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Cadaveria's return to heavy metal with a smile

Cadaveria's return to heavy metal with a smile
BANDS : CADAVERIA

20 years ago, italian extreme vocalist Cadaveria was leaving symphonic black metal pioneers Opera IX to start a new band that would allow her to express her creativity. Five albums and one EP later, Cadaveria's career seemed to suddenly come to a halt in the summer of 2018, as she was diagnosed with breast cancer. This interview is about her struggle and her return to heavy metal with a smile.

Metalfan: Hello and welcome back to metalfan.ro! Thank you for taking some time and sharing some thoughts with us today. How are you? How’s life in Italy now?
Cadaveria: Hi, no problem, it's a pleasure. I'm fine, thank you. Excited for the new single Divination we have just released. So a bit busy but happy. Life in Italy is good to me, as I live in a small village in the countryside, where I can walk every day and this guarantees me freedom and good energy even during the pandemic.
 
Metalfan: Last time we spoke it was 2007 and Cadaveria’s third album, In Your Blood, had just been released. What comes to your mind when you think back on those years, on that album, on that moment in time for the band? If you could go back, what piece of advice would you give to your-fourteen-years-younger-self?
Cadaveria: If I look back to 2007 I see a young band, in some ways even naive or inexperienced, with many dreams in the drawer. I would not change anything in any case of what I did and how I did it, because I always did my best. Sometimes I was wrong but so I gained experience and grew up. So I wouldn't give any advice to the 14-year-old (younger) Cadaveria. Things happen because they have to happen, there is always a reason.
 
Metalfan: While I was putting together the questions for this interview I went on your Wikipedia page and it says there that you are “an Italian musician famous for being one of the first women to enter the extreme metal scene in the early 1990s”. First of all, do you consider yourself famous? Did you know that you have a Wikipedia page? Did you read it?
Cadaveria: I am not famous in an absolute sense, since I am in an underground band, but I am famous for those who experienced the underground of the nineties, for those who saw the development of black metal and who remember that women in the heavy metal scene at that time were very few. Yes I know there is a Wiki page about me. Can anyone please correct my height? I am 167cm tall, not 165. Ah ah.
 
Metalfan: Famous or not , you were indeed one of the first female extreme vocalists, the only notable name to have preceded yours that comes to mind is Sabina Classen of Holy Moses. Today we have a great number of extreme metal bands fronted by female vocalists, it’s almost like a new trend. But does quantity equal quality? Do you have any favorites?
Cadaveria: I'm very happy that finally women who can sing growl are noticed. We have spent the last 15 years seeing the birth of gothic metal bands with women singing clean, pop and looking after their physical appearance as if they were going to do a catwalk at fashion shows. Finally, I see some women with attributes, who don't care so much about eyelashes and aesthetics as about knowing how to sing or play. It seems it is already a good step forward. Don't get me wrong: I think taking care of yourself and your body is very important, but if you play or sing there must be something else. More. I don't have much time to listen to the new releases and judge if quantity is synonymous with quality. I try to divide my daytime so that I can also listen to the sounds of nature, silence, create music, art and dedicate at least one hour to walking and half a hour to yoga. I have my own path to do and I don't concentrate myself on other bands.
 
Metalfan: You have been a female musician writing, recording and performing music with metal bands for almost 30 years now. Is the metal music scene a “man’s world”? Did you have to suffer discrimination or have you've been prejudiced because you are a woman? Have things changed over time? 
Cadaveria: I believe that certain points of view on women will never change, even today in 2021 there are always those who judge negatively and who believe that males have more talent and deserve more space than females. Personally I was lucky enough, because, as far as I know, people appreciate me for what I do as a singer and in general I am not attackable on other fronts. Unfortunately, I experienced some limitations of my freedom within the band I was part of before. Opera IX was a band with a very specific creed and every attempt of mine to express myself on other lines was not welcomed.
 
Metalfan: In that interview from 2007 that I mentioned, at one point you were asked about your real name, so we can assume that it wasn’t exactly common knowledge back then. (you graciously dodged the question by the way, adding to the mystery) But today…How do you feel about being a public person today, with the rise of internet and social media? How did it change your relationship with the public? Any concerns about your privacy? 
Cadaveria: I have to say thank you to Facebook that some years ago asked to verify my account so I had to reveal my identity. From that point on my personal profile Cadaveria herself was transformed in Raffaella Rivarolo and I had to create a page named Official Cadaveria Herself. A real bore to have an extra account to manage. For the rest I am sorry that the anonymity game is over, but in truth this has relieved me of a burden. Hiding is always more tiring, complicated and energy consuming than revealing. I recently had cancer and I decided again for the truth road, by revealing my condition and keeping the fans updated on my cures. Otherwise I should have been hiding, I don't find it honest.
 
Metalfan: Indeed, you have not shied away from talking about your 18 months struggle with illness, you talked about it also in several interviews over the past months. Sharing this with your fans, how important was that for your recovery process? What were the reactions? 
Cadaveria: The reactions were strong; people were as shocked by my illness as I was. You never think it can happen to you. Talking about it, sharing it, was part of the therapy for me. I have to face things in the open. The sharing was therapeutic and gave me the opportunity to build an even closer relationship with my fans. They were close to me, they always believed in me, they gave me courage and surrounded me with love. I am very lucky to have so many people around who love me.
 
Metalfan: The illness kept you away from music. How did you manage to keep a positive attitude and how were you able to “learn to dance in the rain” (how you so beautifully put it) in the absence of music? 
Cadaveria: When cancer transformed my body I felt the need to remove all infrastructure. There was nothing left of what I had built, there was just me, my life hanging by a thread, my fragility, my will to live and my soul. I started from these bases. When you touch death you learn to love life and yourself like never before. Now I appreciate the richness of the present, of the here and now. It is the only way to live fully.
 


Metalfan: Back in May 2020 Cadaveria released a quarantine video of the song 100.000 Faces, but your first new song since 2017 was released in October 2020: Return, a Deine Lakaien cover to mark the return of Cadaveria as an active band. The title is a statement, that is obvious, but were there other reasons for choosing to record a cover version of this particular song? Are there any other songs you would like to cover some day? 
Cadaveria: In 2015 we played in Germany at a festival where Deine Lakaien also played and there we fell in love with this song. So when I realized it was time to get back to music, Return seemed very suitable. There is another cover we have in the pipeline but there are also many unreleased ones and at the moment I prefer to make my own music. The cover will wait.
 
Metalfan: The cover version of Return was arranged by Kris Laurent, who also plays guitars on both of the new songs (alongside Pier Gonella), yet he is not an official member of the band anymore. According to your website, Cadaveria is a 3 piece now. Does Kris’ involvement in the project Ardours (with Tristania vocalist Mariangela Demurtas) have anything to do with it? Have you listened to it, what do you think about it?
Cadaveria: Kris left CADAVERIA in 2017. For a variety of reasons, he could no longer be a permanent member of the band. But at the same time he is a great composer, with many ideas and styles in his mind. So with Ardours he expresses another part of himself. At the same time Kris is a very good composer of horror and black metal songs. He feels the need to create them, so he is back to cooperate with us. However as an external member. Frank Booth, who left the band in 2015, also returned to help me composing Matryoshcada. I think this is the best formula: those who want to collaborate are welcome and they do so of their own free will. But they don't sign any contract with blood. They are free to come and go. The official line up is made up of people who collaborate with me on a permanent basis.
 
 
 
Metalfan: The video of Matryoshcada, the first original song of the band since Mondoscuro (2017) was released in November 2020, but it seems to me that the lyrics were more or less written a year earlier, when you posted a message on the band’s website describing the experience of discovering different layers of your personality revealing themselves like matryoshka dolls. Did the lyrics come to be before the song was written? Was this therapeutic writing? 
Cadaveria: During the illness I wrote a lot but I didn't think about making songs, it was a liberating writing, also made to express certain strange emotions caused by the cancer and the medicines I was taking. When I returned to music I felt the need to tell my drama and in part I used words that I had already shared on social networks. after all, they are my words, they are my feelings. When I wrote them, I wasn't even sure I would go back to making music
 
Metalfan: In order to reflect these different layers of your personality the video basically shows your “old” dark look being taken over by your “new“ light appearance. You commented “I have changed a lot and I’m always the same”. Can you tell us more about this new appearance? What changes does it reflect? What stayed the same? 
Cadaveria: My approach to life has changed, my image has changed. I want to accept this new image of mine, keeping my hair short. The blond is therefore the expression of the opposite of who I was, a way to play with my new appearance. Going back to making my hair grow back, to being as before would mean wanting to reset everything, wanting to go back to the way before. But cancer taught me to accept changements. It came for a reason and shouldn't be forgotten. Then there are things that have remained the same, my dedication to music, my artistic side, my “madness”. But I do everything more lightly and with a smile. I'm no longer afraid to smile. I can do heavy metal with a smile. 
 
Metalfan: A new single is scheduled to be released next month and you already announced that others will follow, on a regular basis, as soon as each new song is recorded. What were the reasons for choosing this way of releasing music? Is there going to be a new Cadaveria album at some point? 
Cadaveria: I don't feel like making the effort to produce an entire album and I don't even like to focus all my energy on an album that comes out in a moment and then? I want to enjoy it song by song, to enjoy every moment, to produce a song and then have the luxury of rethinking it and picking it up again, retouching it. I want creative freedom in ways and times. I don't know if an album will come out. I live day by day.
 
Metalfan: What can you tell us about the new songs that are yet to be released? Are they ready to be recorded or are they in the early stages? What can the fans expect in terms of musical direction? 
Cadaveria: There are two songs, one is Divination which has just been released, and the other will be out maybe in March, which are linked together. They come from a spiritual experience that I had in Brazil a year ago. Then there are others already 70% ready, to be reviewed and perfected. The sounds range from black metal to gothic. The voice is freer and more inspired than ever.
 
Metalfan: Inspiration and new perspective can come from everywhere around. From where does yours come from? Obviously, some of it comes from looking inside of you. But do you get inspired by things, places or other persons? Does is get difficult to find new inspiration? Do you ever get writer’s block? 
Cadaveria: I have a lot of things I've written in the past 2 or 3 years. I have no problems with the lack of ideas, I just have to understand if certain things I wrote maybe in 2017 still belong to me. I take inspiration from life, from the words of masters, philosophers, from the cultures I meet while traveling, from art, from the exhibitions I go to see, from mother nature.
 
Metalfan: This year the band is celebrating 20 years of activity. Happy anniversary! We thought about asking you to take a walk on memory lane for us and reminisce about the old times, but then this is what every other interviewer would ask of you in 2021. So how about this: we are going to give you a list of words that we think are significant in this context and you are going to share with us a thought, a funny story, a joke anything that comes to mind related to that word. 
 
black metal - Euronymous
keyboards - sometimes they can be useful
Mullholland Drive – Lost Highways
Nightmare – The Dream
leather pants - I have tons of them and in a while I'll put them up for auction
rehearsal - sometimes they can be useful
shadows madame - how it all started
Scarlet Records - nothing to complain
spiritual independence – my way of being
Christian woman – not exactly my way of being
clean vocals – sometimes, why not?
divine rapture – celebrating beauty
backstage - beer
20 years – and many to come
heavy boots – SO heavy!
Morticia Addams – my inspiration
mirror – the truth of my eyes
conformity – far away from
matryoshca - within us there is infinite light and beauty
spell – our most famous song that nobody is able to ignore     
 
Metalfan: The last question is the question that you have never been asked in an interview and you have always wanted to answer. Consider that we’ve just asked you that question! 
Cadaveria: Ok, so let's imagine that the question was: what is the thing you can't stand? Well, there are two: the first is that some people are stubbornly attached to the past and completely ignore the path I have taken over the last 20 years. The second are the ones who disappear, especially those who send you the questions for the interview of the century (20/25 questions or more) and then don't publish it. Oh yes, unfortunately there are. Ah ah, peace and love, by the way. Thanks for this interesting interview, I noticed from some details that you followed me with passion. Thank you!
Vezi galeriile trupelor: CADAVERIA

   February 16, 2021  | 0 Comments  | 21098 Views « BACK

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