Dark, enchanting, sophisticated, meticulous, particular…. Such are the fumes of the short-lived musical entity of Lathebra. Interview with G. Principe. C. and F. P., who is now the owner of eccentric Italian dark music label MY KINGDOM MUSIC.G. Principe. C. – The twilight of the angels is a sort of mystic reign which represents a partial subversion of the normal existence. The title expresses the contrast between what is real and what isn’t real, a contrast which at the same time represents the inevitable union between matter and the spirit. The title of our demo is the symbolic place of the lathebra: an angelical twilight and we are the angels of this twilight…
For the demo, you have to attend a seven days studio session until it is completely finished…
G. Principe C. – Seven days are surely a lot of time to record a demo but I think that they are not too many. We wanted a work that satisfies our expectations under every single point of view and I can affirm that we are very satisfied about the final result even if the complete and total satisfaction is an utopia.
It’s neatly packaged, so you must be aiming for something more than just to introduce Lathebra to the scene…
F. P. – We have had the consciousness to have a good product since the beginning, so the fact to present it in a professional way, with a good production, a professional layout and a neat package has been just a consequence of our aim to present us in a certain way. Then Lathebra is not a simple band who play music to enjoy the listeners. Through our music we want to express our feelings and sensations and the only way to do it is to give to the listeners a visual scenario of what we feel, a picture which goes beyond the musical aspect.
Lyricwise, it seems that they’re some kind of revealing one’s ultimate feelings and emotions.
G. Principe C. – Lyrics are a sort of thoughts written in poetry and so they are subjected to personal and relative interpretations. What I can tell you is that they represent the ‘darkest’ side of our concept, the Lathebra’s gloomy manifestation and, by the way, they are something of really intimate and deep. They come from our innermost recesses….
The sleeve is beautified with images of women. I wonder why? Strong taste on artworks, by the way.
F. P. – I’m very delighted that you have noticed the beautiful images that are represent on the sleeve. The presence of a woman is due to the fact that the image represents, at the same time, the passionate and the spiritual side of the reality. The image is misty, enshrouded by a mystic halo and it is so mysterious that when I see it for the first time I was really enchanted by its beauty. I don’t know how to define the real sensation it gave me with simple words, but it represents in a perfect way the Lathebra’s concept and naturally the characteristics of our music and lyrics… I think it’s really superb with its mysterious charm!!!
The music is mostly covered in somber moods and depressions. Do you try to drift people’s mind with your music?
F. P. – I partially agree with your opinion because I think our music is characterized by somber and depressive moments, but these ones are often broken by dramatic and epic passages. I don’t know if the people who listen to our music are drifted by our sound, in any case we try only to express in music what we are and what we feel in a way that is more personal and as true as possible. I think that it’s the only certain aspect of our music and at the same time our main perspective, the other things are subjected to the personal opinion of the listeners.
Lathebra’s music is full of fantasy, right?
G. Principe C. – Surely my way to feel music is different by what the other people feel, so I don’t know how to answer to your question. Our music born in a spontaneous way, without any reflection. In this sense there is fantasy, even if it is absolutely not programmed. It’s natural like we are. But probably you’re referring to the compositive and creative fantasy and under this aspect, I’m agree with you undoubtedly. Fantasy as ‘mobility’ and creativity.
Basically I could sum up Lathebra’s music as some kind of melancholic, doomy type of black Metal, but maybe you have your own opinion…
G. Principe C. – Your definition of our music is probably the nearest to what it represents, almost in this moment, and to what we think of it. For what concerns our own perception of our music, all the members of the band have different opinions, but I think that they are only different opinions nothing more… The most important thing for us is that it is simply our music and we don’t care a lot about the labels that the musical scene can give us.
What are the elements that shape the sound of Lathebra? Do your surroundings play an integral part?
G. Principe C. – I think that more than the surroundings, what marksthe visions of an individual is his inwardness, his recesses. Nature, events, other aspects of the life are important too, but they are always filtered and transposed by each single individual in a different way and with different intensity. I think that the most enchanting place we can visit is our inwardness.
Do you consider Lathebra as an original band in one way or another?
G. Principe C. – Lathebra is a young band, only the time will tell if we are original. Now we have only expressed ourselves with a kind of music that we consider quite personal.
Tell us how the slow, depressive parts shape the ‘colour’ of the aggressive Metal music. It’s quite visible in Lathebra.
G. Principe C. – This is just the natural manifestation of our moods… it’s written in that way in our innermost recesses, so what you listen to in our music is the real expression of what we feel and the way in which we feel it. The blending of melancholic melodies and aggressive parts are probably the peculiarity of our sound. It’s the only way we have to express in music the different aspects of our personality.
F.P., you’re also the editor of Vampiria ‘zine. Being in a band and editing a fanzine, it must be very time consuming I guess.
F. P. – Vampiria ‘zine is my bleeding creature, probably another aspect of my personality and my essence, it’s born in 1995 with another name, Demonizzati, then I decided to change it to Vampiria. In these days I’ve released my second issue after the good responses of the first one and of a newsletter. In this issue called “The Arcane Beauty” there are 104 pages featuring interviews with all my fave bands involved in the dark, death and black scene. Some of them are Borknagar, Sopor Aeternus, Lycia, Funeral Oration, Nightfall and many others… There are tons of reviews, interesting articles about crusades, church of Satan and Gothic. I think it is a good product even if I’m not the right man to say it. You ask me if the band or ‘zine have ever bothered me. My answer is no!!! because it is a great passion of mine. Music is an important part of my life, and these are the ways I use to satisfy this passion.
Let’s talk about the black Metal scene in general. Lots of boycotting, backstabbing, gossiping isn’t it?
F. P. – I think that a true black soul doesn’t lose his time in spreading shit or praises about other bands, but he follows his own path, neglecting what happens around him. Naturally this so called mystic halo of hate that is now inside the black Metal scene is a natural evolution of the great trend that is burn around this musical phenomenon, but I remember that black Metal was born just to express the dark feelings of an individual… This is my opinion the true essence of black Metal.
A bit about the Italian black Metal scene. There’s an anti-Norwegian movement going on there right?
F. P. – Probably you know the best Italian bands involved in this kind of music (Mortuary Drape, Necromass, Funeral Oration, Handful of Hate, Opera IX and few others). Now there are a lot of new black Metal bands but I don’t see originality or true black feelings in what they propose. The only new promise of Italian scene is a band called The Magik Way, they are in my opinion a great band, one of the few new reality of Italian underground. About the anti-Norwegian movement, I know it exists, but I don’t like to speak much about it, because I think in the world there is only True music or False music and I don’t think it is so important the geographic origins of this or that band. In any case I don’t know the real essence of this movement, probably there are other reasons that I don’t know.
Does Lathebra means just a mere music group to you?
G. Principe C. – Lathebra is more than a simple band, it’s a way to see the things and the events around us. It’d exist even if it was not the representation of a band.
Got some plans already to shape the future of Lathebra?
F. P. – Naturally we are working at the following act of our musical manifestation and so we are working on new songs even if our musical songwriting is very difficult and very long, so at the moment nothing is definitive. Very soon, probably in June, We’ll take part in a Cd-compilation released by the Italian label NOCTURNAL MUSIC. It is a compilation featuring Italian bands and among these are very promising acts of the Italian scene. Other projects at the moment are very uncertain so I can only say that the future will speak for us…
Thanks for participating in this issue.
F. P. – I would like to thank you a lot for your support and this very enticing interview. It’s very difficult to answer to good questions and to give our opinion about what we feel and not about what we play. My darkest greetings to thee and… Kiss My Scars!!!
http://www.angelfire.com/la/lathebra/
www.mykingdommusic.net/
Is there any.. any possibility of getting the lyric of "Antra"???
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