AN NCS INTERVIEW: KRAMPUS

(Recently, NCS guest contributor Trollfiend reviewed the new EP by an Italian folk-metal band named Krampus. The album is called Kronos’ Heritage, and you can find Trollfiend’s review here. Today, he follows up that review with an interview of the band.)

First of all, thank you for taking the time to respond to this interview!

You’re welcome!

What made you choose the Krampus as the image to represent your band?

Well, the choice came after the name, chosen by the past guitar player Riccardo.

Your promo photos look very post-apocalyptic, not at all like the ‘swords and furs’ you usually see in folk metal bands.  Is this a theme you plan to pursue further?

We feel that this is the right outfit for our lyrical themes, all our songs are different from the “classical” folk metal themes. We talk about environmental problems, we speak against what we believe to be the new “demons” and foes of the modern world, but we try to do it with a “past values” approach. We think that everything went too far and we are probably heading to something we won’t be able to confront, if we keep wasting time and turning our heads away from all this, there will not be that much left to cry over. Let’s say, our “image”, it’s some kind of “word to the wise”.

The title track on your Kronos’ Heritage EP features some clean melodic vocals.  Is this a new direction for Krampus?

That’s something we tried even in the past EP Shadows of our Time, and is something we will definitely keep using but  the scream will still be the central part of my vocals.

Have you ever been to a Krampus festival?

Of course we did! Beside our  experience as children, we attend every year the Krampus attack in Malborghetto (UD)  and we play there as a sign of “support” to this great tradition that is losing ground against the other kinds of “attractions.” We hope to draw some new teenagers to this wonderful and important tradition, to the alps that must not fall apart.

I’ve seen your style of music called “folk metal”, “folk death” and even “folk metalcore”…. how important do you think these genre names are in defining your sound?

I don’t think that definitions are something that must concern the artists. We write our own kind of music without any concern about definitions. We’ll never say “we can’t play this because it’s not “folk” or shit like that. It might be a good helper for the audience to arrange the music and discuss it with other metalheads — Metal is a whole big world 😉

Any chance of having a Krampus as part of your stage show?

Actually, it’s pretty hard. Traditional Krampus have strict rules on when they can “come out”. They can roam freely only during the 5th of December, with fresh new costumes built with their own hands. Being a Traditional Krampus requires an initiation ritual and a strong belief in their rules.

Who are your biggest musical influences? What are you listening to right now?

Well, we all come from different kinds of metal so there’s no single influence that can drive our creativity.

Right now? Some youtube compilation of unknown bands! I love to search for new music.

Which bands would you most like to tour with?

There are so many bands we would love to share the stage with.  Do you really want a list from an 8 piece band ? 😉

Maybe we should leave that for another day.  🙂 But of course the big question is: any chance of a North American tour?

We would really like to bring to the U.S. our music and our words, so we’ll hope to do that soon!