DOMINEDOMINE
The Italian band DOMINE have released a lot
of albums so far, and they have a strong underground following.
They are not as popular as RHAPSODY and LABYRINTH, but actually
they should deserve to be as popular as them, because the band
has an own style, which sets them apart from all those
RHAPSODY-clones currently coming out of Italy. DOMINE is playing
True 80s Melodic Metal with strong MAIDEN similarities, yet with
an own approach. I did a long interview with the band, because
who would have thought they exists for more than 20 years now!
Please introduce us your band, when did you form DOMINE?
Hi Everybody ! We are Domine, we come from Florence, Italy and we
play a kind of Metal that many people describe has Epic Power
Metal. We are around for quite some time. I put together the very
first line-up of Domine in 1983, with some school mates. In the
beginning we were just learning to play and did some covers.
Things got a little better when we started writing our own songs.
We did our first demo in 1986 and we did 3 more demos in the
following years until 1994. We were very amateurish and the metal
scene in Italy was simply not existent. It was really hard to
play live and there were just a couple of independent labels
which signed Italian bands, with bad results. So, it took a lot
of time to get better and put together a good line-up. This
happened in 1995 and we started to work on our first album.
Did any of you play in
bands before DOMINE?
No. I started Domine and that has always been my band and top
priority. In 1991, I help Mimmo’s band Masterstroke (Domine
drummer for the first two cds) but that was a different kind of
band and it did not contrast with Domine in any way. Mimmo was in
other bands before Domine, beside Masterstroke. He played in a
lot of bands in Florence during the 80s before he joined a band
called Death SS and he did 2 albums with them. After that he got
Masterstroke and then joined Domine. Morby is the one who had
more experiences. He started singing in 1981 in a band called
Airspeed, then joined Sabotage and did 2 albums with them. They
were a great band, one of the best in Italy in those days and
they got really near to sign a big contract with Metal Blade in
1988. After Sabotage split, Morby sang in many different bands
like LaRox, Time Machine, Labyrinth and Rio Bravo. Stefano, our
actual drummer used to play in a black metal band called
Necromass and did 2 cds with
them. Riccardo, my brother, has always been in Domine, while
Riccardo, keyboards player, had just played in bands with friends
with no releases. He’s the kid of the band.
Please tell us all
about your previous CDs...
We have recorded 3 albums before “Emperor Of The Black Runes”.
The very first cd was called “Champion Eternal” and it
was releases in 1997. It was some kind of a new start, with a new
and stronger line-up and a lot of songs to play. It came out
after many years in the underground and the four demo tapes and
we had established our personal style and in the cd there are
Epic Metal songs like “Stormbringer (The Black Sword)”,
“Army of The Dead” and Power Metal assaults like “The
Mass Of Chaos” and “The Midnight Meat Train”. Some
of the songs have progressive structures like the epic title
track, “The Eternal Champion”, a 12 minutes long suite
divided in seven parts. The first cd was recorded with a very low
budget but we got some good feedback from the fans of the classic
Heavy Metal style. We started to get some attention and we played
as support for bands like Rage and Grave Digger. In 1999 we
recorded our second album “Dragonlord – Tales Of The
Noble Steel”; It’s the first cd with Riccardo on
keyboards. The album has been recorded at New Sin Audio Design
studio with a bigger budget. The studio has become a leading
light for Italian heavy metal bands, thanks to the great skills
of sound engineer Luigi Stefanini. Songs like “Dragonlord
(The Grand Master Of The Mightiest Beasts)”, “Last Of
The Dragonlord (Lord Elric’s Imperial March)” and the
13 minutes long “The Battle For The Great Silver Sword”
(A Suite in VII Parts) are the most EPIC tracks ever recorded by
the band, while fans of more aggressive and faster songs are
crushed by the double bass drums assault of “Thunderstorm”
and “Defenders”. Morby proves to be the Best Heavy
Metal Singer of the Italian scene, with his incredible range. We
signed a deal with Metal Blade for the release of “Dragonlord”
in USA and the cd was licensed in Brazil, along with the
re-release of “Champion Eternal”.
“Dragonlord” is also
released in Japan, with a cover of Queensryche’s classic
“Queen Of The Reich” as bonus, and in Taiwan. “Dragonlord”
got enthusiastic reviews in all the most important magazines.
Soon after the recording of the album, drummer Mimmo decided to
quit musical activities. New drummer is Stefano Bonini. After the
release of the album, the band began live activity, playing a
sold out gig in Athens, Greece, and undertaking their first
European tour with Riot, Anvil and Agent Steel. The tour was
called “Metallic Movement 2000” and travelled across
Holland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland,
France and Spain. We did a lot of shows, playing at the Gods Of
Metal Festival 2000 with Iron Maiden and with bands like Running
Wild, Rage, Gamma Ray, Grave Digger. in April 2001, we recorded
our 3rd album “Stormbringer Ruler – The Legend of the
Power Supreme”, again at New Sin Audio Design.
"Stormbringer Ruler" is again powerful and personal
album of EPIC POWER METAL with the speed metal assaults of
"The Hurricane Master" and "True Leader Of
Men";
the symphonic arrangements of "The Ride Of The
Valkyries", a tribute to Richard Wagner; the celtic
harmonies of "The Bearer Of The Black Sword" and
"Dawn Of A New Day - A Celtic Requiem"; the slow and
emotional "For Evermore" and the Epic Metal rides of
"Horn Of Fate" and "The Fall Of The Spiral
Tower". Four songs are parts of a mini-concept entitled
“The Chronicles of the Black Sword – The End on an Era”,
inspired by the final part of the saga of Elric of Melnibonč,
and tells the story of the final destiny of Michael Moorcock’s
Elric Of Melnibonč, Dragonlord and Ruler of the Black Sword
Stormbringer. We also recorded a cover version of the mega
classic “Stargazer” by Ritchie Blackmore’s
Rainbow, one of the very first Epic Metal songs ever, for Japan
only. Again, a lot of enthusiastic reviews was licensed and
released in Japan, Taiwan, USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and
Russia. After the release, we did more shows, Gods Of Metal
Festival 2002 (with Manowar and Blind Guardian) and Wacken Open
Air 2002 (on the True Metal stage).
Your new
CD has just been released, please tell me all about it.
The cd is called “Emperor Of The Black Runes” and it’s
Domine’s fourth album. We recorded the album in May 2003 and
we were scheduled for release in October but then we got a very
good offer from the Japanese label Avalon. They offered a good
deal for a license but they ask to release the album before
anybody else in November. We had to delay the release to February
because of all the Christmas holidays but the Japanese offer was
too good to refuse. They even had a cover of the Riot classic
“Altar Of The King” as exclusive bonus track ! Anyway,
the new album is another piece of Epic Power Metal in our own
style. If you liked our previous album you are going to love this
one better ! We are very happy with the result, it’s a good
mix of long Epic Metal songs and fast Power Metal tracks. We have
improved the sound again, and we have work more on the
arrangments than previous albums. In our opinion “Emperor Of
The Black Runes” is another step forward for Domine, were
we are pushing the limits of the band’s style with a good
balance of fast, classic heavy metal songs and long EPIC tracks.
We wrote songs in the style we love, putting a better effort in
production and arrangements, making the new songs traditional and
exciting at the same time.
The new cd shows Domine playing songs in our own Epic Power Metal
style but with a few injections of Prog Rock, Hard Rock, Celtic
and acoustic music. The songs are really aggressive when they are
heavy and fast and
atmospheric when they are more melodic or acoustic. We have a few
powerful speed metal assaults like opener “Battle Gods (Of
The Universe)” and “True Believer”, which are the
most “live” sounding songs with a crushing and
aggressive sound, while songs like “Arioch, The Chaos Star”
and “The Song Of The Swords” follow the classic 80’s
metal tradition of Judas Priest Priest and Iron Maiden. “The
Aquilonia Suite” is an 11 minutes titanic “tour de
force” based on the “Conan The Barbarian” books by
R.E. Howard and on the movie soundtrack by Basil Poledouris. More
Epic Metal mixed with Celtic harmonies comes back in ultra Epic
“The Sun Of The New Season” and in the all-acoustic
track “The Forest Of Light”, a track which shows Domine’s
appreciation of Jethro Tull, Genesis, Loreena McKennitt and Irish
folk music. A fair amount of melody shows up in “Prince In
The Scarlet Robe” (based on the Corum books by Michael
Moorcock) and “Icarus Ascending” with some
hints of Hard Rock (Kansas, Queen). You can tell there’s a
good variety of sounds. I hope you like you.
Are there
any stories behind the songs on your new CD?
Well, the lyrics on this album are in part based on books and on
more personal thoughts and experiences. I’m a huge Heroic
Fantasy and Sword’n’Sorcery litterature fan, I love
writers like Micheal Moorcock, Robert E.Howard, Paul Anderson,
Frank Herbert, Gene Wolf, Ursula LeGuin, Tanith Lee, Clive
Barker, H.P.Lovecraft, and J.R.R. Tolkyen, of course. I’ve
been into this kind of readings since I was a kid, even much
longer before I actually discovered Metal music. I guess I was
attracted to Metal music because I saw it had lyrics about those
kind of stories and epic atmospheres. I have read 100s of. “The
Aquilonia Suite” is based on the “Conan The Barbarian”
books by R.E. Howard. “Battle Gods” and “Overture
Mortale” are, musically inspired by a theme from W.A.Mozart’s
“Don Juan”, while on the lyric side, it’s inspired
by a chinese sword’n’sorcery movie
called “Legend Of Zu”. Very Epic. “Arioch, The
Chaos Star” is lyrically loosely based on the Michael
Moorcock’s books, but I took a chance to put something
personal, talking about universal evil. Same thing “Icarus
Ascending”. I started from the myth of Icarus to write about
freedom, in a personal way. “The Prince In The Scarlet Robe”
is based on the Corum saga by Michael Moorcock. It has the
subtitle “The Three Who Are One part I” so I can write
about other characters in future songs. “The Song Of The
Sword” is again based on the Elric of Melnibonč books, in
particular on the first book of the saga. “The Sun Of The
New Season” is Epic and melancholic, with a lot of Celtic
harmonies and it’s a song about hope for the future. “True
Believer” is another very personal lyrics, dedicated to
everybody who spend his life believing in something, whatever it
may be. The cd ends with “The Forest Of Light”, an
all-acoustic song that was a kind of experiment for us. The
lyrics are about a kind of calm after the storm, another song of
hope for the future and very loosely inspired by the theme of
Tanelorn, the city of peace, from the Moorcock books. You can
tell there’s a lot of work behind the lyrics.
What makes
your band different than the other Power Metal bands?
I don’t think Domine is totally Power Metal. We do have that
side in our style, in the faster tracks like “Thunderstorm”
or “Battle Gods” but we are much more rooted into the
classic Heavy Metal of the 80s and I think that’s the
biggest difference between us and most of the European Power
Metal bands. We have a lot of those classic Metal elements, like
big guitars upfront in the mix. We use keyboards but not in a
symphonic way, except for a few songs like “The Ride Of The
Valkyries” of course. I think Riccardo has a kind of
rhythmic approach, like some kind of guitar player and at the
same time he can switch to more melodic and atmospheric parts.
Usually Power Metal bands, especially the German and Finnish
bands, are a little “cold” with a more “technical”
and modern feel. I think Domine still has a kind of New Wave Of
British heavy Metal feel, five guys
playing together with not much technology. We have a very natural
approach, we sweat in our rehearsal place and on stages, we are
not good with computers or samplers.
Which
bands influenced you?
Well, we have our own personal sound after years of hard work but
I would really feel stupid not to mention bands like Manowar,
Iron Maiden, Queen, Kansas, Thin Lizzy, Jethro Tull, Judas Priest
and Virgin Steele as influence, just to name a few. Also more
obscure and underground bands like Warlord, Cirith Ungol, Manilla
Road, Helstar. We also love many other artists like Prog Rock
bands, classic music, soundtracks, acoustic music. We are big
music fans, we listen to a lot of different music and I think it’s
pretty natural to be influenced by the artists you love. Then, of
course, you work on your songs and style and make it personal and
not just of copy. But I can not deny there are great artists who
still means a lot to me and they made me the musician I am now. I’m
also grateful for the beautiful feelings they still give me.
Domine is an honest band, we respect our heroes !
Do you
feel there's a lot of competition in Italy between all the bands,
because there are quite a lot of bands playing your kind of
style?
Not really. First of all I must say that a lot of foreign people
are thinking there’s a big Heavy Metal scene in Italy but
this is no true. As you said, in the last years there had been
many bands coming out with albums but the Metal scene is still
really underground. Most of the bands who put out an album do not
even play live, they are not as active as they might seem. We
have some good relationship with bands like White Skull,
Beholder, Labyrinth, Vision Divine, Drakkar, Centurion,
Mesmerize, DoomSword, Thunderstorm. We have shared the stage with
them and many others and we realized it’s a lot better to
unite and work together for a better scene than just put up some
kind of competition. There are already too many problems to face.
If you look at the Italian charts, you will hardly find
Metallica, Iron Maiden and Bon Jovy, that’s it. With “Dragonlord”,
our second album, we entered the chart for one week only at
number 98 and it was unbelievable. There’s no Heavy Metal in
the big and important medias, Mtv is just ridiculous. So, it’s
only up to the most dedicated bands and a few labels to work on
Heavy Metal music and go on no matter what happens. Domine is
doing well in Italy, thanks to some very good magazines that
support Italian bands and to some kids who follow bands and
support them. We will have 3 magazine covers in February. We were
also offered some good gigs like Gods Of Metal and Heineken
Jamming Festival. There are some good bands that go on working
hard but there’s hardly a scene that can be called like
that. Anyway, we had been through the scene in the 80s and 90s
and those years were even more difficult. I don’t know,
maybe there’s more work to do.
How does
the future look like for DOMINE? Touring plans? More CDs?
We are checking if there’s any chance to jump on a European
our as support band. We have a couple of chances but still no
confirmation. Things are so difficult nowdays, there are not many
tours anymore and there are a lot of good bands which want to be
part of them. We have already planned some gigs in Italy during
April and we will be back to play in Greece in March. We are also
planning to play on a few summer festivals and maybe do more gigs
with other Italian bands. We would LOVE to go to play everywhere
! Just invite us !
Thanks for
answering the questions, anything to add for yourself?
First of all, I want to thank you Gabor for your time and support
and everybody who read so far. I just want to invite all the
classic Heavy Metal fans to check our web site
www.dominetruemetal.com and give a listening to our new album
“Emperor Of The Black Runes”, I hope you enjoy it as
much as we do. Ciao!!!!!!