Hi this is Jay reporting from Bogota, Colombia…
Today I’m lucky enough to be talking with the mighty Wampyric Ghostlord…blood-soaked Vampyric Black Metal band from Italy. Buonasera ! Come stai? thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk to our readers…
1- When / why/ where was Wampyric Ghostlord formed?
Good evening! First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you at Masters of Kaos, both for the space you are giving me with this interview and for the interest you have placed in Wampyric Ghostlord and for including me in the family of your label. I am really grateful for that! To begin with, my first intentions for founding this project originated in 2022 in wanting to have a project where my compositional vein and artistic ideas would be the only backbone and where I could collect many of the ideas that didn't fit in with the other projects I was involved in or am still involved in, along with other new songs that could blend well into this nefarious set of ideas. From here I started to compose more and more music, especially after the release of the first demo ‘Relentless Cold Despair’, from which I wanted to put together the first guidelines regarding the themes of Wampric Ghostlord. From here I thought of writing lyrics that would not only speak of ghosts, vampirism, misanthropy and diabolical ritualism, but to almost carry a story, to literally create a verisimilar scenario of resurrected demons and a world dominated by them devoured by the apocalypse, where all of this would come together in a very articulate vision that would define Wampyric Ghostlord. I wanted the project to have its own identity, something that would make it unique and which I am still defining step by step, without neglecting any detail, to arrive at a solid identity and a well-defined style, albeit rich in different influences and cues. I didn't want this project to be a mere creative outlet, but something that had a definite meaning and a life of its own outside of all the projects I am currently working on.
Run us through your bestial discography and tell our readers where they can digital and physical copies
The first demo ‘Relentless Cold Despair’ maintains for now the guidelines of the style I would like to see emerge from future releases; icy, but still melodic, with riffs that evolve throughout the song. All punctuated by ambient intervals that often recall dungeon synth sounds and melodies. I would like to articulate my music in such a way that the riffs alternate, they pick up again, they change tempo making it as varied as possible. In contrast to all this was ‘Hideous Hearts of Nightmares’ which was a real exaltation of gloomy oldschool coolness mixed with anger and straightforward punk simplicity, all the while maintaining a gloomy atmosphere that I can guarantee you will still find in future Wampyric Ghostlord releases.
What inspires your music? What are your lyrics about?
It is difficult to define what inspires me to write my lyrics and songs. Clearly, what I most want is for the listener to be catapulted into my fantasy scenario where pain, despair and vampiric mysticism reign. I try to recreate and describe icy landscapes of a wild and primordial nature, medieval villages and kingdoms where my stories are set and where the events and protagonists that I will define in more detail in future releases will take place. As I have already said, I want to create an entire world and to do this I try to take my cue from some historical references, such as traditions, customs, torture methods and obscure medieval European folklore, and then combine them with references to wild lands, desolate moors and icy mountains that will be part of the fantasy setting of this world. Many inspirations in writing the melodies I take from many artists who manage with their music to take me back to ancient and mystical worlds or remind me of a desolate and cold nature, such as Moonsorrow, Agalloch, Burzum, Windir, Taake, Bathory and many others, mixing them with a sometimes well-directed and more aggressive composition, very often punk but still melodic. I try to find the right balance between all these cues, so that everything is perfectly balanced and each song on an album is consistent with all the others.
4) 4- What bands have influenced you? What music did you listen to growing up?
My long-time friends and I grew up listening to the best known bands such as Metallica, Iron Maiden, Children of Bodom, Slayer, Anthrax, etc. We would spend our teenage years passing on new songs to each other to listen to by lending each other CDs or going at each other's houses to play or listen music. During this time I developed a really strong passion for extreme music, but I was really bewitched when I got into the first wave of Norwegian black metal. Right from the start, I was bewitched by the mystical atmospheres Burzum weaved in Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, by the diabolical and icy rage of Gorgoroth in Pentagram and Antichrist, and finally by the varied and intricate melodies composed in Taake's first three albums. From there I never left, I knew that was my path. I happily listen to many metal sub-genres, but when they often take me for a while and then tire me out, moving on to listen to something else, my love for black metal never dies. When my listening then landed on the beaches of Finland, there I found my second great source of inspiration. I owe a great deal to bands like Horna, Satanic Warmaster and Impaled Nazarene, which led me to fall in love with these dark punk melodies full of energy but in their own way imbued with this evil, dark and some times melancholic epicness. In time, a strong love was born for the last band that completes the circle of my compositional vision and in many ways deviates from the previous ones: Agalloch. I greatly admire the icy and melancholic folklore that characterises each of their records in an always original way, it really feels like being in the middle of mountains and forests crowned by a blanket of snow and ice. Sometimes when I write music I feel the need to slip in some melodic arpeggios in triplets, sometimes with an acoustic guitar. This for example is what happened with the song ‘Wallachian Apparitions’, where in the second half of the song the triplets are introduced, changing the course of the piece. In this way I feel I can give that touch of sadness and melancholy that doesn't spoil the epicness or grit of a song.
5) What equipment do you use and what is the recording process?
So far I have tried to work with my basic instrumentation that I keep in my small home studio. With a small sound recording device I can record the clean parts of guitars and bass and then go on to add distortions, reverbs, and various other effects to then elaborate everything and try to do a mix and mastering based on my personal taste. As a bass I use a Music Man Stingray 5-string, the jewel in my equipment that has accompanied me since I started studying music at the age of 15. I almost consider it both as a son and as a trusted companion of adventures and I would never part with it, in fact I wouldn't want to change it for anything in the world. As guitars I have used a B.C. Rich to record up to now, but from the next recordings I will use an Ibanez that has just joined the family of my instrumentation. As drums I use a drum machine from Ugritone, Kvlt Drums, which I personally find to be of very good quality and with sounds that are not too plastic. Each time I export and replay everything with different devices until I am fully satisfied with how the production came out. Often just to lower the decibels of a single track by a small amount, I find myself re-exporting everything and listening again. For vocals, however, it's more complicated: because I live in a flat near the street, I can't record vocals at home at all, so I have to rent a studio or rehearsal room each time, where I go with my laptop and my sound card and record the vocals there, which I will edit when I get home.
6)Do you have new releases planned for 2025?
I have already recorded a couple of pieces so I have to finish the lyrics that will make up the project's new EP. To give you a little spoiler, they will be very long songs, almost making it to 30 minutes total on the EP. In addition I am planning a split with Noirsuaire, a fairly young project but one that has already offered some really interesting and darkly charged releases. I really suggest you to go listen them! For other releases we'll see during the year, I don't stop writing music and may that some more surprises will come out. In the meantime I am already working on the second album which is completely written and ready to be recorded.
7)What are your plans for the future? Will Wampyric Ghostlord be playing live ??
I don't plan to play live for now, but I would really like to bring my music to the stages in the future. But this will take time and patience, but in the meantime I will continue to write more and more music and I am organising to release my releases in physical formats. Soon there will also be official Wampyric Ghostlord merchandise.
8)Do you have any side projects apart from WG?
Besides Wampyric Ghostlord I also play in other projects, such as Falce, which is the band with which I officially released my first songs and which we are returning to writing music with after a few years of silence, and Galpedar, which I founded with my best friend and guitarist Helhest and which we have now completed the line-up, we are writing new songs for our first album and will soon be preparing to tread the stages live. In addition to these two major projects, I am also working on a few side projects with Helhest, always ranging between black metal and dungeon synth. We have a lot of ideas and we always try to give space to whatever comes into our minds and if the songs we write don't fit well with a project, we start a new one, always trying to make sense of the music we write. In addition to Helhest I have a lot of other music written just waiting to be recorded. Unfortunately, however, the time I have available is never a lot and neither it's for the other people I work with, so we try to do our best in our own time.
9)Tell us about the current scene there in Italy… recommend some bands for our readers to check out
I must admit that the Black Metal scene in Italy is becoming more and more alive. There are many bands that are emerging recently, full of energy and desire to play with really good ideas that you would love to listen to, as well as many bands of the old guard that still after years of activity always manage to come up with exceptional music that manages to thrill you. If I had to recommend a few bands, obviously outside of my side projects, I would recommend among the new bands Black Raptus, XXII Arcana, End, Black Ancestry, Morcolac, Canticum Diaboli and Ticinum, while among the old guard I would always recommend Imago Mortis, Adversam (who are making a comeback after a long time) Stormcrow and Abhor, bands that have never disappointed in their entire discography. The real problem in Italy is not so much the bands as the audience… Very often when I go to concerts I always see very few people, unless it is a really important name and sometimes not even for them. On top of that, many concerts are held during the week, and people working can't afford to travel so many kilometres in one evening to go and see a band play, and this has my sincere understanding. Many people who live in the area don't go at all, because there is no culture here of ‘hey, these guys are playing tonight, I never listened to them but let's go see what they do’, even if the concert is free! A lot of people don't care about supporting up-and-coming bands, and they have to do what they can to make a name for themselves, either by playing alongside big names or by organising a weekend gig where they know they can count on their circle of fans and trusted people. it's a really fucked-up situation…
10)what are your top 5 metal albums of all time and why?
This is a very complicated question, so I would prefer to say my five most favourite metal albums, and/or the ones that inspired me the most. In fifth place I would put Time I by Wintersun. It is definitely one of the albums I have listened to the most and Jari's compositional ability has always fascinated me and when Time I was released I remember I couldn't stop listening to it. It was truly complete, so many instruments and effects that together created a true work. Nothing was left to chance and every instrument and effect was studied to the millimetre so that they added value to the melody, without being too much and without detracting from the importance of every other instrument. In fourth place I would put Kivenkantaja by Moonsorrow. For me, they are still the very epitome of how black metal and folklore manage to merge perfectly, creating a mystical aura that takes one back to snowy mountains and forests, to Nordic pagan tribes and their rituals. When I listen to this album in particular, but as with every other one of their records, I feel as if I am catapulted back in time to more than a thousand years ago, amidst camps and villages in the middle of the taiga, on the frontlines of battles where iron screeches and blood flows in rivers, and amidst dances and rituals around night fires. Where in life and death every warrior holds his honour high. I really feel I am in the midst of the customs of these pagan peoples. There is no one who can arouse these emotions when I listen to a record. In third place I would put Hordalands Doedskvad by Taake. A perfectly researched and produced black metal album, original, tireless, innovative, perfect production, there is nothing wrong with this album and it is absolutely unmatched. Each song is perfect in its own way and never tires on listening, although there are pieces that exceed 7-8 minutes in length. Hoest's talent and compositional technique is something that has always been unbelievable to me, he really manages to squeeze the most varied elements into his style that blend perfectly with the style of the song without clashing or changing the direction of the song. The man is truly a genius. In second place I would put Hvis Lyset Tar Oss from Bruzum. For this was one of the few albums that I started to fall in love with black metal and the most I listened since my first approach to the genre, never getting me tired of it. I remember in some articles that Varg said he wanted to create magic with his music, to take the listener through distant worlds of lost traditions. Well with this album he has really succeeded. As I listen to every single track, I become completely estranged from the real world, I lose myself in the midst of these dark, primordial worlds into which the artist leads and I feel at one with them. It's not the same feeling I get from listening to Moonsorrow or Agalloch (spoiler alert, they're in first place). I just feel lost in a spell created by the 90's synth melodies and the hypnotic rhythms of the guitars. Every song is magic, a portal to the dark and fantastic lands created by Vikernes. In first place, as already mentioned, is definitely The Mantle by Agalloch. An album in which the dark folfklore described by the band is combined with strong emotions. I do not consider it strictly a black metal album, rather I believe instead that black metal was a really important tool in the band's compositional process. A fundamental element of the band's totally personal, original and unequalled style, steeped in melancholy and desolation, all channelled into this icy folklore. The acoustic parts written by the band are my main source of inspiration when I want to write a clean part and very often you will find that the melodies in my songs are very much inspired by Agalloch's style, as I find it is the perfect way to incorporate acoustic elements into any of my songs without doing something weird that compromises my style or clashes with the rest of the album.
11)What is your opinion of the current Black Metal, not just in Italy, but globally speaking?
Undoubtedly, more and more good bands are coming out, while even historic bands almost never fail to give us great satisfaction even after so many albums behind them. There is no shortage of people who take a lot of inspiration from the great classics, offering truly enjoyable music, and then there are those who really bring out beautiful, original masterpieces, laden with the lessons of past bands and who have managed to find and confirm their identity, as I think Havukruunu, Wiegedood and, most of all, Stormkeep are! There's only one thing I can't appreciate about the black metal scene, still speaking on a worldwide level, and that is that alongside so many bands in whose veins the true charge and passion for black metal is pumping, there are as many who approach this genre without inspiration and an identity of their own, making music to feel part of something that doesn't belong to them… There are more and more people who try to approach this genre for ‘fashion’, which I hate terribly. So many bands that bring to the table bullshit themes and at times border on the ridiculous, so many others that copy the same tunes over and over again making songs that go nowhere and that you can't even find enjoyable to listen to because it seems a bunch of things arranged together just to make a song, just to do an album. Black metal is not a fashion. In my opinion you don't have to make music to feel part of something that clearly doesn't belong to you.
12)Do you have any words of wisdom for young musicians looking to follow in your footsteps?
First of all, I would like to thank all of you who took the time to read this interview. I really appreciate it. Secondly, as said before, please don't make music because it's nice to feel part of something. Whether you are talking about black metal or any other genre. Find your calling, find your inspiration, find your art and your personality. Above all, make music that you really like, don't make music thinking about satisfying the novelty-hungry masses. Do what you feel you do best and put your whole heart and a lot of head into it. Always have the thought in your mind when you write ‘I like this song, it doesn't seem predictable and it manages to move and excite me’, because that is the most important thing: being able to satisfy completely yourself. In this way you will certainly also excite others, but if not, you will always have pleased yourself. This takes time and commitment, but with the right passion, great things can be done. Go to concerts, support up-and-coming bands, talk to musicians when you have the opportunity and also hear their stories and experiences. Even from there you will find inspiration or be shown paths you would not have thought of taking.
13)Would you like to add anything for our readers?
I would like to sincerely urge all readers to do what they can to support the underground, because everyone grew up with the famous bands, but it is those who are now emerging who are making an important contribution to the current black metal scene. They will be the bands of the future. They will be the ones who will continue to carry on your passion for black metal. Go to concerts, buy their merch, exchange even a few words with them and show your appreciation. For those who, like me, put all their effort into the music, we appreciate any kind of support that comes from the fans, whether it is simply sharing our music with your friends. We are the ones who create the music you love the most, but it is you the listeners who make us great and give meaning to what we do, and we are really counting on you. So again, thank you for taking the time to read this interview, because this is also support for us. Long live the black arts flame, in darkness we'll be free again!
Molte Grazie Wampyric Ghostlord Hails! 666 Wampyric Ghostlord https://wampyricghostlord.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/people/Wampyric-Ghostlord-official/100086587007539/ https://www.instagram.com/wampyricghostlordofficial/
