The Chaos and Fury of Descent Into Maelstrom

The Chaos and Fury of Descent Into Maelstrom

Descent Into Maelstrom is an Italian metal collective whose sonic artistry is jammed packed with fury, chaos and ambition.  Now signed to the almighty Club Inferno Entertainment, Descent Into Maelstrom has just unleashed their Iconoclast manifesto upon an entire world.  Included on the album is an appearance by Andy Marchini of the long-running Sadist, lending his formidable bass skills to the proceedings.  Highwire Daze recently sent an inquiry to the Descent Into Maelstrom brigade to find out more about their superbly intensive reveries.  Read on…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Descent Into Maelstrom, and how long the band has been together.
I am Michele Augello, the bass player. The band started out as a studio project of Andrea Bignardi in September 2016. In the summer of 2017, it turned into a real band with Andrea on guitar and vocals, Michele Castelnuovo on drums and Mattia Panunzio and Pietro Buzzi on guitars. They hadn’t a bass player yet when I joined in October 2017 shortly before our first live show.

Where is the band based out of and what is the local music scene like there?
Andrea, Mattia and Michele are from Piacenza while Pietro and I are from Milan. Here there are tons of bands that play every kind of music. We’ve been friends and shared the stage with some of them. Unfortunately, there are just some clubs where you can play live and it’s getting hard to do gigs. Piacenza is much smaller; there are some bands but only few clubs.

How did you wind up signing with Club Inferno ?
We want to grow as a band and we were looking for another label. Everyone knows Francesco and how he works with bands. We wrote him… and here we are! Ahead with this new adventure!

Is there any overall story or concept behind the Iconoclasm album title?
It is not a real concept. Every song was inspired by a painting for both music and especially lyrics; this is the main connection of all the songs. The title means that: a clash of different sides of art.

Select two songs from Iconoclasm and what inspired the lyrics.
I’d say Forgotten Wisdom” inspired by an Untitled work of Zdzisław Beksiński. The lyrics are about how much mankind is blind and cannot see his own story. It’s like walking a gallery of titans without be aware of it. The second one is “Saturn” inspired by Saturno devorando a su hijo (Saturn Devouring His Son) by Francisco Goya. Here the lyrics are inspired by the myth of Saturn eating his own children and they end with the prophecy of Zeus looking for revenge.

Who did the cover art for Iconoclasm and how much input did you have on it?
We worked again with Jarno Lahti of Kaamos Illustration. We told him about the musical direction we were going and the idea of the painting connected with the lyrics and he created the artwork for the album.

What did Andy Marchini of Sadist contribute to the overall recording of Iconoclast and how did he become involved with the band?
Andy is one of my favourite bass players and Musician in general out there. Everyone in the band likes Sadist and he was my teacher too. I was trying to write a solo for “Shade Of The Night” but I got stuck in a lack of creativity and so I thought it could have been great to have him on our album. I called him, sent him the song and shortly after he came up with this amazing solo. You can recognize him immediately!

What could one expect from a live Descent Into Maelstrom show?
A wall of 3 guitars straight in the front raw, the bass right behind and the driving force of drums in the back. A lot of riffs and blast beats with some atmospheric moments here and there. We’re not the kind of band that talks too much on stage, just what is needed and then “let the music do the talking”.

If Descent Into Maelstrom could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
Opening for Dark Tranquillity would be great! They were a great inspiration for anyone, especially in the past years, and a killer live act. Obscura is another great one. They marked the genre in the last years. Of course, I have to mention Death and Necrophagist (I still hope Mr. Suiçmez will write a new album). Staying in Italy, it would be an honor to share the stage with Fleshgod Apocalypse or Hour Of Penance.

Are you or any other members involved with any other projects outside of Descent Into Maelstrom?
No, D.I.M. is our only band. Everyone likes to experiment with music but we do it on our own, there are no other band or projects going on.

What’s up next for Descent Into Maelstrom?
We were supposed to play in Poland but, due to the present worldwide situation, we are forced to stay at home. We are focusing on the new songs; they will mark a great step in the style of the band. Lyric wise it will be a sort of concept inspired by Dante Alighieri… we are still defining the details. Anyway, it will be challenging, that is for sure.

Any final words of wisdom?
Despite the present times, stay focused on the positive sides of living. Channel all the energy into something creative and improve yourselves. When all this will be through, it will pay off! As for ourselves NOTHING IS GONNA STOP THE MAELSTROM!

Band Members
Andrea Bignardi – Rhythmic, Lead guitar and vocals
Mattia Panunzio – Rhythmic and Lead guitar
Pietro Buzzi – Rhythmic and Lead guitar
Michele Castelnuovo – Drums
Michele Augello – Bass

(Interview by Ken Morton)

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