Fabio Carretti, bass player and vocalist of the Italian Black/Death Metal band Hierophant answered my questions about Death Siege, their new album.
Hello and first of all, thank you very much for your time.
Fabio Carretti (bass/vocals): Hey, Fabio from Hierophant here.
How do you link the name Hierophant with the music you play?
Fabio: Truth be told, there’s no connection between the two.
Death Siege, your new album, is about to come out, how do you feel about it? Did you already have some feedback?
Fabio: We feel great about it; we already had many overwhelming feedback, but it’s not like we need those to be honest. We strongly believe in what we do without the need for external approval.
How would you sum Death Siege up with three words only?
Fabio: Death Metal Chaos.
How does the composition process happen? Was it different from your previous releases?
Fabio: We were forced to do everything online because of the pandemic; I really hope that we won’t have to do that again in the future.
On this new album, I noticed more Old School patterns, like on Devil Incarnate or Crypt of Existence. What are your inspirations for this album?
Fabio: You are right indeed. I think Morbid Angel sums it up.
How do you create a balance between all your influences to create this oppressive and unholy sound? How did you decide to go from Blackened Sludge with Hardcore influences to more Black/Death oriented-music back in time?
Fabio: We really didn’t think about such things; we just followed what we thought was the right thing to do.
I couldn’t exactly explain why, but my favorites songs are In Chaos, In Death and Abysmal Annihilation. Do those ones have a special story?
Fabio: In chaos, In Death was one of the first names we thought for the record’s title. Abysmal Annihilation definitely has one of the heaviest main riffs of the whole album.
Do you see the album as a whole package, or as a compendium of several independent songs? Why?
Fabio: Writing process started slowly, but once it was going we wrote everything in a very short time; I’d say we see it as a whole package.
Since 2020, Covid-19 crisis fucked a lot of things up, how did you face the situation as a band? Did it have an impact on the album?
Fabio: Things were postponed for 2 years so yeah, that messed up all plans.
What can you tell me about the evolution of the music scene in your area?
Fabio: There is none, unfortunately.
Do you think you still improve yourselves as musicians?
Fabio: I personally don’t really care about that, as long as I’m good to play out music it’s already enough.
How is the collaboration with Season of Mist?
Fabio: We have a really good relationship with them. Needless to say they have a strong role in promoting our band and helping us spreading our music.
What led you to the Metal universe back in time? What was the very first album you ever bought?
Fabio: I think a friend of mine gave me the first Slipknot record (on tape) when I was in 6th grade, I enjoyed the fact they were screaming and making noise basically. Then I found out about Slayer and Metallica, and it was all downhill from there.
What do you know about the French Metal scene? Which French bands do you know and like?
Fabio: That is way better than ours. I’d say Deathspell Omega, Necrowretch, Regarde les Hommes Tomber are incredible bands.
What if I ask you to compare Hierophant’s music with a dish? Which one and why?
Fabio: I don’t know.
Are there any musicians or bands you would like to collaborate with? Whether it is for one song, an album…
Fabio: I don’t think so, we’re good this way.
Last question: which bands would you love to tour with? I let you create a tour with Hierophant as opener and three other bands!
Fabio: Profanatica, Watain, Morbid Angel.
That was the last question for me, so thank you very much for your time and your music, last words are yours!
Fabio: Thanks for having us.