We propose in this article the interview with a band that we had the pleasure of listening to and reviewing recently, Geometry Of Chaos. Fabio La Manna answers.
> Hi, how are you?
Hi Jacopo, it’s a pleasure to answer an interview for your webzine. We are fine, I still have some aftermath from the covid I had last month, I am still without taste and smell and I have some small cold problems, in short, this pandemic does not seem to want to give us respite but I am sure that we will gradually get out of it.
> You are a band that offers elaborate Progressive Metal sounds, where does the passion for this genre come from?
Since I was a child I have nourished myself with a lot of different music and many influences have accumulated, thanks also to people older than me. Relatives, acquaintances, my brother, have introduced me to various plays that are also very different from each other. I’ve always had a lot of music to listen to and learn more about. The great loves were the Beatles and Pink Floyd, who at the age of 5-6, opened up a world of sounds to me that I then slowly went to explore, search for and then find in other records. I discovered metal even before progressive rock, I was about 7-8 years old .. first records were those of Def Leppard of Iron Maiden, Metallica, of which I bought all the vinyls of the 80s, and some compilations at cassette lent me by acquaintances. Later, in adolescence, I began to appreciate the more progressive heavy sounds, such as Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Savatage, Shadow Gallery, Tool, etc.
> You are a poly-instrumentalist [Fabio] who plays guitar, bass and keyboards, what are your main inspirations?
I started playing guitar as a kid with total inspiration from my favorite bands at the time: precisely Beatles Pink Floyd Genesis iron Maiden Toto Marillion, Queen, Alice Cooper, Doors. When I was 16-17 I switched to electric guitar and from there I never gave up on the instrument. My favorite guitarists as a boy belong to the classic progressive school: they were David Gilmour, Steve Rothery of Marillion, Andy Latimer of Camel, and hard rock and classic rock: Jimmy Page and Toni Iommi in particular. With the deepening of metal guitarism, I started studying alone and then with teachers of the hardest rock but I never disdained even the blues and something jazz. Listening to many different guitarists has proprablely influenced my style which is not too much like a particular guitarist. In the field of progressive metal or just metal I can certainly mention the Queensryche guitarists, Jim Matheos, Petrucci himself, Chris Oliva, James Hetfield, Mikael Akerfeldt. In general I really appreciate Joe Satriani and Guthrie Govan, although I don’t love shredders too much.
> Your album “Soldiers Of The New World Order” was released in September 2020 and features intense lyrics, what is the central theme of the album?
The main theme of the album is a society governed by a new world order that controls every aspect of life, from work to the private sphere. The existence of people has the common and terrible characteristic of a very limited individual freedom. The individual citizen is, in some ways, comparable to a robot soldier with the sole purpose of fulfilling missions, carrying out tasks on behalf of third parties in a totalitarian and despot state.
Every facet of this society is piloted in some way. There are few people in power who control even those few aspects that appear to be free, such as the choice of one’s faith, the use of drugs and drugs, consumerism in general. in reality, any pseudo-choice or career is nothing but heavily addressed. People are never too aware of their own destiny, as in the reality we live, there is not much difference, only a greater awareness of the weight of authority on their choices.
> A powerful and technical album at the same time, how would you describe your album?
We tried to create a disc that was not too homogeneous with different atmospheres, emotions, colors depending on the situation described and the mood sought. I composed the music that I perceived most suitable to fit into this scenario between “futurist” but also current, of this oppressive hyper-technological world. The chosen concept gave me the possibility to create certain tones from the guitars, from the keyboards, vaguely dark. a lot of dynamism and modern groove, but without neglecting a nostalgic aftertaste for the pure rock and progressive of the past Other influences probably come from classical music, soundtracks, concept albums in general.
> You have the ability to combine more classic Prog sounds with more modern and Heavy ones, how does the creative and compositional process of your music take place?
The sound and the alchemy between the instruments are also dictated to a great extent by the story and atmosphere that we want to tell within the single song, of the picture to be painted. An excellent harmony developed between me and Davide on a musical level right from the start. He too is a musician who listens to practically everything. Since I am mainly a guitarist, before being a bassist, the pieces are basically born with the guitar and in some cases from some of my experiments on the keyboard. Half of the tracks were born on my own, the other half playing with Davide In the rehearsal room. We then go on to structure our ideas, from improvisation some ideas take over others and dictate an address, a path, to the track that is then surely studied, analyzed … sometimes the direction of the piece, beyond intuition, is pursued after a thorough analysis of the riff or the intro of the song itself.
> Many fans and our readers will ask themselves if with the problems of the pandemic there will be the possibility to listen to your music live, do you have any plans for it?
I’m going to wait a little longer for the concert side of the band. The decisive factor will be the promotion with the label and above all the next album in the pipeline. The response that will follow from the next releases will surely determine the type of live activity I will do as Geometry of Chaos
> Today’s music market offers less refined and more commercial sounds, what difficulty (if any) does a band like yours find in proposing their music?
There was already an enormous difficulty in establishing yourself as a band or artist of unreleased songs in a club environment that is teeming with covers and tribute bands! in addition, we add that at the level of the actual recording market, commercial, social, media, there is no progressive of this type that can have great response without a huge promotional machine behind it. having said that, the biggest goal remains to make good records, productions of which to be proud.
> What advice would you give to young artists who try to emerge by proposing a musical genre closer to Progressive and Metal sounds?
First of all I would say try to be as original and personal as possible in your way of composing and playing. Do not try at all costs to have to resemble one band rather than another, work a lot on the technical aspect but focus above all on the emotional aspect of the music. Try to be good and more.
> The last question, as always, I leave it free to be able to talk about any topic not covered in the previous questions, feel free to talk about what you want.
I take advantage of the space to send the reader back to listening to the band on the various streaming services, or through a very welcome offer with which to download on our bandCamp and maybe subscribe to the YouTube channel, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
I thank Geometry Of Chaos for the interview and for the availability, wishing them the best for the continuation of their musical career. Thank you.
