Interview with: Stephan Forte from ADAGIO

Thank you very much!

Well, I have to admit, I am really surprised because, apart one truly negative review from Sweden (2/20), we have only great reviews so far, from 8/10 to 19/20. That's awesome; we were far from expecting that.

Well, we didn't share the same definition of working hard. It was not possible to keep on doing things this way with him, so we did what we felt was the best for ADAGIO.

During the auditions we received many demos from French singers, some people were very good but it is very difficult to have everything it is needed to be a good Metal singer. It was necessary to find a technical singer with a great pronunciation but also somebody very charismatic who knows how to hold a stage. For us, only Chris had all those things.

Yes definitely! The choice to put Vamphyri as an opener was obvious as it really introduces the new ADAGIO sound. It reflects the evolution of our tastes and our desire to do something heavier and straighter in terms of structure.

No, the choice to move to a more aggressive sound was already made from the Dominate album. With Archangels In Black, we wanted to go to a more aggressive direction but also recover the progressive colours of Underworld. Chris is a very melodic singer but we asked him to put himself into the mood of the album and the result was a way more aggressive vocal direction.

For the first time we are entirely satisfied with an album. The fact that Kevin and I handled the production, made us go into any detail, and try to improve whatever we were not 100% satisfied with

I think that the easiest way to label ADAGIO would just be Dark Progressive Metal. However, it is true that musical direction is less progressive and more Metal, so whatever metalheads are listening to, I just think that ADAGIO can gather fans of Metal in general.

ADAGIO is a concept as a band, and this album is just a new chapter of this concept. I would say that, the main theme of the album is darkness. I have my very own meaning of what darkness is. But what it means for me will not probably mean the same for someone else. To me, it is a mental environment; somewhere I can hide when I need to and want to be alone. I close that sort of gate to the world and I'm going back home. This home is a part of what darkness represents for me. It is also of course my conception of art and atheism.

No, it was simply an obligation from our previous Japanese label.

I'm writing all the lyrics.

As far as Metal popularity goes, we are still one of the worst countries in Europe. Things are slightly going better, but there is still a lot to do. It is very difficult to be taken seriously when you're dealing with some foreign partners, because they have their own idea of how French people works, which is unfortunately true in most of the case. Yes, the vibe between French bands is cool, but there is no particular band we're close to.

No, it's still vague for the moment as it's very difficult to find some spare time both of us.

Yes, we did the first show of the tour in Paris, with the great progressive band TO-MERA from the U.K. as a support act, then we'll do a fest with SCAR SYMMETRY, SADIST and many other great bands in Aprill 11th, Then we'll play at Hellfest on June 21st. A tour is being booked at the moment in U.K. and Germany as a support to a bigger band.

Thanks a lot for your cool questions Harry. We are definitely looking forward to play Greece this year! All the best, Stephan.