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Highly anticipated new project Witchfield from Italian maestro Thomas Hand Chaste whose lengthy lineage connects him from early to current Death SS and Paul Chain's Violet Theatre should be enough to peak anyone's ears to it's upcoming debut release on Black Widow Records. As one would expect, progressive doom metal is the offering yet hugely epic and metallic in nature. Less melodic prog as with most current Italian acts of it's kind, think a more elaborate The Black or crunchier Malombra and your somewhere in the realm of Witchfield with hints of conceptual opera that reminds one of Devil Doll at it's heaviest Witchfield are destined to its own greatness as Thomas Hand Chaste takes the reins finally after so many years supporting greatness.
Joining Thomas Hand Chaste are also x- Sabotage current L'impero delle ombre, x-Boohoos and Hoepsend / Terremoto members to complete the line-up. I feel very honored to be given the chance to interview Thomas Hand Chaste who is such a long time veteran of the awe-inspiring true Italian doom metal scene and especially at such an early stage of Witchfield. (The following is a transcript from Thomas Hand Chaste — a form he found easier to reply in — answering swayingball's many questions on his musical career): Hello, this is Andrea Vianelli from WITCHFIELD, better known as Thomas "Hand" Chaste, a name I started to use when I joined DEATH SS as a drummer in the early eighties.
My career has been related to DEATH SS since October 1980, it went on with PAUL CHAIN VIOLET THEATRE when, after our first singer Steve Sylvester parted and because of some more misfortunes, we decided to leave that moniker; then I worked with Steve again on his solo albums and in several other projects (find enclosed my full discography).
Baka Bomb was the bass guitar player for the BOOHOOS Lp "Rock For Real" (Electric Eye 1989) and played for several Paul Chain Cds too.
Cardellino brothers, John and Andy (singer and guitarist), released one album under the name IMPERO DELLE OMBRE (Black Widow 2004) and, finally, Ilario "Piranha" Suppressa has been playing the guitar with thrashers HOPESEND and the bass guitar with folk-rockers TERRA PI CICIRI.
Other contributors were Volume Adire, a young promising guitarist from KEINE ("La Nascita Della Tragedia" – LM Records 2006), polistrumentist Paolo Montebello (who played keyboards in "Totentanz" while he is mood was very particular….) and drummer Claudio Della Rosa who played a few minutes in the song "Curse My fate" together with Yari and Antonio on salentini folk percussions.
The story began after the release of my album "Uno Nessuno Centomila", I was called by John who asked me to work together; no sooner said than done, even if they lived 750 Km from my town. A week later they left immediately and spent a month in my studio and Baka Bomb's house. We played several sessions, I showed them some tracks and we set up our work. It was very natural as they are fond of this sound, especially what I did with VIOLET THEATRE; moreover this style is in my dna, it came back from my past.
As to the stylistic approach, I cannot tell, because I prefer that other people express their opinion. From a musical point of view, most responsibility for the WITCHFIELD sound is mine and I find it difficult to give an objective description.
What I can say is that I took energy from the other members diving in a painful sound which is full of memories but trying to bring forth a different progression, a "classical" approach that I regard as "ancient times" or "timeless places"; boundless music and sound creating everything. I apologize for my poor English but I find it hard to express these ideas in Italian too.
Moreover, there have been some other meetings to record and mix the tracks played in their studios. John dealt with the lyrics, mostly adapted some from some of Fergusson's, Kingsley's, Shakespeare's and Blake's poems about the human races' alienation and uneasiness. Our "witch hunt" means to find someone guilty at all costs, in a way, to be persecuted or, if you wish, not accepted. The idea of "WITCHFIELD" is about this field where a different kind of people - who can see "other" things and know beyond what they are supposed to know – meet.
Italy, it cannot be denied, has always been an anglo-saxon colony. There had not been any rock band who could compete with you since the times of the early DEATH SS, so our strength could be our determination. The idea behind our music was to go beyond death through earthly works which keep you alive even afterwards, in the memory of the living.
Perhaps it is an Italian notion originated from some literature and culture. However I think that the early DEATH SS, the ones with Paul Chain and Steve Sylvester, strong in their firm belief, have been a milestone not only in Italy and, what's more, in my opinion Paul Chain can be included among the fathers of Doom.
It is a matter of art, of atavic traditions of sounds we have heard for centuries coming back, even if you play Metal. We cannot but look behind. I definitely speak from experience; even more, I had the privilege to take part in this project but I have always kept on looking for the essence of things; my travel mates do know that and play main roles.
Now it is clear that WITCHFIELD, a project John and I started, is, in a way, a crucible of minds and ideas which may change over time through the support of other contributions. At the moment, we are waiting for the release of "Sleepless" to check feedback. If we are contacted, we will also go on a mini tour. We are going to decide on the spot, also because in Italy it is difficult to set up long term plans of live activity if you deal with Metal.
Meanwhile, Cardellino brothers are preparing their second album with IMPERO DELLE OMBRE. As for me, I am writing new songs with the help of Volume Adire and, later, I might propose them to some singers overseas. Who knows… I would like to see what is going to come out.
Anyway, our album is being finished. In the last minute Black Widow Rec. told us that Clive Jones (Black Widow / Agony Bag) might be a special guest for our debut. We let him listen to our songs and now he is working, hopefully, he won't take too long. Yet, we believe that the Cd/Lp may be out by the end of the year or in early 2008.
1:30 PM
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