Italy, land of good food, good wine and above all, good music. Corpse, the acclaimed lady-led gang we now know is named Raffaella Rivarolo, just released their new studio album, 'Silence' with which he reaffirms his sound and claims his position within the world of metal.
Thanks to the closeness that the blessed internet gives us, we had the opportunity to talk with Corpse and the bassist KillerBob, who tell us about the whole process of creating 'Silence'.
You have just released Cadaveria's new album and it is called 'Silence' ...
Cadaver: Yes. 'Silence' It contains 11 songs that were created throughout 2013. All of the guitar riffs were created entirely by Dick Laurent inspired by his own nightmares. I wrote most of the lyrics at the end of 2013, no matter what they would sound like, but only looking inside myself. The lyrics are actually a recording of the flow of my thoughts and the album's title represents the rest I got from finally releasing my feelings, reaching a new level of consciousness and peace. I spent several weeks with Dick [Laurent] to mix my lyrics with his music in terms of melodies and spirit and then prepare pre-production with the other members of the band, adjusting the structure of the songs and the arrangements. We entered the recording studio in May of this year and we did not leave there until we were completely satisfied. In September it was finally finished and ready to kick ass. As always, we produced it ourselves, we took care of the recording, mixing and mastering. It was hard work but now we can say that we are very proud of it. It sounds exactly as we wanted it to sound and I can say that it is the album that marks our maturity.
Since 'Horror Metal' from 2012 to 'Silence' I can say that the music still has the "Cadaveria seal". They have created a particular style and have a recognizable sound. It is what you are looking for? Are you not afraid of falling into stagnation?
Cadaver: It is very important for us to express ourselves through our music in complete freedom. This is that we will never put a limit to our own creativity and receive all kinds of influences from so many sub-genres of Heavy Metal. In general our sound is a mix of Black Metal and Gothic Metal, but if we feel that it is necessary to introduce a Thrash riff or a part of Doom Metal, then we will do it, but without leaving our own style. I think therein lies the secret in the style of Corpse, we use our sensitivity to represent our feelings with music, we don't mind belonging to a specific genre and we always try to broaden our perspective, maintaining inspiration through other forms of art such as cinema, literature, the visual arts ... Our music It is very eclectic, as much as our personality is. This is why our music sounds so fresh. Each album is the reflection of a defined period of our career and our life. Our music grows with us. And although each song of ours has a common denominator, a dark and sinister atmosphere, it is also true that each one has its own identity, so we make them all sound different.
I know that 'Silence' It was recorded in 3 different recording studios. How was the recording and composition process?
Cadaver: Recording in three different studios was inevitable, since the members of the band lived in places far from each other, so it was basically something of pure logistics. While Marcelo Santos recorded the drums in Vercelli -north of Italy-, Dick laurent he could concentrate on recording the guitar in his own studio in Sardinia. I recorded the voices myself together with Killer Bob in his own studio in Genova and we took the opportunity to record the bass. Marcelo Santos and Frank Booth They made the final arrangements and the recording of the keyboards again at Vercelli. I supervised the process and took care of the mixing together with Dick laurent. Killer Bob took care of the mastering. I know this may be a strange way of working, but it was possible because we all have experience in recording and sound engineering. I personally have an invincible hatred. I am like a machine to point out errors and inaccuracies, that is why my contribution is so important during mixing.
'Carnival of Doom' It was the first single chosen for this album ...
Cadaver: Although I cannot affirm that 'Carnival of Doom' is a manifesto on the entire album, because as I already told you, each song has its identity, if I think it contains a balance about everything that is Cadaveria's music and has the presence of all my scales in the voice [grunts, screams, clean voices]. Its structure is simple enough so that it remains stuck in the mind of the listener and the lyrics and the atmosphere are very cinematographic, so in the future we will be able to make a video for this topic. But hey, 'Silence' is a bit more complicated, so its essence cannot be described by a single song, you must listen to it fully to understand the whole concept.
And the album cover is pretty cool too, I must add!
Cadaver: Well, many bands buy art that already existed for their covers or only pay a visual artist to create something for them. We don't work that way and generally we like to use drawings, so we like to create our covers based on a real photograph. I developed the idea from a sketch, then I asked the photographer Christian melfa to help me create it. He is an Italian artist whom I appreciate very much and who also took the recent photographs of the band. I liked the idea of a jester making the gesture of silence, a sinister figure that appears in card games. In the lyrics we have many references about teasing and unpredictable destiny. I put it in a kind of circus or old carnival, abandoned and dirty, one of those common places of horror films and that are so tied to my childhood memories. Once we had the cover, I took care of designing the rest of the digipack myself.
Just last year you released a DVD ['Karma']. Is the visual part something important for you within Cadaveria?
Cadaveria: Well, music is always the most important part, but once you have composed and recorded a good album you should be able to mix that music with images to give a 360 degree representation. Marcelo Santos And I are video makers, so it doesn't come naturally to imagine music in terms of images and translate them into a visual concept. 'Karma' is a retrospective DVD that offers a complete look at Cadaveria and its development at all levels: studio albums, live performances, photo shoots, music videos… In 'Karma' you see us working directly and in first person as directors , backstage. You can see how much we like to do all this ...
Until recently, the vast majority of your fans didn't even know your real name. Is hiding it for so long to bring a bit of mystery to the band?
Cadaver: I protected my privacy for more than 20 years and until 2013 nobody knew my real name. Then, I directed a video for the song 'Death Vision' and signed it with my real name. It was a kind of liberation, because after all I am the one behind it. Revealing my real name was an act of sincerity, but now I realize that some stupid people have used my real name to create fake Facebook profiles and that is quite irritating. I always think that people are mostly smart, but then I realize that idiocy is just around the corner.
Touring is heavy work for all bands. Do you prefer studio work or do you like being on stage in front of the audience more?
Corpse: I am a perfectionist and I like the study work, because I have the time to fix everything that needs to be fixed calmly. Being on stage is having to deal with many variables and many things that I have no control over, so the feeling is very different, but at the same time very exciting. I love the energy I can feel on stage and see people singing my songs. I like to see the faces of our fans, to see into their eyes, to give a face to the people who support you. That is so unique and real.
Killer Bob: Working in the studio gives you great satisfaction when you finish what you do, but traveling around the planet, visiting foreign countries and meeting so many people is so much better. Also, I think that the final goal of a musician is to play live, in front of people, because there is nothing on the planet like listening to an entire singing audience about your songs, nothing.
Do you have time to write songs while you are touring the world?
Cadaver: Guitarist Dick Laurent is a machine for creating riffs, he is always creating new music while we are on tour. For me it is very different, because to write I must be totally alone, at home, only me and my spirit to have a concrete idea of my feelings.
Will we have them back in Mexico soon? Around there they told me that they liked Guadalajara a lot ...
Killer Bob: We liked all the concerts in Mexico, but the one in Guadalajara was probably the best because of the venue and the people. Mexico is the country with our best fans, so we will be back very soon!
Here we wait for you. I hope you have no problem with spicy food ...
Killer Bob: Not at all! We love spicy food. We love Mexican food. To be honest, we eat almost everything and one of the things we like to do the most is to try local food in the countries we visit.
Mexico and Europe have unbreakable ties in all aspects. In particular, we love European bands and European bands love to come to Mexico ... Or so they say!
Killer Bob: Well look, I can't speak for other gangs, but in Mexico we can find a modern country that maintains its roots and traditions, without trying to imitate the lifestyle of other places as it happens in other American countries, for example, the United States. We appreciate it much and much more because Mexico has an atmosphere that we love very much.
Leaving aside the musical aspect, do you get the news of all the problems we have here lately?
Killer Bob: Well yes, but who the hell has no problems? Have you ever heard of a little thing called "The Mafia"? But the truth is that I really can't give an overly informed opinion ...
[Laughter] All right. But hey, thank you very much and see you around here soon, eh!
Cadaver: Thank you very much for the interview and thank you very much to all Mexicans for never abandoning us and giving us so much support. I invite you to visit our official page [www.cadaveria.com] and our social networks and I hope to see you again in the near future. Mexican promoters, we want to return! You already know how to contact us ... Silence!
