Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

SERENITY is a power/symphonic metal band from east of Innsbruck in Tyrol. They are a young band much loved by audience and critics for their powerful sound. Not so recently (in the February 2011) they released their third studio album called “Death & Legacy”.  And today we are here to talk with Fabio D’Amore the bassplayer of the band.

Hi Fabio! I’m Sylvi from MSFinland, how are you? I hope all is well.

Hi Sylvi, everything is fine over here, and there?

All is good also here thanks! Let start with this interview…

Ok cool…

1. Can you introduce better the band to our readers?

Sure! Serenity is a symphonic melodic metal band, based in Austria, influenced by gothic and other melodic styles, with a touch of female vocals. The band is currently working on the 4th album, after 3 other full-length, 8 European tours supporting bands like Kamelot, Epica, Leaves’Eyes, Delain, Van Canto, Tristania, Morgana Lefay, Sacred Steel, Threshold and so on, and many festival appearances.

2. If you had to compare your musical style to any other band, what would it be?

Well, during the years we tried to develop our own music style, of course inspired by other bands we like or we toured and worked with, but always building up and keeping our trade-mark. Obviously our sound could be associated to names of bands like Kamelot, Threshold, Nightwish, Sonata Arctica and so on…

3. Last year you released “Death & Legacy” how are the responses so far?

Responses are absolutely great! We run out of the limited-edition digipack just few months after the release date, and this was a great step ahead for us! Then, during our 2 European tours with Delain in Spring and the Out of the Dark tour 2011 in Fall, we gained many new fans and we got great responses from people we were not able to touch before. We can definitely be proud and happy of this album, as well as the other ones!

4. What are moments in your career that make you most proud of?

There are many, and honestly it’s really difficult to pick up only one…Definitely being and sharing the stage with such musicians as the ones we met during our tours is a great highlight…the release of D&L surely was a stunning one as well, but mostly, every time we’re on stage and the audience is there for us and singing along our songs, that has to be considered a highlight of our career…

5. When’s your next concert and where?

Actually we’re currently working on new material, and planning our very first European headlining tour. We don’t have dates scheduled so far, but we’ll announce something soon! And of course, it has been announced lately.

6. What can we expect from Serenity in the future?

Our main purposes right now are the new album, and the headlining tour. We’re only focusing on this and definitely will be for the next months. It’s hard work and not easy at all, but at the end this will be a blast for sure! We’re always trying to give our fans our best and the most possible, always looking for some new solutions and without repeating ourselves. I can also say we’re trying to release our very first DVD support…don’t know when this takes place, but definitely soon…

7. Lets say that you are lost in a strange place somewhere. Which albums would be in your bag?

Mmm, hard question – but really interesting…
In this period of my life I think I will carry with me :
– Porcupine Tree : In Absentia
– Opeth : Still life
– Pain of Salvation : The Perfect Element pt.1
– Kamelot : The Black Halo
– Orphaned Land : Mabool
– Dredg : The pariah, the parrot, the delusion

but still, I wouldn’t be happy 120 % [:P]

8. Where was recorded “Death & Legacy” ?

Death & Legacy was recorded in several places : Dreamsound Studios in Munich, Germany, by Jan Vacik, with drums and final mix/master, Tom (our guitarist) recorded many things at his own studio, as guitars, bass (I was not in the band at that time), and some other things, Oliver Philipps (our producer) worked on the orchestration and keys, as well as main vocals and choirs, Lanvall from Edenbridge produced some other parts and vocals in his studios, and my Italian speech in “Lament” was recorded over my studio here in Italy. A multi-land production! [:)]

9. What inspired the album title?

The album title is linked with the main concept, telling about legacies, deaths and lives of some of the most important historical characters of our past.

10. And what inspired the lyrics?

We picked up some historical characters, as Sir Francis Drake, Queen Elizabeth, Marco Polo, Cristoforo Colombo, Galileo Galilei, Albrecth Duerer, Giacomo Casanova, and many others, and we wanted to tell about some of their stories and their interesting and complex adventures. This was an ambitious challenge but at the same time extremely enjoyable!

11. Your fans seem to be very devoted to you, I read some posts on your Facebook page. You read it sometimes? Who takes care about the page?

Thx! Yes, our fans are really devoted, and that’s why they deserve always the maximum possible from the band!
As for our FB Serenity page, it’s taken care by us directly and some close people that are able to admin them as well. But as you can notice, we’ve also got many fans clubs all over the countries, like USA, UK, France, NL, Poland, Germany, Austria, Italy and I am taking care of keeping a sort of united communication, so we’re able to update everyone at the same time. I really like this team work, it’s really efficient and profitable!

12. Do you have something to add or something to say to our readers?

I’d like to thank once again MetalShock Finland for giving us this opportunity, and to take a look onto our official website http://www.serenity-band.com and all the linked pages and social network to stay updated and read about our next gigs and tours! We’ll have some surprises soon! And of course, happy new 2012! See you on the road!

Interview by Sylvi Taürie