Sometimes the present is simply a decisive trace too present to fully pick up those of us who move in it, so it’s no wonder that we humans have managed like no other species on our planet to escape from reality into the world of myths and stories, from our small tangible time period into the future or – as Angela Hicks, Gabby Abularach (ex-CRO-MAGS) and Stefano Losi from DEA VELATA offer – deep into the audiovisual qualities of the mythical past.
And with their latest release, the video single DAEMON, they have succeeded once again – with a little twist. With its intense groove and clear moshability, the track stands out from the album DEA VELATA released at the end of last year, which is rooted entirely in Greco-Roman antiquity and largely carried by Gabby’s concert guitar tuned like an ancient lyre and Angela’s sacred, classically trained voice, which has been proven in countless opera performances.
In DAEMON, DEA VELATA’s neoclassical music meets rich, loping epic doom metal with symphonic moments in a very elegant balancing act between antiquity and modernity. And: The quality of the trio is demonstrated by the fact that, after a first listen, the length of the track makes you want to rub your eyes in amazement: Did all this really take place in less than 5 minutes? It did, and DEA VELATA prove that a genuine epic with intro, outro, and several strong musical twists and turns can indeed be miniaturized.
And if you’re wondering why a lowly creature like a demon should be the subject of an epic – no matter how small, you don’t have to go straight to Plato; Gabby himself will help you out: “This piece explores the birth, emergence, and transformation of the DAEMON—not to be confused with a ‘demon’ or evil spirit. Rooted in the ancient world, the DAEMON is an eternal, magnificent, and absolute force. A spirit of power and presence, it transcends time, embodying the divine essence of existence itself.”
The modern image of demons as we know it was first established by Christianity, although there is much to suggest that the good spirit being from Greek antiquity, which is born with man, accompanies them throughout their lives and protects them from bad mistakes, helping them into the next world after their demise, has unfortunately become a victim of the desire for a clear allocation of good and evil. It’s a good thing that there are still traveling musicians who are bucking what is probably the oldest trend in human history.
DEA VELATA’s neo-classical, metal-infused album DEA VELATA is available worldwide on all relevant streaming platforms: https://linktr.ee/deavelataofficial
To walk in the halls of the gods has always been an unfulfillable dream of people in many parts of the world during their earthly existence. From the Norse Asgard to the cloud palace above Mount Olympus – which housed the gods in ancient Greece and stimulated people’s imagination from high arts right down to ordinary life and back –, architecture, poetry and music were characterized by the desire to look up and ultimately ascend.
In their new video single AMO, DEA VELATA now make this string in us resonate musically and lyrically with great determination. The compositional force and the heaviness in the ensemble’s lyricism are allowed to give way this time. Instead, the trio gently opens the door to a wide and towering acoustic space in which Gabby Abularach’s guitar (CRO-MAGS, VOODOCULT, CARLOS SANTANA), tuned like an ancient Greek lyre, intimately unites with the gently alluring voice of British soprano Angela Hicks. AMO is a very pure piece of simple elegance, addressing the longing for the blissful state of suspension that outside of the divine only love can evoke in us. And this light-footed duet is about nothing less than the unconditional affection and devotion within us when we find ourselves on cloud nine, head over heels in love. A theme as old as mankind and yet as unspoiled as a just-ripening apple.
The ageless, sublime beauty and sheer magnitude of the feeling of loving someone unconditionally is visualized in the song’s accompanying music video through a breathtaking backdrop and the touching performances of Angie and Gabby. “Set in a beautiful 19th century palace in the famous Spanish city of Jerez, AMO tells the story of a lover’s unrestrainable love for his beloved, and of her exquisite and delicate beauty”, says the composer and guitarist himself, adding about the creation of the piece and the bespoke lyrics by author and visual artist Stefano Losi: “Amidst all the heavy and intense energy of the other songs, I asked Stefano to write a simple, beautiful love song – and he truly did! The guitar parts were written in the mountains of Arcadia in the Peloponnese before DEA VELATA as we know it today was even formed.”
The band’s eponymous first album DEA VELATA will be released on October 16th, 2024. With ten tracks, the brilliant ensemble intends to bring the sounds, consciousness and spirit of the ancient world back to life today. DEA VELATA’s sound is truly offering something unique, something new, something that heals the soul, exalts the spirit and which connects people to the beauty and magic of the classical world of antiquity. Italian poet Stefano Losi writes the lyrics, in the form of contemporary poetry in Imperial Latin, which are then being carefully carried on symphonic metal wings. “The lyrics and poetry provide a personal perspective on the existential unquietness inherent in the human condition, and all its concrete manifestations, from the deepest desperation to the purest love. They draw an imaginary connection with the lyrics of the Poetae Novi of the Ist Century, reemerging in my own poetry filtered by a clear contemporary sensitivity, redesigning the eternity of life, the timeless value of emotion”, says the talented lyricist.
DEA VELATA Album Tracklist 1. PHEBEVS FVROR 2. OBITVS 3. AMO 4. DAEMON 5. IMBER ARIDVS 6. HIATVS 7. KORE 8. VVLTVS 9. IMBER 10. EVANESCENS VESTALIS
The full album DEA VELATA will be released October 16th, 2024. On ten tracks, it will feature contemporary poetry in Imperial Latin – all woven in a fabric of ancient Greek and Roman music with neo-classical coloring and threads of symphonic metal.
Met by high critical acclaim, the musical ensemble performed an exclusive 5 song acoustic set at Circulo de Bellas Artes in Spain on June 25th, where they premiered the OBITVS video. During a live performance by DEA VELATA you can expect a wide range of sound, from intimate classical, acoustic duets with Gabby and Angela, to full symphonic metal. The talented artists delve into genuine ancient music and bring it into life in a modern world – a combination, which sets them apart from other bands, and makes their live events an upscale experience, no less impressive or cathartic than a classical theater performance in ancient Rome. A live recording of the impressive performance has just been published, in a compilation with interviews, serving as a short documentary about the event, offering interesting insights and taking you along on their musical journey.
Enjoy DEA VELATA’s acoustic live performance at Ciculo de Bellas Artes HERE:
After the release of three singles, with the album release coming up next, DEA VELATA will present their videos and exhibit Stefano Losi’s art at the United Nations in NYC on November 7th, 2024. On December 5th, DEA VELATA will play live in London Tower, UK, followed by another show on December 6th in Lancastershire, UK. Stay tuned for more to come!!
About DEA VELATA
The longing for the ancient narrative power and the fascination it is capable of arousing in us is resurfacing among critics and fans alike. And in the form of DEA VELATA, it has now reached music – at several different levels. First of all, with the very own instrumental hero’s journey of New York guitarist Gabby Abularach, who, as a trained classical and jazz guitarist with metal genes, refined the studio recordings and world tours of NYHC legends CRO-MAGS and later continued the same as a founding member of VOODOOCULT. In addition to these energetic wrecking balls, Gabby also brought his six-string magic to legendary recordings by the likes of CARLOS SANTANA, EVERLAST, KORN and JOHN SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION. His secret love, however, lies in the art of antiquity: Gabby, who over the years has increasingly specialized in filigree-sporty flamenco playing, often imagined what the musical underscoring of recited stories might have felt like in ancient times.
The explorative guitarist was in the middle of an ongoing phase of researching ancient Greek and Roman music when, in the summer of 2017, he met Stefano Losi, an Italian poet and visual artist also based in New York, who had just published a poetic work in Imperial Latin. Together, they began composing and pouring the many eureka moments of their musical and now also poetic journeys into material for an album unlike any other. The British soprano Angela Hicks, who is also drawn to ancient music, joined the duo as the angelic voice of the work DEA VELATA, and not just in a figurative sense. Despite her young age, Angela can look back on an eventful career: She made her operatic debut at the Teatro alla Scala di Milano under the direction of Thomas Guthrie and has subsequently appeared at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Palace of Versailles, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Berliner Philharmonie and the Berlin State Opera, among others. She also made a guest appearance on the big screen alongside Emma Stone, Rachael Weisz and Oscar winner Olivia Coleman in the 2018 movie “The Favourite”.
The luscious guitar, which sometimes finely chisels an uplifting flamenco into the steps of a stage of epic breadth, sometimes strives towards the warm elegance of a harp and sometimes unfolds into the full weight of symphonic metal, is combined with an always respectfully discreet metal drumming (performed by Mike Podber) and a voice that resembles God’s rays on a Tuscan painting. And together they create a soundtrack that, behind closed eyes, lets Odysseus’ ship sail from a gentle lull into a mystical storm.
A lifelong connection to the Gods and Goddesses and culture of the ancient world, annual visits to the temples and sacred places of Greece and Italy, and the longing for dramatic storytelling full of blood, sweat, and tears that have dried in the sands of time – this all came together for former NYHC-guitarist Gabby Abularach (CRO-MAGS, VOODOOCULT) with an awakening to tune his handmade flamenco guitar like an ancient Greek Lyra, and very soon he began writing the first melodies that would later become DEA VELATA’s songs. Inspired by ancient Greek and Roman music, the romantic period of classical music, Flamenco, Spanish classical music and symphonic metal, DEA VELATA began with writing purely acoustic music, but evolved into adding classical orchestral instruments as well as symphonic and folk metal. In early 2017, Gabby had only just begun delving into and studying the harmonics, mathematics, tunings, modes and aesthetics of ancient Greek and Roman music. In combination with Angela Hicks’ beguiling soprano voice, this makes for a pairing in a class by itself, nestling the listeners into the golden fleece of mythologic musicality that is DEA VELATA.
Based on the 1st Book of the Iliad by Homer, DEA VELATA’s second single PHEBEVS FVROR (Phebean Wrath), which is included on the upcoming album, tells the rescue story of the Trojan girl Chryseis from the abduction of the Greek King Agamemnon. Her father Chryses, the Trojan High Priest of Apollo, was insulted by Agamemnon when he had come to ransom her, so he prays to Apollo for help. Apollo, enraged at the offense to his priest and abduction of his daughter, punishes the Greeks, and assists Chryses in the rescue of his daughter Chryseis, resulting in nine days of massacres. In Greek mythology, Apollo is a versatile deity, not only the god of music, light, and poetry but also the one who punishes and destroys. This duality is theatrically and metaphorically expressed in the new music video for PHEBEVS FVROR. There, Angela brings the performing arts of ancient Rome and Greece to life – not only does she sing but also act in the video, slipping into the visual form of roles she sings about. We see dark warehouses, brawling gangsters, and fencing duels in contrast with Angela Hicks’ graceful performance as the pure, angelic figure, representing the natural fragile female beauty, which men fight over and because of which ancient empires have perished in the past. A lover of all things ancient and medieval, Angela embodies the spirit of this mythological and musical journey perfectly.
The band’s eponymous first album DEA VELATA will be released on October 16th, 2024. With eleven tracks, the brilliant ensemble intends to bring the sounds, consciousness and spirit of the ancient world back to life today. DEA VELATA’s sound is truly offering something unique, something new, something that heals the soul, exalts the spirit and which connects people to the beauty and magic of the classical world of antiquity. Italian poet Stefano Losi writes the lyrics, in the form of contemporary poetry in Imperial Latin, which are then being carefully carried on symphonic metal wings. “The lyrics and poetry provide a personal perspective on the existential unquietness inherent in the human condition, and all its concrete manifestations, from the deepest desperation to the purest love. They draw an imaginary connection with the lyrics of the Poetae Novi of the Ist Century, reemerging in my own poetry filtered by a clear contemporary sensitivity, redesigning the eternity of life, the timeless value of emotion”, says the talented lyricist.
DEA VELATA Album Tracklist 1. OBITVS 2. PHEBEVS FVROR 3. IMBER ARIDVS 4. VVLTVS 5. HIATVS 6. AMO 7. DAEMON (metal version) 8. EVANESCENS VESTALIS (acoustic/orchestral) 9. KORE (acoustic) 10. IMBER (acoustic) 11. DAEMON (acoustic remix)
The full album DEA VELATA will be released October 16th, 2024. On eleven tracks, it will feature contemporary poetry in Imperial Latin – all woven in a fabric of ancient Greek and Roman music with neo-classical coloring and threads of symphonic metal.
Met by high critical acclaim, the musical ensemble performed an exclusive 5 song acoustic set at Circulo de Bellas Artes in Spain on June 25th, where they premiered the OBITVS video. During a live performance by DEA VELATA you can expect a wide range of sound, from intimate classical, acoustic duets with Gabby and Angela, to full symphonic metal. The talented artists delve into genuine ancient music and bring it into life in a modern world – a combination, which sets them apart from other bands, and makes their live events an upscale experience, no less impressive or cathartic than a classical theater performance in ancient Rome. A live recording of the impressive performance has just been published, in a compilation with interviews, serving as a short documentary about the event, offering interesting insights and taking you along on their musical journey.
Enjoy DEA VELATA’s acoustic live performance at Ciculo de Bellas Artes HERE:
After the release of two singles, with another video single release and an album release pending, DEA VELATA will play an acoustic event at the United Nations in NYC on November 7th, 2024, and they plan on doing three other shows around that date in the NYC area. So stay tuned for more to come!
About DEA VELATA
The longing for the ancient narrative power and the fascination it is capable of arousing in us is resurfacing among critics and fans alike. And in the form of DEA VELATA, it has now reached music – at several different levels. First of all, with the very own instrumental hero’s journey of New York guitarist Gabby Abularach, who, as a trained classical and jazz guitarist with metal genes, refined the studio recordings and world tours of NYHC legends CRO-MAGS and later continued the same as a founding member of VOODOOCULT. In addition to these energetic wrecking balls, Gabby also brought his six-string magic to legendary recordings by the likes of CARLOS SANTANA, EVERLAST, KORN and JOHN SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION. His secret love, however, lies in the art of antiquity: Gabby, who over the years has increasingly specialized in filigree-sporty flamenco playing, often imagined what the musical underscoring of recited stories might have felt like in ancient times.
The explorative guitarist was in the middle of an ongoing phase of researching ancient Greek and Roman music when, in the summer of 2017, he met Stefano Losi, an Italian poet and visual artist also based in New York, who had just published a poetic work in Imperial Latin. Together, they began composing and pouring the many eureka moments of their musical and now also poetic journeys into material for an album unlike any other. The British soprano Angela Hicks, who is also drawn to ancient music, joined the duo as the angelic voice of the work DEA VELATA, and not just in a figurative sense. Despite her young age, Angela can look back on an eventful career: She made her operatic debut at the Teatro alla Scala di Milano under the direction of Thomas Guthrie and has subsequently appeared at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Palace of Versailles, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Berliner Philharmonie and the Berlin State Opera, among others. She also made a guest appearance on the big screen alongside Emma Stone, Rachael Weisz and Oscar winner Olivia Coleman in the 2018 movie “The Favourite”.
The luscious guitar, which sometimes finely chisels an uplifting flamenco into the steps of a stage of epic breadth, sometimes strives towards the warm elegance of a harp and sometimes unfolds into the full weight of symphonic metal, is combined with an always respectfully discreet metal drumming (performed by Mike Podber) and a voice that resembles God’s rays on a Tuscan painting. And together they create a soundtrack that, behind closed eyes, lets Odysseus’ ship sail from a gentle lull into a mystical storm.
From the mythology of ancient Rome and Greece to 21st century Hollywood, one wonderful idea has dominated true storytelling: No hero without a hero’s journey! Whether it’s the Odyssey of Odysseus, which once defined the principle of the hero’s journey, or, at the other end of the spectrum, the losses, horrors and victories of Ellen Ripley, still considered by many to be the best example in the history of fantastic film: If we don’t witness the character of a hero or heroine being created, broken and reshaped, we don’t develop a belief in heroism.
Today, in a time of hectic clicks and puddle-shallow narrative depths, in which once epic cinematic universes are withering away, this longing for the ancient narrative power and the fascination it is capable of arousing in us is resurfacing among critics and fans alike.
And in the form of DEA VELATA, it has now reached music – at several different levels. First of all, with the very own instrumental hero’s journey of New York guitarist Gabby Abularach, who, as a trained classical and jazz guitarist with metal genes, refined the studio recordings and world tours of NYHC legends CRO-MAGS and later continued the same as a founding member of VOODOOCULT. In addition to these energetic wrecking balls, Gabby also brought his six-string magic to legendary recordings by the likes of CARLOS SANTANA, EVERLAST, KORN and JOHN SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION.
His secret love, however, lies in the art of antiquity: Gabby, who over the years has increasingly specialized in filigree-sporty flamenco playing, often imagined what the musical underscoring of recited stories might have felt like in ancient times. The explorative guitarist was in the middle of an ongoing phase of researching ancient Greek and Roman music when, in the summer of 2017, he met Stefano Losi, an Italian poet and visual artist also based in New York, who had just published a poetic work in Imperial Latin. Together, they began composing and pouring the many eureka moments of their musical and now also poetic journeys into material for an album unlike any other. The British soprano Angela Hicks, who is also drawn to ancient music, joined the duo as the angelic voice of the work DEA VELATA, and not just in a figurative sense. Despite her young age, Angela can look back on an eventful career: She made her operatic debut at the Teatro alla Scala di Milano under the direction of Thomas Guthrie and has subsequently appeared at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Palace of Versailles, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Berliner Philharmonie and the Berlin State Opera, among others. She also made a guest appearance on the big screen alongside Emma Stone, Rachael Weisz and Oscar winner Olivia Coleman in the 2018 movie “The Favourite”.
A very first piece from DEA VELATA is now available as a video single with OBITVS, which infuses ancient and classical music with a touch of progressive metal:
The luscious guitar, which sometimes finely chisels an uplifting flamenco into the steps of a stage of epic breadth, sometimes strives towards the warm elegance of a harp and sometimes unfolds into the full weight of symphonic metal, is combined with an always respectfully discreet metal drumming (performed by Mike Podber) and a voice that resembles God’s rays on a Tuscan painting. And together they create a soundtrack that, behind closed eyes, lets Odysseus’ ship sail from a gentle lull into a mystical storm.
The full album DEA VELATA will be released October 16th, 2024. On ten tracks, it will feature contemporary poetry in Imperial Latin – all woven in a fabric of ancient Greek and Roman music with neo-classical coloring and threads of symphonic metal.
From left to right: Gabby Abularach, Angela Hicks and Stefano Losi – during an exclusive live premiere of OBITVS at Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Spain
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