“Tethra” comes back with their fourth full-length album “Empire of the Void”, the right potion of doom death metal and the exact necessary dose of poetry to satisfy the urge of the fans of doom death metal.
The video in collaboration with Black Lion Records exclusively presents the new TETHRA video, “A Light Year Breath”.
The song comes from the new album of the Italian band, originally from the beautiful hills of Piedmont region. The album will be released on March 20, 2020.
Rock Era Magazine approached the band for an exclusive interview and despite the current situation in Italy and the COVID-19 came back with some secrets to be revealed for the first time to the Arabic Metalheads who.
1- “Empire Of The Void”, behind every album, there are many stories, which story would you love to share with us? Maybe you give us some taste of it or another teaser!
Close: This third album is the result of an intense composition work that lasted more than a year, most of the songs were composed by Federico, a guitarist who has been playing with the band for almost three years. We wanted to get a more mature and layered sound without losing impact, so he and I spent countless evenings at his house in the company of an excellent bottle of typical Italian bitter, increasingly refining our musical proposal and discarding those parts and those riffs that we thought were too much. For years we have followed the philosophy of Less is More and with it, we have always felt good because I firmly believe that not too many notes are needed to reach the hearts of listeners.
Federico: I started making music for this album just after I learned the “old” songs for the live gigs. As soon as I was relaxed, I tried to bring some new ideas at the rehearsal room just to understand how they were taken by the rest of the band. Then, I admit, I began working all alone on some ideas asking the help of Clode to complete them. I have a very “baroque” style when I approach the composition of a new song and, above all, I wanted that Clode would be at ease with the vocal parts. So I needed his advice and it has been a very deep and intense period because creating music is one of the most satisfying things in life (in my opinion).
2- Do you have an exclusive announcement, news to share with our readers? Any new gigs, tours in the air to support the new release?
Close: Until a few weeks ago we were very busy managing, together with our label, the release of the new album so we didn’t have so much time to dedicate to finding new concerts. If you add that from the end of February here in Italy we are experiencing a very difficult situation because of the Coronavirus you can well imagine our current mood. What I can tell you now is that after the summer, hoping this situation will return to normal, we’ll play in a couple of interesting festivals dedicated to our musical genre, unfortunately, I still cannot anticipate anything because, in these days, we are waiting for the promoters make official announcements but we are sure that the wait will pay off widely.
3- You’re not very present on social media but you exist for 12 years. What’s your approach to keeping in touch with your fans? or to satisfy their curiosity and need to interact and why this distance? Is it a choice, a philosophy? tell us more about it.
Close: If you mean that the band is not very aggressive on social media I have to give you reason, I believe that flooding the web with posts related to the band can only create the opposite effect we desired. In any case, it depends a lot on the moment, when a new album is about to come out we have a lot of news to give to our fans, otherwise, we like to keep confidential about what we are doing. We love when our fans text to us to satisfy their curiosity or just to tell us how affected they were by a particular song. As a band, we are often connected, even in times when we post less, but often we prefer to stay in the shadows and watch the events unfold. Even not being too present on social media, or rather, being present in the right amount, is an important art to master.
5- Today and after 12 years, where do you see “Tethra” and what is that you would love to achieve next?
Close: It’s a good question, Tethra is now like a tailor-made dress for me and this helps me to dispel the negativities that life puts before me, I must also say that this band is a continuous challenge that gives me no respite and this has allowed me to grow and improve a lot considering also that I never wanted to canonically study my instrument, the voice. Since the band was born, we have been in constant evolution and we’re driven and supported by the emotions of the moment, which is why you’ll never hear two of our albums playing in the same way, life is like a journey and changing the landscape also changes our way to see things and compose music. I’d like our music, and our message, will reach more and more people and be supportive in their most difficult moments, this would be a great achievement indeed.
Federico: as a “young” member of the band, I can only say that since I joined it, I always felt at home and free to finally express myself through the music. So I would like to be part of the doom scene as much as we can, taking away the satisfaction a band like us can get and hoping to reach as many people possible with our music. That’s the most important thing: music.
6- In a time where social media is taking over and shaping many aspects of our lives, music, in general, is not spared, and the music scene is almost saturated, what are the challenges facing the metal bands in Italy today compared to other parts of Europe and the rest of the world according to you?
Close: I believe that with the globalization that reigns today, helped by the widespread diffusion of the internet, the challenges are more or less the same for all the bands in the world. Carving out a place in the sun can become a real undertaking, you’re right, we are saturated with bands and all have the aspiration to bring their music on stage, to record albums and make interviews just like their idols and that why is so difficult to get noticed even if you take the right steps and your music is of great value. Furthermore, the gap between the big bands and all the other groups is expanding more and more and the new metal heads prefer others rituals than going to see the shows of the underground bands because for some of them it is more important to post a selfie on social media while they are at the show of the usual big names and they no longer buy CDs because the streaming platforms are more comfortable and cheaper. If these things do not change or we continue to evolve towards increasingly digital and less human ways of enjoying music, I believe that music, as we know it today, will be doomed to die.
Federico: I’m less apocalyptic than Clode on this because I think that the biggest bands today are not as big as the “old ones” were. I believe that there is some more space for everyone because there are less and fewer bands that can take over the scene as happened in the past with names like Metallica or Iron Maiden. Concerning the streaming platforms I think that these are the real killers of the music business, but not for the fruition side of the problem, but because they got people used to the idea of listening to one song and then “skip”. Skipping and skipping is the real killer… there is no more patience in the listeners. And that’s the harmful side.
7- What is your message to the young metal bands in Italy or around the world?
Close: If the kind of music you play is moved by deep feelings, continue with a passion to carry on your music, surely you will have to face a thousand difficulties but this will help you grow and improve day after day. Don’t try to burn the stages, do a lot of apprenticeships, because only in this way you can truly appreciate the results obtained with your sacrifices.
8- If you could choose a band to play within a festival, which band would you choose and which festival would make it the perfect fit and why?
Close: I would love to be able to share the stage with each of the bands that have influenced us most, especially those of the English Doom/Death such as My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost and, I think, at this moment the Doom festival that could call them both is Madrid is the Dark, in recent years I have been able to see how this festival has grown and has, from time to time, invited to play all the doom bands that I like the most.
9- On daily life, what do you enjoy to do?
Close: in my daily life I’m a great photography enthusiast, especially the travel one. I started shooting during live concerts and continued carrying the camera with me on my travels. I love to travel and immerse myself in different lifestyles and cultures, I am also a gourmand so I always try to taste as much local food as possible and, if I can, to take home some recipes to be able to continue living the mood of the holiday even after my return.
Federico: I admit I like playing video games. In my opinion, the good ones, are a proxy of reading a book (another thing I love to do), but with an interaction that can give you the possibility (or illusion) of being part of the story, more than everything else. I love sci-fi in all its declinations (not only starship and aliens…) and videogames can be an immense world to dive in (when I can find the time to play!). Apart from that, I love reading both books and comics, but I’m not a Marvel fan if you ask! I like mangas, but also french production is very interesting. Their way of making a comic is very different from the American or Japanese way. I suggest it.
10- Do you listen to other genres of Metal? Who are your top five Italian metal bands today?
Close: of course! all of us in the band tries to have a good musical culture by listening to everything we can and keeping the best things for us because the inspiration for a song can also come from a very different musical genre from what Tethra plays, Doom Metal is not the only music that we listen to even if it’s the one that represents us most and moves deep emotions every time. Answering the second part of your question I can say that Italy is full of excellent bands, just think of Novembre, The Foreshadowing, Rome in Monochrome, Ars Onirica and Hadal but the list could be much longer.
Federico: I listen to almost every metal genre and won’t give you any list: too many to mention. Besides metal, I could tell you that I love very slow and dreamy music like Lana Del Rey or even some electronic stuff, but nothing is fully attached to me like death doom.
Thank you so much for the interview and I wish you all the best with your new album. What would be your last message before the next opportunity to have you again with new surprises?
Close: we are living in difficult and tormented times and it is precisely for this reason that we should appreciate more what we have and that we take for granted, like music. Go out, go to concerts and be with us in this sonic ritual. You will bring home good experiences for sure and meet people who live life like you. The uncertainty of this period requires us to remain cautious in terms of declarations regarding our future plans so I just hope that this Coronavirus will be eradicated as soon as possible and everything returns to normal and that in a few years we can think of these days as those who have allowed us to improve as human beings and to come out stronger from this situation. Thanks for the interview, I wish you the best for your future.
