MORTUARY DRAPE “…there’s a lot of undercover shit made by cardinals, pedophile priests and the current Pope. “

 First of all, it is a great satisfaction to be able to talk to you. We would like to know how the band is in this current pandemic moment, what are the main difficulties and if you have gone through any situation that made the band’s work difficult considering, by the news, that Italy was a country very affected, by the coronavirus and its consequences 

Hello, everything’s fine, thanks. The band is working hard to return back on stage and play as much concerts as psssible. Each Country was hit hard, we believe that things are getting better almost everywhere, but not in Italy. Our biggest problem is the political establishment and we still have pending problems to solve.

You will be releasing a new mini album very soon, what can we expect for this new stuff? -Are you satisfied with the production of this new EP?  

-Does this material precede a new full-length? 

-How is it working together with Peaceville? 

Well, we already worked with Peaceville in the past for the reissue of 2 old albums. We firmly believe that they are going to do their best for the band. We can’t check numbers a  the moment, but we are sure that they made their considerations, they know how to do their job and know our potential. We already have 11 songs for a new album, we are already working on it at TMH studios in Alessandria, Italy. Some people already listened to them and they believe that it could be a next Secret Sudaria. To be honest, we could record it also in 2020, but we preferred to release first a minialbum, the odds during the pandemic were against a good result and we couldn’t promote it on stage. Let’s see what happen in Italy, whether to release it in 2023 or if we can anticipate.

 Nowadays there are many factors to keep a stable lineup for many years, knowing that Mortuary Drape has already gone through some changes, what could you tell us about the current lineup, the current members also play in other bands? 

I personally never had time to spend for other bands. Mortuary Drape is already a great commitment, there’s a lot to do to push forward a band like us. A lot of management problems can’t be solved if you spend time on other projects, it doesn’t matter if they are bigger or smaller projects, they require time too and the result is a poor job for each band.

Knowing all the difficulties in keeping a band for more than three decades and being an obscure band of Occult Black Metal, what is it like to live from this work in Italy? 

Unfortunately, we can’t live off music. We try to play as much concerts as possible but we have standard jobs too and sometimes we need to hire session musicians to let the band go on and be there when there’s a request. Let’s see what happen under Peaceville, we want to raise the bar and do something new.

Italy has always had other great representatives of Extreme Metal in the past such as Bulldozer, Necromass and Opera IX for example, other bands changed their style or stopped in time. You are the true survivors of time, representatives of the Italian movement.

-Do you miss anything from the  old days in that regard?

-How do you see the importance of Mortuary Drape for the world Black Metal scene being practically leaders of the Italian scene?

I don’t like to look back, I prefer to look forward, live today and do our best to spread our message. Usually, it’s not easy to be always the same band as at the beginning after many years, write about the same topics and be musically consistent, but luckily, it comes natural to us. I think this is our secret.

Still looking at this subject, what could you say about the Italian scene  today. What bands could you cite as examples for you today? Another question, I believe that the Italian and Greek scenes are very important to the story, but n a way the Scandinavian scene ended up having a very big repercussion in the 90’s period.  

-Can you understand why that?  

-Do you think there was more marketing than sentiment in those days that reflects on something these days? 

No I don’t find there is anything different, before it was like today, marketing has always been there as well as the spontaneity of making your own music only for pure and sincere sentiment, then if success comes it is certainly good for everyone and this brings even some more satisfaction.

Mortuary Drape is a very cult band and this has become ver  rare these days.

-Where does this essence that you carry come from, despite some lineup changes?

-How do you see the development for your music in the coming years?

In the past, we had several internal issues and the real struggle was to keep the cult alive. I’m working with 3 faithful musicians for over 12 years, they always supported me and my ideas, following the old method of composition. Obviously, they work on arrangements, on general adjustment and guitar solos, too. Guitar solos are entirely up to DC and SR. They also wrote some songs in the last records.

Occultism has always been the mainstay for your music. How are your past and present experiences in this area reflected in the Mortuary Drape sound? Has your personal approach to this topic changed or evolved over the years? Do you believe you focus more on these occult and spiritual terms or are there other personal themes now that are different than before?

We always wrote about occult, necromancy and personal experiences and transpose everything in music and words. Satanism was never our cornerstone, we were always more attracted by the roots of esoterism and kept distance from bands that, in pursuing of fame and to seem true black metal, smeared their covers with meaningless things without any knowledge at all. Our dark side is always challenged every time we write a new album, our fans seem like it, so I think it’s the right path to follow.

Currently there is a very growing wave of people who are easily offended considering common subjects within Black Death Metal. Mortuary Drape has already released albums with cover art offensive and true in this extreme sense even living in a country that is a bastion for the Christian religion, do you believe that these current metalheads have become less radical and more sensitive  losing their true essence. How d  you see this being one of the most representative bands of Occult Black Metal?

Mortuary Drape is a true band, hate it or love it. We don’t care if the cover is too explicit or offensive, it must reflect the message we want to convey. We always try to join the 3 main points we’ve been working for years: look, lyrics and music. All these 3 points must join together. Our country is seen as cornerstone of Christianity, but I can guarantee that there’s a lot of undercover shit made by cardinals, pedophile priests and the current Pope. The shit will hit the fan soon.

When you released “All the witches Dance” some magazines at the time published criticisms regarding the cover, which for me is one of the most iconic front covers of your works. What would you have to say to all those who take offense at these matters within the obscure art of the Mortuary Drape?

I just want to say that we reached our goal, we wanted to shock and we did.

Now it’s the best selling album, thanks to our music first, but the cover helped too. We never fear to shock the audience, it’s a distinguishing factor, who criticize just helps us out to be noticed. If we would have followed the rules we would be forgotten in half day, but here we are talking about it after 27 years. Absolutely great.

Particularly speaking, I really like all your works, the demos, anyway. For me “Buried in Time” is an amazing album, as are all the other full-lengths you’ve released like: All The Witches Dance, Secret Sudaria, Tolling 13 Knell and Spiritual Independence. For you, which album would best define Mortuary Drape? Could you make a brief comment about these albums?

I can’t comment out all albums, it would require too much time that I don’t have unfortunately, but thank you to mention all the albums representing the essence of Mortuary Drape. Each of these albums represent our style: slow tempo/doom songs, mid tempos and fast songs as we like to include in each album. I have no preference, they are all our creations that reflect our style, it’s a chronological path to follow in order to know in depth the Drape .

You also have splits with Shining and Necromass. How was the idea of ​​these release  and if there may be other releases in this format?

Regarding the split album with Shining, Niklas asked me to collaborate on a record. We talked about the cover and the title, which must enclose the essence of 2 different bands like us, but at the end we found the right way to do Regarding the other collaboration, well, it wasn’t possible to find a solution to merge both bands essence in one cover, so we released it with 2 covers. They are both independent and non-repeatable releases, I’m not sure if something similar will happen again.

When you played in Brazil I could see how much Mortuary Drape is worshiped. All the fans singing your songs. What memories do you have of the  shows you played in South America and if there is already any possibility of playing in this territory again?

We always get a lot of requests by fans to come to South America again. Memories are crystal clear in the memory of our fans. We remember well all  concerts in Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico. We are ready for new tour, for sure, but  all depends by when the situation goes back to normal everywhere and the  availability of promoters: it was never easy to move a band from Italy and now  costs are even higher thank  to the pandemic. We believe that we will come  back after the release of the new album.

With more than 35 years on the road, what are some of the most remarkable facts that you have memories of in this trajectory?

It’s hard to remember all things happened in 35 years, but usually I remember  more after a bottle of Jack Daniels… Seriously, it’s hard to forget all nice experiences and I’ll tell you another thing, we also remember bad things very well, it helps to avoid to do the same mistake twice.

I would like to thank you immensely for your time and say to Mortuary Drape to continue on the path of Occult Black Metal producing with essence and soul these fundamental and incredible sounds for many more years to come. Leave your messages to old and new fans!!!

Thanks also to you and to all the readers of these lines, I want to tell you to try to listen to Wisdom Vibration Repent, this is just a small preview of what our next full album will be. See you at our next concerts, we need to get back to normal, get back to breathing music together with fellow musicians and our audience. We are waiting for you under the stage. M13D

Thank you for the interview and thanks your readers. I just want to say listen to  “Wisdom Vibration Repent”, this is a small preview of the new upcoming album.  See you at the next shows, we all need to go back to normal, live music on stage with our fans. See you under the stage. M13D

Interview conducted by  Unholy Death Avernoth from the band CURSED CHRIST