Interview by Miriam Cadoni
As the title of the second full-lenght of Italy’s symphonic power metallers Eternal Idol states, for the band this release represents a real renaissance after a turbulent period in which happened an important line-up change. So, subsequently to this event, the band welcomed the new singer Claudia Layline and the drummer Enrico Fabris. let’s read together what the mastermind Nick Savio had to say about it. Enjoy!
Hi Nick, welcome to Femme Metal Webzine, how are you and how these precarious days are treating you?
Hi Miriam, nice to meet. Hi to everybody and at the moment, here it’s quite good. But it’s starting to a bit difficult to understand how to deal with the situation because our government is not clear which restrictions to follow and they change too fast. In the end, we all musicians and in this particular moment, we have to stay positive and focused on what we are doing for promoting our new album “Renaissance”.
For the readers that are still not familiar with Eternal Idol, would you like to tell me how you guys got together?
Actually, the band started in 2015 and the idea in the beginning was to release a new Hollow Haze album because, at the time, that was my band. Also, back then, we had Giorgia Colleluori as a singer. However, back in 2015, we wanted to release this new record and we asked to Rhapsody’s singer Fabio Lione to sing as a guest.
Anyhow, after talking with him, it triggered the idea to have two lead vocalists. Since Hollow Haze’s sixth full-length “Memories of An Ancient Time” generated a positive feedback (that also features Mats Léven and Amanda Somerville as special guests), we wanted to keep on going in that way.
Though a major issue arose: when we proposed the idea of having two lead vocalists in the band to several label, they refused saying that after 6 albums is not a good idea to introduce a brand new band reboot. Despite a lot of naysayers, I kept up with my idea and I directly proposed this to Frontiers Records SRL. After a lot of struggle, I managed to find someone who accepted my project.
On November 6th, it was be released Eternal Idol’s second full-length “Renaissance”. When did you start to collect the first ideas for it?
It was about one year and half ago and this happened after I joined Eternal Idol and I proposed to Fabio my idea. About the whole process, it was easy both for me and Fabio because during the pre-production, we work as a team. For example, I can write some instrumental parts and after we join together in the studio, ideas for vocals lines and lyrics immediately flow.
As I said before, we have a pre-production and after that, we plan the recordings in the studio. We began with the drums, the guitars, the bass and lastly, the vocals. In the end, it takes around 6 months to have a consistent production of our music.
“Renaissance” features also a brand new line up which consists of the singer Claudia Layline and the drummer Enrico Fabris. Overall, how this event has impacted on the band and its final outcome?
Our new members Enrico and Claudia are more dedicated to our main idea and they are much more akin to our musical style than our previous members Camillo and Giorgia Colleluori. They are much more into the hard rock style while Eternal Idol is a symphonic metal band. Given that, I think that Claudia and Fabio make the perfect vocal combination for Eternal Idol.
Considering that Claudia’s background relates much more to operatic and classical style, it suits with Fabio perfectly. The same can be said about our new drummer Fabio. If compared with Camillo Colleluori who he has a hard rock style, Fabio plays in a way that it fits completely our musical style. In my opinion, I think that hear two new band members represent a great update and also, they represent the sound that I have always had in my mind for Eternal Idol.
Per sé, the word “Renaissance” holds an important meaning as a word. But for you, what that word means for you?
You know, it’s amazing the fact that one year and half ago before, we would never ever imagined how the COVID pandemic would have changed the world. But if I contextualize the lyrics with the current situation, it seems like we have composed our material 3 months ago.
Our second album “Renaissance” wants to deliver a positive message because after a dark period, there is always a renaissance. Take for instance, songs such as “Dark Eclipse”, “Into the Darkness”. Once again, it looks surprising to how our album connects to this particular period.
About the aforementioned song “Into the Darkness”, which was also released as a single, what insight can you share over it?
According what I’ve described before, it’s a completely 100% Eternal Idol song. It has a lot of symphonic elements, the two intertwined vocal lines which in its main part are melodic and aggressive by Fabio while in its interlude Claudia shines with her soprano vocals in Italian. This song put on the spotlight all the main musical elements of Eternal Idol and it does embodies the perfection. Together with “Renaissance”, these two are the songs that I prefer out of this record.
What the future holds for Eternal Idol and how the the pandemic has impacted on the band’s general plans?
Of course, we had scheduled a release party but unfortunately, it was cancelled due to the current situation. In this moment, we considering the idea of a live streaming. At the beginning of the new year, it’s coming up something quite exciting but I cannot reveal anything, it’s a little secret.
Naturally, our main plan was to tour and play live. Sadly, at the state of the circumstances, it’s quite impossible to plan anything. For this reason, I think that the people will be much more stimulated to listen and watch our music (or the music of their favourite band) on YouTube.
So, Nick, we’re at the end of our interview. Please be free to say hi to your fans and our readers. Thank you so much.
Thanks Miriam. Hi to all our Eternal Idol fans and please stay strong throughout this confusing period. I’m sure that after all there will be a renaissance.