P a P.". It's about the world of the middle age inquisition. It seems that the torturers don't want him to die, just tortire his soul again and again. In the garden: inspired by a friend's short story about a vampire, who suffers from the sin of killing and the power of memories he experienced in his long life, and he lives a garden where he can hide from the world, a piece of heaven actually. But at the end, the garden loses it's heavenly clarity beacuse he can't resist his passion for blood and kills in the garden. Heaven lost, and it leads to his death, like a punishment. It's a complicated story full of feelings. The Violin of E. Z.: Lovecraft's short story about a silent old man who is fighting against another dimension's demons with the power of the voice of the violin. But at the end he loses the fight and dies letting the demons in our world, nice story. Talamasca: it was inspired byAnne Rice's book "The witching hour", it's the story of the Death if the second witch based on the letters of a member of an institution called "Talmasca" who deal with witches, demons, vampires. Daimonion: "daimonion" was the philosophy of Socrates...he said when we do something and hear a little voice from our mind saying that it was may not the best to do, that's "daimonion". It's somthing like conscience...well, it's reflected to death in this lyric, when we have to judge over ourselves... Why do you prefer the dark side, why did you are so obscure? I couldn't explain it, but mainly Andras and me are so attracted to the dark side? maybe beacuse none of us had an easy life, or "it just comes from our nature". You mean the obscurity of the lyrics? I'm very much like the style of Lovecraft. That he doesn't write things concretely, just makes an obscure atmosphere where you can only suspect things. I think it's really interesting, and it gives the chance to everyone to mean a lyric as they would like to. Do you have a philosophy? Your vision of the world is... I just live my life day by day, and I try to "live" every moment and not to miss anything that life can give me. And also I try not get life too seriously? What does it mean the title of the new album? It's the contraction of "astronomy" and "necronomicon". Both things are very enigmatical and complex that we think it's a right title for this album. It was the idea of our male vocalist, Andras. Where have you found the ispiration to write it? I think mainly from our feelings and from our enthusiasm for the music! Can you describe the spectacular cover? (No.) There are no concrete meanings. I wouldn't like to explain anything in it, the goal was to have an interesteing artwork which attracts people's attention. I think it was made perfectly, we like it very much. And I think it's rather mysterious too. Which are the most important differences between Deep Inside and Astronomicon? Deep Inside was made with another band partly. After the recordings of that album, the keyboard player, bass guitarist and the female vocalist left the band. A bit later our solo guitarist had to move to Belgium because of his work, so now we have only one guitar, a very talented keyboard player, who gives a lot in the music, and a new bass guitarist, whose ideas also changed the music in a progressive way. And me? I think the new album is more technical, intense and richer than "Deep Inside". And the production of the new album is also much better. In my opinion goth rock is more popular than in the eighties, but in these years there aren't so much important bands, the ones that are doing something really new are very few (Savior Machine, Tiamat, Atrox, In Extremo, you), which is your opinion? Yes I agree. There are many copies borned lately! Sometimes it seems that there are nothing new to give in this style of music, but fortunately there are some bands always who shows the opposite. We would very much like to be between these bands, and if you feel that it was managed to do, we did a good work :) Can you tell us about the history of your band? Without Face was formed in 1997. One year later a demo was released by the band, it was followed by a lot of gigs in Hungary. Than in 2000, a hungarian label released our first album "Deep Inside" in Hungary, which was re-released a year later by the American Dark Symphonies Records who signed the band in March, 2001. Between these events we had a lot of gigs again, for example we played with The Gathering, The Kovenant, Zeromancer and Anathema. In 2002 we got an offer from Lee Barrett, and finally were singed to the new division of Earache: Elitist. Our new album is going to release on 1th July. I think that's all! :) Which are your fave bands/artists, the ones that inspires you best? We are listening to many kind of music from death metal to classical music! Me personally? I like best Symphony X, Anathema, Tiamat, System of a Down, Lisa Gerrard, Loreena Mckennitt, Die Krupps, Rakoth, and many more!! But the common point in the band are progressive music like Dream Theater. Can you tell us more about the bands from your country (i know only the Galloping Coroners and i was very impressed by their astounding sound)? There are many "little" bands here. they write really good music, they would just need a bit more resolution, or enthusiasm? to try in abroad too. I could say names like Ideas, Dying Wish, Vale of Tears, Stonehenge and so on. How is born your musical career? I have always liked singing, but the resolution I want to sing in a metal band came only when I saw Without Face on the stage. It was great, and I thought how much I would like to sing in that band... Then I sang in another band for a few months, but it was not the "real one", so I left it, and a few months later, the female vocalist of the band said it was enough for her, and then it was no queston that I will join the band. It was like a dream came true! :) Which are your ambitions and expectations about the future? We would like to go on tour very much, and then start to write the new songs. We would like to deal with music only. What is the greatest challenge for your future? To achieve all of our ambitions and expectations :) A salute for your italian fans... We hope to see all of you on tour in Italy! GB Review (in italian): Astronomicon Web Site |