Carmine

Subliminal Fear

Even though melodic Death Metal/Metalcore is a Metal genre I hate for being so common and uninspired, there are a few bands that show that they can really make the difference. The Italian metallers proved that they have the talent to play this kind of music in a more than good way and after my review, I was more than willing for an interview with the band's singer Carmine. Let's see what he had to say about his band's debut album.
By Yiannis Dafopoulos
April 1, 2008
Carmine (Subliminal Fear) interview
Hello there and congratulations on your new album! Can you give us a short bio about the band?

Hi to everyone there, thanks really for your compliments about our new album. SUBLIMINAL FEAR was born in 2001, me and the bassist Alessio are the former members, then Doddo (guitar) has been added to the band and we began to write our material, after we played for years some AT THE GATES and IN FLAMES songs.

We recorded our first demo in 2005 with a real good response from people and webzines, and afterwards Burning Star Records made us a deal and we started to write new songs.

In that period we had changed the drummer and Marco became our new drummer and after the recording session of the album Alfredo joined the band as a guitar player.

How did you manage to sign a contract with Burning Star Records? Are you satisfied with the effort they have put on the band until now?

I think they were attracted to our demo and they decided to call us for a release. We need their support and I hope it will arrive very very soon.

Uncoloured World Dying is your debut album. How do you feel about this release? Is it like a dream coming true?

Well, yes it's a dream coming true. We have spent so much time in studio working on these songs and now we can say indeed that we are really satisfied about our debut album. We are so excited and happy people all over the world can finally listen to our music.

You hail from Italy, a country with many Gothic, Power and Black Metal bands. How did you decide to play this kind of music?

We are tempted ad infinitum with Death and Thrash Metal, but we wanted to create something more personal, a unique sound able to unite extreme parts with other melodic ones. So I think we have done a decent work and we will continue with this experimentation in our music in the future.

Many people describe your music as melodic Death Metal, while others as Metalcore. What do you believe fits better your music? Do you have your own description about your tunes?

Reading reviews of the album many of them say this, that we can be between these kinds of styles, and they put us in the middle of these two genres of music; sincerely we don't care about a definition for our music. We play our songs because we like what we are doing and we will wait to hear better things from the others.

You managed to play in Total Metal Festival and share the stage with bands like NECRODEATH, DGM and HIGHLORD. How was that experience for you?

It has been a real good and funny experience taking part in one of the best festivals in the South of Italy and it has been a big pleasure for us to share the stage with these excellent bands.

In that contest we played in front of many people and we have verified the reactions of a heterogeneous public.

Burning Star has quite a few Italian bands in its roster. Have you met any of your Italian label mates?

This is the confirmation that the quality of the Italian bands is growing. We know that all of these bands in the BS roster are very good, but we live in the South and it's difficult for us to meet them. Maybe one day we will play some shows together and this will be the chance for a meeting.

Who writes the lyrics and what do they have to do with?

I have written all of the lyrics in the album. This is not a concept album and every song has got a personal story, but all words speak about the world we live in, dominated by fears, pain and indifference and not by joy, because for our eyes it will be uncolored and dying.

Tell us a few things about the one who created the artwork and what does it represent.

All the artwork is created by Davide Nadalin from Nerve Design, in my opinion a very talented Italian guy, that has designed covers for bands like NILE, EXTREMA, THRESHOLD and THE DUSKFALL. When I saw his works, suddenly I thought that it was what we needed for our music, so I asked him to work for us and he replied positively. The cover of the album communicates with feelings and senses of all lyrics, that is desolation, fears, pain, no resolution, destruction and a renouncement that these things will improve... I think the cover of Uncolored World Dying is perfect to communicate a decayed world without passions.

Why did Ivano and Enzo leave the band? Were there any musical differences, problems between the members?

Yes, the main point is that Ivano and Enzo have been with us and have shared experiences and they have contributed to the growth of the band, but despite this they have decided to leave the band for their personal reasons.

What is your opinion on the internet? Do you believe it hurts the music industry?

I think that the music you can find on the internet web has good and bad consequences at the same time. Surely it's true that music industry is in crisis because of the millions of files that are being shared, but for the bands and their new albums it could be also a good free promotion. For example, if someone doesn't know yet our album and after having downloaded it on internet he can say Wow! It is a fucking beautiful album! I want buy it!

What is the feedback you've got from both the press and the fans until now?

It is very good, we are a young band and due to this album our notoriety is continually growing. In last days we are receiving excellent reviews and a lot of messages from fans. I think people like the album in that way I have imagined and I have hoped.

What are your plans for now? Have you scheduled any tours or gigs for the promotion of Uncolored World Dying? Are you going to visit Greece for any live performances?

Yes we are working on it, waiting for good solutions and now some problems are resolved, surely we would like also to play in Greece, and I hope it could be very soon.

Why did you choose the name SUBLIMINAL FEAR for the band?

When we were thinking about a name for our band, we desired something that it could be easy to remember, direct and comparable with music we played and with a cool sound. We want when someone is talking about our band he could say Wonderful, it's a very cool and aggressive name for a band!

In our songs, themes we speak about are those obscure atmospheres you can feel and touch when human beings are in front of their subconscious and subliminal fears.

Which bands have influenced your music?

A lot of bands, personally I listen to many Swedish bands such as SOILWORK, IN FLAMES, DARK TRANQUILITY and AT THE GATES, but everyone of us in the band has got his own music tastes and this thing is positive because our sound is full of different elements that balance between extreme and melodic music... We are always in a continuous experimentation, searching for a personal sound.

Thank you for your time and I hope you achieve to fulfill all of your dreams as a band. The last words are yours...

Thank you so much for this interview! It was a pleasure. I would like to thank all readers of this webzine too and I invite all of you to listen to our debut album Uncoloured World Dying... and we will not disappoint you, have faith! See you the next time.

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