Modern thrash metallers Sawthis once known as Sothis began releasing material years ago and now that they have gone on to release their latest album, "Egod" there is no stopping them! They have more material shows, and so much more for this year it's crazy! Drummer and vocalist Michele Melchiorre discusses this with us.
1. So how did the band
get the name, Sawthis does it represent or mean anything to the band?
Michele: Our old
moniker was Sothis and has benefited from a decade of
advertising (in fact "Fusion" issues with that name). But after a dispute
with a Californian band of the same name, we had to
change in Sawthis. You know very well that if you change name it's impossible to replace a promotional work last long with news through webzines. This is what
we had to do close to the release of "Egod”. We chose "Sawthis"
as the name simply because, after all this time, we
would not be able to hear us call in a different way on the stage. So we opted for a name phonetically similar. So remember: Sawthis not Sothis! Ahahahahahahahahaha
2. What type of band
are you?
Michele: We are a band
that follows the feeling. Without struggle our music doesn't exist. For
example: on the stage we love the contact with people and we have an “easy” and
instinctive attitude. Our genre is clearly a mix of
thrash and death metal, but also hardcore, heavy and much more. In summary I think it's very personal but undoubtedly
metal. Metal has this characteristic: it can be contaminated by various
influences and other musical genre with always
a different result.The metal itself is born from a mix of hard rock and punk, and if you
think about it, the most important metal album of the last 20 years it's a
crossover of many genres outside the metal that have revitalized and renewed
and projected to the present day.
Michele: Sawthis born in under the name of Sothis and between 2000 and 2003 records 2 demo, “The Seven Lies” and “Instinct” and shares the stage with many great bands such as: Lacuna Coil, Entombed, Impaled Nazarene, Shaman, Konkhra... In 2003 Sawthis sign a record deal with Temple Of Noise records and in the April of 2006 their debut album "Fusion" is out throughout Europe. This throws the band towards a new massive live activity campaign (this time with Destruction, Anathema, Vader, Sybreed, Impaled Nazarene, Extrema, Sadist, Necrodeath and Assassin) and publishing the first video clip of the song “Beyond The Bound”. In 2009 the band enters the studio again for the recording of the second full-length named "Egod" and signs a deal with Scarlet Records. After the album release, the band start the Egod tour in Eastern Europe, having been chosen by legendary Polish death metal band Vader as their opening act. During the summer, the album promotion continues sharing the stage with The Haunted, Primal Fear, Bulldozer, Cattle Decapitation, God Dethroned and publishing the video clip of the song “Act Of Sorrow”. The live activity continues in 2012 supporting Sepultura during the Est European Kairos Tour, in Italy with the Triumvirhate Tour and playing at Spirit Of Burgas Festival with Korn.
4. Who are your musical influences?
Michele: Let's say
that when we were making "Egod" in the studio, at the production
level, give ear to Black Label Society, Disturbed, but also the "Black
Album" (still the top of the productions), Machine Head, Slipknot , Lamb
Of God. But none had the features we were looking
for our album. Don't get me wrong: the bands that I had mentioned are all legends and listen to their album was a useful
exercise, but only for understand the current productions. But then, "your" disk, it must play in a
unique and personal way. At the end, our idea was mix
the instruments around the drum sounds, to have a compact and powerful sound and then make louder of stringed instruments in
post-production and mastering.
Michele: We would like
live with music because we can live without it! We love every aspect of music,
from the path of composition, in which ideas are turned into notes and notes in
songs, life on the road and live performance which
allowed us to know people around the world who otherwise we wouldn't have known
and that instead have become part of our lives. So, it
would be a shame if this important and totalitarian universe for our artistic
needs, remains only a hobby.
I think that working
alone has influenced the final result drying our formula and pushing a
"song form" more direct. The songs of “Egod” instill in a clearly way
their quality. We have expanded our sound working on
the arrangements rather than on intrinsic melody of rhythm guitars that have
been designed to increase and ensure the impact of the songs. Each score plays a specific and defined role and
doesn't come into conflict with the whole work, but rather emphasizes the
characteristics making them more obvious. This
approach has made "Egod" an album apparently "contaminated"
and very little canonical.
7. How do you describe
your music to people?
Michele: Fat & Bad
Music!!! Hard- earned. Carnal, human, because it
develops always evolving musical archetypes and then suitable for all. We love music that has feeling. Ours
is a layered sound: powerful, clear and direct but not elementary. For “Egod”
didn't want an univocal use: therefore, with the
"ethnic" device we tried to balance a different kind of emotion. In
this way all coexist in anger and sadness, happiness and holiness, eroticism
and death. "Egod" aims to stimulate and
activate multiple emotions at the same time trying to shake the listener. If a
song doesn't move it's not worth a damn!
8. What image do you
think your music conveys?
Michele: I do not
know. Although I'm curious. I'd like to ask you! I think our music instill
strength, anger, pride, but it is also, at times, very introverted and
reflective. But I do not like to talk about us in these terms: I can tell you
what my goals when I compose a song but I do not pretend to believe that I can
reach them. This is up to the public to say.
Michele: "Fusion"
was an album very heterogeneous because it is made in a long time: a kind of
collection of all our most significant compositions written between 1999 and
2003. Stylistically was very varied but close in a
style that we can define thrash / death. We are still very proud because it was
an album that opened many doors and that we still play on stage. “Egod” instead
is a thoughtful album made in a year or so that,
even in its setting, we loaded with aims to be met. We
wanted in “Egod” always an instinctive. We have
exasperated the Hardcore component that has made the thrash genre basically
live, we have isolated the heavy component, enriching phrasing, scores and
ethnic instruments to amplify the harmonic versatility we have used our death
component and seasoned with a great deal of violence. Ahahahahahahahaah.
At the end, the result was dry and direct and this has very satisfied. I think "Egod",
beyond the tags that can be used to describe it, is essentially a “musical”
album. Very calibrated.
Michele: The evolution / involution (depends on your taste) between the
two albums is the result of an unavoidable factor: time. When we released
"Fusion", we wanted to put all our experience in an album that
situate us and make us stand out in a vast, fragmented and scattered scene like
the Italian one. "Egod" has wider prerogatives: it aims at a world
market, thanks to the global distribution of our label, and a
"concept" that configures it as a piece of art: it has a message to
spread and a characteristic and uniform style. This is only possible with time
and hard work.
Michele: We wanted to give the appearance of "manifesto" to
the themes of the album with an impressive title "carnal" and
"sacred." The choice was "Egod" because it is a word that
has great evocative power and a multi-purpose sense neither positive nor
negative (it can mean so many things: "The ego of God,"
"I:God," etc. ... ). In "Egod"
feelings such as ambition, narcissism, and (of course) the ego, regain dignity
itself as the true archetypes of human actions. The
ego, in particular, is seen as the feeling that makes it more like Man and God.
So, Man dies when it ceases to its ambitions, dreams and desires because the
ego is the key to its vitality. The cover expresses this concept: the Man who
becomes apple of desire turns into God.
12. Your signed with
record label Scarlet Records how did this occur and are you satisfied with what
they have to offer?
Michele: When we entered the studio to record "Egod" we lose
any link with our previous staff and did not know how and when it would come
out. We were ready to release it as a
self-production but we knew that this eventuality would be limiting in terms of
exposure. So, we passed around the promo of
"Egod" between experts, with whom we have simultaneously tried to
establish a dialogue. As a result there are a number
of offers including that of the Scarlet Records. It' s a professional reality
and established in many markets where we knew we would have been able to
improve our work. This is why we welcomed with great enthusiasm their interest.
Michele: Expand our audience and travel all around the world playing our
music. I know every band says the same, but I think "Egod" should
only be listened to. It' s an album with a great possibility, it will have
something to say and doesn't leave you indifferent. This happens with all the
heartfelt album, created to urgently expressive and full of experiences that
each person has tested, at least once in their lives.
Michele: To promote "Egod", we have collaborated with Alex
Azzali and its management Alphaomega, which has done an excellent job for all
that concerns the Eastern European and Asian market. We
played more abroad than in our country: after all, if you live in Italy is
inevitable. In Italy, the metal is dead and doesn't
make sense to record an album if you won't to push abroad. From this point of view we were really pleased with
Alex' work. Thanks to him we have faced two major
European tours (first with Vader and then with Sepultura) and in other
important stages including that of the Spirit of Burgas in Bulgaria, where we
shared the stage with Korn. Let's say that our
"feel of stage" has no limit but we can be satisfied! But, for what
concerns the tours, our motto remains the same: "Again"!
Michele: In our show see five people jumping and moving. As I said, we
are very physical and we try constantly the contact with the public. Many bands play on stage as if they were rehearsing,
just turn to the audience totally ignoring the scenic aspect in favor of the
executive. We also play live as in the rehearsal
room: indeed destroy even the rehearsal room! Ahahahaha There
are nights that without the audience response I could not play. It' s on those
evenings that you discover how the feeling can positively influence your
performance. It's the public response that will
transmit the adrenaline of which need a great show. We
can only do our best to return to the public a very small part of the feeling
that every time we reserve! This honors us. Thanx Brothers!
Michele: A lot: without music I would be a serial killer or a bum! The
music allows the opportunity to vent my negativity in a constructive and
fruitful way.
Visit us and leave your comments, your thoughts, your insults and all
that comes into your head.
Follow updates of our shows and come to our live: we'll drink a few beers together and spend the time doing the most important thing you can do in life: breathe music! Finally, thank you NATALIE of NATALIE'S WORLD for this nice chat: it was a pleasure. See you around! SAWTHIS RULEZ, "CHECK YOUR HATE"!
Follow updates of our shows and come to our live: we'll drink a few beers together and spend the time doing the most important thing you can do in life: breathe music! Finally, thank you NATALIE of NATALIE'S WORLD for this nice chat: it was a pleasure. See you around! SAWTHIS RULEZ, "CHECK YOUR HATE"!
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