Italy folk/power metalists Vexillum released new album When Good Men Go to War on 23. April. If you don’t know band, you know your bassist Francesco Ferraro, who also play in Freedom Call. They have made it another way and with new label. Here is an interview with singer Dario Vallesi.
Hello Dario. New album by Vexillum – When Good Men Go to War will be release on 23. April. What do you feel about the album?
Dario Vallesi: This album is the result of two years of hard working. It’s passed trough good and bad moments and it’s the result of a great teamwork. We had put lots of efforts and all our hearts and souls inside and I think that you can feel it while listening. It came out a very powerful and raging album!
Like the Unum we can hear great epic songs on it. Could you tell something about its lyrics?
Dario Vallesi: This new chapter is strictly linked to the style and environment of our second album “The Bivouac”, above all for the kind of lyrics. While Unum is a unique story narrated through all the songs as a concept album, now we have a different story for every song.
The core of the setting is explained very well by the title track, where is described an unknown and powerful force that comes from breaking a balance. Everything becomes uncontrollable and unpredictable. This is how we image that time when a good man decide to put aside the rules and that there are no way possible but the clash.
The lyrics of every song, through different kinds of narration, represent, in this vision, lot of pieces of the main topic, like a puzzle. Doubt, pride, joy, frustration, rage, every lyrics has its own feeling narrated in a story, and all together complete the setting.
And tell me also something about recording process. You have many folk instruments, choirs…
Dario Vallesi: Yes, we like to work with folk instruments like bagpipes, whistles and so on , it is a relevant part of our sound. During the recording session some are played by us and but most of them, like Uillean pipe, great highland pipe are played by our great friend Nick Mc Vicar (a true Scottish man!)
Who recorded choirs?
Dario Vallesi: The choirs are singed by some of my students from Lizard Academy 🙂 For this album we wanted change something about choirs, searching a different sound, more open, more wide so I decided to “compose” and direct the choirs putting inside voices that I knew very well! We love so much the result!
Did you have also guest musicians on the album?
Dario Vallesi: Yes, on one song we have Alessio Lucatti (Vision Divine, Deathless Legacy) playing additional keyboards. He is a long time good friend; he played keyboards almost as a game on“song name” but we liked so much the result so we decided to keep them
Unum you released via Limb Music. When Good Men Go To War will be release via Scarlet Records. Why?
Dario Vallesi: Nothing in particular, there are moments where you face crossroads and we decide to collaborate with an Italian label (the best one 😀 ). We think that changes brings always enthusiasm and power so that’s why we decided to change label. We really love all the work done with Limb Music by the way!
Probably it is too early to ask, but do you already have any concerts planned?
Dario Vallesi: In this “strange” era we are living in everything is freezed, but we are receiving some requests for shows and this is very refreshing! Everything depends on the covid situation worldwide but we looking forward to hit the stage soon as possible!
How do you and the band spend these corona times? You have had hard times during spring in Italy, is it better now?
Dario Vallesi: We live in Tuscany, that actually had a “normal” coronavirus spreading, not like north Italy (Milano and other Northern cities)that had the “hardest punch”…we leaved as everyone….closed at home 🙂 We kept in touch thanks to internet, even play toghether thanks to internet! (you can find on YouTube “Avalon” coronavirus edition XD) we found time to work on new material as well
Now the situation have hight and low moments ….weeks that we can go outside almost everywhere and days (when infections raise up) that we can’t go out from our city. Anyway no one of us of our families member met the virus luckily
Do you think that there’s any chance to end the Corona crisis this year?
Dario Vallesi: I really hope! After one year and a half people are stressed and overwhelmed of this situation. I trust the scienze, so the vaccine campaign.
Could you tell us something about your musical beginnings? How did you start with music? How have you got into the band Vexillum?
Dario Vallesi: I born guitarist. Actually as a kid I was used to play every instrument I had around! Piano,violin,guitars,clarinets,flutes…..then I focused on the guitar playing in many bands as teenager.
I’ve started singing because in a band we were without singer for too long. So, as a funny game, I’ve started sing “Plug in baby” of Muse. The other guys forced me to become the singer of the band XD
I have to thank my girlfriend that encouraged me to go on with singing…at the beginning I was not a lot into that.
I start singing with Vexillum almost from the beginning. The old guitarist was a friend of mine and I went to a “Shadow Vexillum” show (first name of the band) where Michele was the singer. We became immediately good friends, we had a lot in common, so he asked me to sing a song on the day after show (I Want out -Helloween)it was 2004 I think….. then he asked me to join the band and we started a solid true relationship of friendship and work which still lasts today.
You have worked with different well-known musicians on your albums – for example Fabio Lione, Chris Bay etc… Do you stay in touch with them?
Dario Vallesi: Yes. Fabio is a good friend of us, we live in the same area and he is used to come in our studio (Wanna Rock Studios) if he need to record some vocal parts.He is a very great guy both on and off the stage.
The same with Chris Bay. Another great artist and great soul! Of course living in Germany we just keep in touch with whatsapp and so on.He came to visit us during his south Europe motorcycle ride and we had good times together, moreover after Francesco join Freedom Call we became a big family XD
Epic stories are an essential part of your music. Do you like fantasy etc.?
Dario Vallesi: Sure! I love fantasy literature so much as well for movies ad Tv-series…..oh even fantasy video games! I’ve spent eons playing Baldur’s Gate II and Neverwinter Nights XD.I like so much also Lovecraft and all that kind of mystery/horror literature….or maybe reality? 😉
I want to say that fantasy is a big part of our music but in our lyrics you’ll never find something like “dragon” or “magic” as simple reference or fantasy image; we use sometimes that references to explain an actual concept we want to tell as metaphor, they are used to explain a bigger concept.We like to say that our lyrics are in a “Medieval No Time era”
You also use folk Instruments like bagpipes, flutes etc… Do you sometimes think about a new bandmate who can play on similar Instruments?
Dario Vallesi: Yes, in the past we were looking for a violinist to add the formation but we didn’t find what we were looking for. Michele plays the bagpipe, so sometimes during our shows he switch between guitar and bagpipe. After lots of years with the same formation we have a great teamwork and it is very hard find another person that have the “same brain” moreover that plays a “strange instrument” and likes metal……a chimera!
OK, thank you very much for the interview and I’d like to ask you for some message for our readers.
Dario Vallesi: I wanna Say that in this hard Times we must hold on untill live shows Will start again,that Is the Place Where we all feel free and „at home“ 🙂 …meanwhile use internet and socials to Discover, study, keep in touch and not to spread hate and bullying. We share a great passion that Is the music and the music Is life……Hoist the Vexillum!
Youtube teaser:
Links:
http://www.vexillum.biz/
https://www.facebook.com/vexillumofficial/
Thanks for the cooperation Jurajovi Ondrejmiškovi 😉
Profile of Dario: https://lnk.sk/fcf2
Thanks for the Juraj Ondrejmiška for cooperation 🙂