Hour Of Penance Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Giulio : At the moment we're practicing a lot for our next shows , we're confirmed to play at the Hellfest this June , which is pretty much the biggest festival in Europe and we're working on some tours..we keep ourselves always busy !

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous releases/

Giulio : As we did with the other albums so far we tried to improve and change things here and there by adding new elements to our music and fixing what had to be fixed and Sedition will be just the results of that kind of work..Of course having a new singer and a new drummer helped a lot with that. Changing “skin” through every album without compromising the band original sound is one of our strong point.  At the same time we kept embedding our influences in our music, staying “death metal” without exceeding in experimentations.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

Giulio : “Sedition” is a title that explains clearly what is the main theme of this work: rebellion against everything that stands in the way of knowledge, embodied by the serpent in the cover. We want to get back our future and regain the glory of our past, where Italy was the cradle of art, knowledge and power. The catholic church must be swept away for this to happen, since it has dumbed down every positive force in this country, and now we’re left with nothing. So every song tells the story of  a new holy war, from different point of views, to finally destroy the jew-christian ideology and establishment and be again free from all their lies.   

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

Giulio : We had a ton of memorable shows.. one i will never forget is the Death feast open air 2007 where we had more than one hundred metalheads on stage moshing on stage with us during a song - that was fucking unbelievable. it was hilarious to see the next year a warning signs with "Please don't get people on stage with you - this goes to Hour of Penance especially" written on it.

We give our 100% on stage , it's very hard to play such a complex music and in the same time interact with people as well but i think we achieved that doing show after show.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the new release?

Giulio : We're just returned from a very successful tour with The Black Dahlia Murder , Nile and Skeletonwitch.. that was our first tour in the U.s and we're planning to come back as soon as possible. Actually we have already a great option for this fall , we're keeping our finger crossed for that , it's gonna be a kick ass tour.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your newer music by brutal death metal fans?

Giulio : Feedback from the fans is just great , i think we've satisfied our die hard fans as well as reached some new fans with our music. SEDITION received only but good reviews from the worldwide press. We were surprised to see good reviews even in some magazines that usually don't cover extreme metal , like Legacy mag. , and only two months passed since the release date.. so far so good !

8. What is going on with the side projects these days?

Giulio : Paolo is the only one who has a side project , his band Aborym , is probably one of the most innovative and crazy industrial black metal band that you can find out there.. they released an album on Season of Mist two years ago and now they're about to enter the studio to record the newer album.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

Giulio : It's too early to talk about that , even if we have some ideas already.. We don't sit too much on the table and talk about what to change and what not about our music. I'm sure we will not change too much , we'll stay loyal to our fans without exceeding in some weird experimentations , that's the key behind every successful death metal album.. you got to keep it brutal!

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your newer material and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Giulio : I tried to stay away from death metal while i was writing SEDITION because i didn't wanted to be influenced by any death metal band to be honest so i also lost some of the releases that came out on the last year. I've managed to get a copy of Torture , the new cannibal corpse album , while we were playing with them in a show in the U.s , and i have to say that i'm literally in love with their new record. Chaos Inception is about to have their new album out , they're a killer death metal band , you should really check them out! 

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Giulio : Music keeps us busy for the most of the day , when we don't play music you can probably find us at the gym!

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Giulio : Thanks for having us onto these pages , be sure to check out our new album SEDITION and keep supporting DEATH METAL! 

 

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