Since forming in 2007, Modern Age of Slavery has managed to quickly attract attention beyond national borders.
Emilians, born from a rib of brownbeat and launched into a disparate death metal, released their fourth studio album this year under the German Fireflash Records, a subsidiary of Atomic Fire.
Continuing on the trajectory of “Stylish” Our Keyboards and their Prologue develop the deathcore score, into an album with attention to detail, from the artwork (created by guitarist of the band Ludovico Cioffi) to the very detailed and cultured concept. , which ties into the main theme of self-imposed slavery. There’s a lot to talk about, so we reach out to Giovanni ‘Gio’ Burcelli (vocals) and Luca ‘Coco’ Cocconi (guitar) to take stock of the situation and tell us a little more about the band’s latest work Which now represents a certainty.
Would you put a sticker on the disc packaging, as they had in the olden times, what would you indicate under “FFO” (for DI FANS)?
Coconut: – Various influences can be felt and heard in “1901 – The First Mother”. Ranging from modern deathcore sounds to more old school death metal and gloomy, dark atmospheres that recall black metal. On stickers like FFO I can quote you Carnifex, Aborted, Decapitated, Thy Art is Murder, Cattle Decapitation and Slaughter to Prevail.
Teacher: – I would add the legendary Benited.
Four albums, four different labels: Is finding a partner every now and then slowing you down in any way? How many records have you signed with new labels?
Coconut: We are used to it now! Unfortunately there have been many reversals in the past that have not given us record strength. Things are going great for this record and we are very satisfied with this new adventure which we hope will last over time.
We immediately got along well with Markus Vosgen (CEO and Founder of Fireflash Records, Edboth professionally and personally. We have a lot of admiration for the work he’s done with Nuclear Blast in the past and what he’s doing with Nuclear Fire Records. So signing to his new label Fireflash Records is, first and foremost, a huge honor for us and will allow us to take Modern Age Slavery to a whole new level.
Teacher: – What can I say… We are active on many fronts musically and on other fronts. All I can say is that none of us, really none are bored.
What do you think of the band today as you hear ‘deathcore’ and ‘symphonic’ Lorna Shore? Is this new deathcore wave into you already? Do you think modern era slavery can be placed in this wave?
Coconut: – Lorna Shore is definitely the band of the moment in the deathcore panorama: they are pushing them a lot, they have toured with important bands and are already confirmed in the most important summer festivals. Even if I prefer them with older singers, they definitely are a very good band and they put on a great show. Like all music waves you see in ‘new’ metal or metalcore, there are more or less interesting things in deathcore. Bands that made great records that then managed to develop their own sound and others that are exact photocopies, but with less quality!
Some call us deathcore, others death metal, we don’t just ask ourselves problems, we play what we try to do in the best possible way. It is then up to the listener to try to discern and who and what to listen to and support, also based on their own musical tastes.
Teacher: – Honestly, I hope that as a band we always manage to keep a personal mark, which has followed us since our formation. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t listen to Lorna except on a few reels on Instagram. Maybe, as has often happened to me in the past, I’ll become a superfan when I see him live, but not yet.
How do you want to go about with “Blind” and how is Korn part of your DNA as a musician?
Coconut: – We wanted to continue the tradition of inserting, as we’ve done on previous records, a cover as the last track on the record. After Entombed, Sepultura and Pantera we decided to focus on a band we love, one with a unique style that has influenced so many other bands, namely Korn! Personally I am very attached to the first two albums which I consider to be masterpieces. Some later records are not bad either, but the first two are on another level! “Blind” seemed to us the most representative piece and so we decided to re-arrange it in the TMAS key, adding faster parts, blastbeats and breakdowns. We are very satisfied with the result!
Teacher: – It’s always better to be crapping around than taking yourself too seriously! Still, I enjoyed singing it. Of course, I would have refused to do a non-rearranged cover. Holy demons do not touch each other. In my opinion, if you go to cover a huge band, you either rearrange it in your own style or condemn yourself to a poor and worthless copy of the original.
When symphonic parts are integrated, they tend to romp in minutes, instead one trait of yours I appreciate is that you almost always keep the songs under four minutes: is that just your composing style or what? Are you careful to be pretty concise?
Coconut: – During the composition phase, I always try to visualize the song with a ‘pop’ structure in mind! I don’t like really long running songs, with thousands of riffs where you can’t tell which is which verse or chorus! I try to focus everything within four minutes, sometimes even less, it also depends on the type of mood of the piece. We focus heavily on impact and immediate listenability while trying to get our music to the listener immediately, and so songs that are too long and structurally complex are not well suited for this purpose.
Teacher: – Regarding texts and metrics, in the past, I was a bit obsessed with not ‘clearing’ anything. Every time I listened to a metal record with ‘predictable’ vocal metrics, I (wrongly) underestimated its potential. Even today, on the advice and encouragement of other TMAs, I always try to put in some ‘catchy’ and easy to remember metrics. Finally, live, I understand that these parts make the difference in entertaining the audience, but also in having fun playing them.
What is your opinion about pre-recorded backing tracks in metal? do you use it? can you do without it?
Coconut: – If they are used without abusing, to improve the song and make it live like the record, they are welcome. We also have some basic stuff like keyboards, pads, some clean guitars, some backing vocals and bass drops, but everything else plays. We have old school attitude and like to play as much as possible. There is more room for error then but that is also the beauty of being on stage in front of an audience and giving 101%. I’ve sometimes seen bands with almost everything already recorded on the bass, with the musicians playing identical-playback. But come this way, you lose all the excitement, passion and beauty of going to see and hear a concert! As I said before, use them yes, but don’t abuse them.
Teacher: – Of course we could do without it. If they add something to the show, great (and I think right now they do, in fact, add a little more). If they weren’t there, peace. I believe, after all these years of live, we can conclude a live, with or without the track.
Giovanni mentioned you have a trilogy in mind, of which “1901 | First Mother” is the first chapter. Does this mean we can expect more Jobs soon?
Teacher: – Well, I would not say strictly speaking. We plan to take our time anyway. Honestly, for those who don’t live on music, I don’t see an overwhelming need to release a full length in bursts, creating music that takes three weeks’ attention span. I feel like the music market is going to hell and people are trying to make random stuff without thinking about quality. TMAS is a long standing band, as you said before, we are not super fast at writing songs, but despite the passage of time, we are still here and still having a lot of fun playing live.
The communique describes ‘self-imposed slavery, letting your life be directed by others, avoiding responsibility for choosing your future’. Kanye West talks about slavery in a provocative way: “When you hear about four hundred years of… four hundred years of slavery? This looks like an option. It’s like we’ve been mentally imprisoned, Are you also facing similar discussion?
Teacher: – In the meantime, thanks for the parallel. I didn’t know about this statement from Kanye West. Reading it quickly, I think that is what I mean when I talk about self-imposed slavery. This summer, in America, I met a colleague from Boston University who told me: “You can do whatever you want, who’s stopping you?, Honestly, the reality is definitely not that simple. Each of us does what we can, certainly not what we want. Having said that, the limitations we often complain about are sometimes not real, but merely the result of our fears. In this, American culture, which I personally do not share or even appreciate in many cases, is different. People truly believe in their hearts that even the unimaginable can be done. I don’t imagine an Elon Musk (who wants to send us to Mars) what it is in Italy.
Besides “Escape to Freedom” by Erich Fromm, are there any other texts you would recommend to expand on this much-loved topic?
Teacher: – “The Elementary Particles” by Michel Houellebecq and “If You Meet Buddha on the Street, Kill Them” by Sheldon Kopp.
Are your philosophical views a topic of discussion within the group? Do you think they are within everyone’s reach?
Teacher: – To be honest, the themes of our albums reflect the general feeling and have already said it all. I just have a little fun making the things we call complicated and esoteric. To give a concrete example, in “Oxygen” (the single already released), I announced that I used a play on words that reminded us of the need to breathe, while the word OXY actually referred to oxycodone. is a powerful pain reliever that produces strong dependence. I recall that, parallel to the release of that single, Flashgod Apocalypse released “Sugar” (which deals with exactly the same theme). Well, the modern text revolves around the exact same concept but in a less direct way. So, to answer you, I certainly believe that our scriptures are within reach of anyone who takes the trouble to open the booklet and read the text.
It is difficult for an Italian group to be recognized abroad and what response are you most proud of?
Teacher: – It is more difficult for an Italian group to perceive music as a profession, and this is an objective fact demonstrated by the numbers. In many northern European countries, music (and culture in general) receives far more subsidies than in Italy. In Belgium, for example, the state guarantees a decent salary to musicians who take this career seriously. And this is where it all begins. In Italy, ‘culture’ (I mean music, but also theater and dance for example) is reserved only for excellence which is often unattainable. To make a living out of music, either you play mainstream or you are forced to stoop to ‘the best you can’ forever. Music in it today is much less democratic. They tell us that anyone can open a channel on YouTube and be visible, but they are lies. Things well done cost money and not everyone can afford to invest it in this way. So, the response I’m most proud of is that despite everything, TMAS is still here.