1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?
Yep the new album, called System Subversion, has been recorded beginning of 2014, but not yet released as we're still searching a good label who'd like to print and distribute it (if interested pls contact our management, The Flaming Arts). We further realized a depraved scaring videoclip for the first album's song, Subversion, filmed in an old dismissed psychiatric institute near the Milan area where none should spent the night, believe me! you can check out a teaser of the video, widely spread few days ago, directly on our online pages. Then the band embarked into an Europen tour supporting great acts like the US thrash long-living legends Hirax, American young killer-combo Bonded By Blood and Chilean old-school thrash veterans Nuclear. This tour has been really a great one, letting us to play in such countries like Portugal, Spain and France, where we've never been before, full of crazy metalheads who hung out with us every single night after the shows.. and most of all, during this fifteen incredible days of touring along half Europe and driving for almost 10,000 kilometers, all the involved bands helped to create a strong and lasting friendship which will be the real legacy for such a memorable life's experience.
2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the new recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
The new songs are literally more aggressive, faster and well-balanced, rather than our past stuff, offering to the listeners a varied mix of modern heavy thrash-core, spiced with the usual band-trademark death influences, which gave to the music something darker and groovier. Let me say we've been able to put together ten real killer songs which are composing the brand new album, foreseen to be released by the end of this year.
3.This is the first album to be released in 5 years, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap?
Well you're right, we took 5 years to realize System Subversion since 2009, when we released our previous album Katarsis under the Punishment 18 Records flag. I must be honest and tell you we're a slow band regarding the creative side of our music, this process is hard and long as in the Methedras style, but we believe to finally get the point using this as our standard.. most of all since we didn't have any contract or agreement forcing us to speed up our timeline, we decided to take the right amount of time to arrange everything in the perfect way, at least how we consider it in our vision, leaving nothing to the case.
On the top of all of this, please consider in the meanwhile we had to deal also with several line-up changes on the rhythm guitar, a rehearsal room moving and a couple of new births in the singer's and lead guitarist's families.. not bad at all that considering!
4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
The lyrics are all written by Claudio, the singer, and are mainly about experiences he directly lives on his own skin everyday.. so we can consider 'em a kind of belief-extensions directly coming from his mind, outlining how he's used to analyze such political, cultural and lifetime subjects, viewed through his eyes and deformed by his apparent pessimism and nihilism, which instead lead to, if focused to a deeper level, an unwavering and immovable faith in the humankind and his capacity to always resurrect from his foundation, no matter how bad have been his actions, like a phoenix who recursively arises from its own ashes after being dead.
5.The band has been around since 1996, what is it that keeps you motivated to create music after all of these years?
Wow we really don't know ahaha, just kiddin.. I think we all are nowadays old fuckin dreamers who still cannot, or simply dont want to, accept their "institutionalized" lives as the Matrix, being also called society or welfare, would try to impose us. We're still here after 18 unrelenting years, because we've still something to shout out to the world.. we cannot still accept it, on how They would like us to see it.. we strongly still believe there's something more significant under the surface, more important and fate-related rather than "getting a job, a family, a fucking big television, a washing machine, a car, a compact disc..."
6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name Methedras?
Oh this is the always-present question: the name of the band comes from the J. R. R. Tolkien masterpiece Lord Of The Rings, where it means the last peak of a group of mountains in the northern territories, a kind of pseudo-god who conveys concepts of pride, supremacy and solitude, which perfectly suited the average band's mood at the time of conception.
7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Our stage performances are absolutely hot and professional.. dont take me bad or self-centered, is's pretty two decades we've been playing around and we do know our job.. moreover we've a great sound tech who's able to solve every issue and pull a blast of a sound out of even the worst crappy mixer or sound board.. could tell about lots of great shows supporting big names around Europe, but I prefer to remember those more intimate and personal gigs which constantly give me the strength to continue over and over.. in example few years ago we met a guy in the south if Italy who got in love with us in such a way during a gig that he decided at the end of the show to follow us the day after for another one leaving in the night and travelling more than 150 kilometers alone.. or remember a special fan of ours, a disabled guy forced to live on a wheelchair, who tries to attend our shows every time he’s able to find someone who can take care of him with transport and logistic, he’s name is Samu, we simply love and respect him for his great and incredible passion for life!
8.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new release?
Yeah of course, as said before, we did an European tour in April/May with Hirax, BBB and Nuclear already presenting the new songs live and announcing the forecoming of the new album later during the year.. we're now engaged in a couple of imminent summer fests to officially present System Subversion, Metal Crowd in Belarus on 16th of August, headlined by Hate, and Malta Death Fest in Malta on 6th of September with our bros Hour Of Penance hadlining.. moreover during the next fall, we should take also part to the "Sentencing Europe Tour", supposed to happen end of November and beginning of December, and directly supporting the mighty US thrash-death maniacs Solstice from Florida, for the first time appearing in Europe.
9.The new release was self released, are you open to working with another record label again in the future?
Yes for sure.. we dont have just self-released System Subversion, we simply recorded and produced it because we wanted to keep any creative process under a strict control and we wanted it exactly as it has actually come.. but we'd like to now find a good label seriously interested in printing, distributing and promoting it.. we want it to be spread out there in the best way, this step is only a pre-release promo campaign run, nothing more nothing less.
10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to the newer music by fans of death and thrash metal?
Well at the moment is too much early to anaylize any kind of feedback, the new album is still in a pre-release step, and has been kick started literally few days ago, so the time spent has been really too short in order to reply to this question.. what I can say is that a couple of reviews already arrived and they seem to be very optimistic and enthusiastic.. the most part, pretty everyone, of media and music biz related people in Italy who have had the possibility to listen to it, tell this is our best album, with killing, fast and very exciting songs in the name and spirit of the best thrash-death metal around, worldwide speaking... so let's see what will happen in the nearly future and how many positive feedback will come in!
11.Are any of the band members involved with any other musical projects these days?
Yep we have Daniele, the drummer, involved in many other bands and side projects, like Anticlockwise, prog heavy, Penthagon, prog thrash, and Fosch, black metal.. furthermore we have, since a year, a side guitar player, named Dani, who is fulfilling all the guitar duties on behalf of Eros, our official guitar player and author of the most songs of our entire production, lastly busy due to his job and father committments.. Dani also plays in different other bands, the most relevant of them is Thunderage, prog hard rock.
12.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Ten years ago we imagined Methedras still on the road betting to gain a place on stage just a step behind heavy metal legends like Testament, Overkill, Exodus, Destruction, Entombed, Dismember, The Haunted, Onslaught and many others.. well, we won that bet ‘cause we really did it, and all of them teached us the real meaning of the music we love: blood, sweat and passion, ever! we learned that lesson (in violence ahahah) and we kept it as a way of life, everyday, on and off the stage.. so, openly speaking, within ten years from now, we'd love to imagine the same thing but at an even bigger level.. let's dream again for such a long time and who knows? maybe we'll win also this one ;)
13.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
I think our influences are everything is rock and heavy, ‘cause our background is right that.. We love thrash and death metal, of course, but we also do listen from hard rock to grind and brutal, we have no kind of musical prejudice, for example we're actually attracted by the industrial side of some of the new stuff written.. we are in "experimental mode on" right now, and cannot say at the moment where this will end up, for us it’s enough to be free to create, without mental chains.. by the way let me say everything that comes from the american bay-area of the early '80s, being inspired by such big bands like Testament, Megadeth, Exodus, Slayer and many others, then we grew year by year opening our minds to a more specific North-European death metal attitude, trying to mix in our sound these two different and typical metal stream.
14.What are some of your non musical interests?
Good one this one: we all have several other interests outside the metal musical scene.. personally speaking, I like IT, photography and video-making and most of all travelling around the world, in particular to the South-Est Asia and Center-America.. other band members love football, cooking (and drinking a lot too!!) and martial-arts competitions, being also professional instructors and former agonists.
15.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks so much for this interview and your time to read it, we hope to see you all at our next live events truly supporting what is the most important thing: the real metal attitude.. we exist because of you, thank to all of you out there!!
Website: http://www.methedras.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/methedrasthrash
Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/methedras
Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/methedras
Band email: contact@methedras.com
Management: jon@theflamingarts.eu
