Italian thrash metal band Black Propaganda shares insights into their journey, impactful collaborations, and powerful new EP, Modern Prometheus, exploring human darkness and historical resonance.
1. Black
Propaganda has evolved significantly since its formation as S.H.C. (Self Human
Combustion) back in 2007. Could you share the journey behind the rebranding and
how it has shaped the band's identity over the years?
Of course, we started with that name but we never used it live or anywhere, it
was just the beginning of the project. Than Jan had that book from WW2 and we
had the idea of changing it to Black Propaganda, that is the amount of
information made of lies that was used in order to mantain the population under
control, and this theme is so actual that we thought it could be a great
connection between the past and the modern society. Since then we built our
music and lyrics with that in mind and we will continue to do that.
2. After
a hiatus from recording, 2010 marked the beginning of your extensive live
performances. How did those early live experiences and sharing stages with
major bands influence your sound and stage presence?
We had the privilege to share the stage with a lot of great musicians during
all our live activity, meeting awesome people that always had something to
teach us and expecially in our first moments we had lo learn from them in order
to be better musician ourselves. From that point we tried to express who we are
through our music, trying to get better day after day. People that don't listen
to this kind of genre think that who play this music is usually violent or
something like that, but the truth is that there is a lot of friendship between
every level of musicians and everyone will be happy to help you to improve your
skills.
3. Your
collaboration with Nadir Music and working under the guidance of Tommy
Talamanca has spanned over a decade now. How has this partnership influenced
your creative process and the development of your music?
Our collaborator with Tommy was very important for us to understand how to play
certain parts of our songs and he helped us to create our sound that you can
listen in the recordings. His knowledge built over the years both live and in
studio was fundamental in the develop of our style and we are very grateful to
him. Also we hope to work with him for our future projects because he knows
what we want to express and his ideas pull out the best from us.
4. Your
latest EP, Modern Prometheus, draws on historical themes from
Russian and Ukrainian history. What inspired you to explore these themes, and
what message do you hope to convey with this release?
Since our first tour in Ukraine we had a unique connection with these places.
Our russian brothers from Grace Disgraced will always have a special place in
our hearts and we learnt a lot both from them and from the people that came to
see us. We think that what is happening right now in that part of the planet is
very unfair, so we decided to make a tribute to these people and this is our
way to support them. War is always awful and seeing soldiers that kill their
own brothers is something very cruel and painful.
5. The
single “Holodomor” from Modern Prometheus is your first-ever
official video. What made this the right song to bring to life visually, and
can you share any memorable moments from the video production?
We thought that Holodomor was the right song for the video because it is very
representative of Black Propaganda's style: aggressive, ferocious and with a
lot of groove. The lyrics also fit perfectly with the themes that the band has
always dealt with and tell of an episode from the past that has a rather
important resonance. As for the recording of the video, we are not
"serious" people and we laugh ourselves to death every time we are
together, so during the recording of the videos we spent the time laughing out
loud and talking nonsense at full blast! We had a lot of fun and Tommy played
along and didn't yell at us too much!
6. The
themes in Modern Prometheus resonate with your longstanding
message against human wickedness. How does this new EP expand on these themes
compared to your previous albums, Black Propaganda and Psychological
Subjection?
The themes covered in this EP reflect our current awareness of the brutality
and evil inherent in human beings, so they are directly linked to the lyrics of
the previous albums. The substantial difference lies in Riccardo's style, who
writes the lyrics and has his own personal and unique sensitivity that
contributed a lot to the success of the songs on this EP.
7. You’ve
had the opportunity to tour in countries like Russia and Ukraine, which feature
prominently in your new EP. How have your experiences in these countries
influenced the music and lyrics in Modern Prometheus?
As said before, our connection with Russia and Ukraine is special. People from
both countries are simple and they live simple lives, without any
superstructure. Talking as citizens from West Europe, our problems are often
stupid and solvable. We are absorbed in a consumistic society that put before
objects instead of people. What we found there was the opposite and this really
hit us. Our EP is a gift to this people in this moment of difficulty, hoping to
get there again in the near future.
8. With
a renewed lineup in 2024, what fresh elements do the new members bring to the
band, and how has the dynamic evolved in the writing and recording of new
material?
The Modern Prometheus songs have been ready for a few years now, except for the
vocals. There were some setbacks that delayed the release of this EP, so the
composition process was almost finished when Riccardo and Paolo joined the
band. However, Riccardo contributed in an extremely important way in writing
the lyrics and vocal parts and gave a unique touch with his vocal timbre; Paolo
(Ian's friend and guitar buddy for 30 years now) produced aggressive and
"in your face" bass guitar arrangements, absolutely in line with the
band's thrash style.
9. Looking
forward, what can fans expect next from Black Propaganda? Are there any
themes or concepts you're eager to explore, or future releases and tours in the
works?
Looking to the future, we expect to be able to play live as much as possible to
promote this EP, even if the situation of live shows in Italy is not very good,
especially for metal music. In the meantime We are already starting to compose
new songs for a Full Length Album more articulated than the EP, songs in which
we will try to explore other musical directions while maintaining our style and
the aggressiveness that distinguishes us. As for the themes covered, we are
very instinctive and we hardly decide a priori the concept to deal with, but we
will certainly continue to explore the evils of society and the wickedness of
human beings in many aspects.
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