DarkVeins interviewed Mancan, the leader of Italian Gothic/Black metal band Ecnephias. We take advantage of the release of the new self-titled album to learn more. We will talk about the beginnings and up to the affirmation of the band, today among the most important realities of the Italian extreme circuit.
L: Hi Mancan, thank you for giving us this interview! What do you call yourself?
M: Thank you. Mmm, it is difficult to define yourself, you can fall into vanity or modesty. I can only tell you that I have some very defined character sides, which are loyalty, courage, willpower. And that music is the outlet for all my spirituality. I am a courteous and kind person but also tough.
L: Tell us about the beginnings of Ecnephias and how they have evolved over time.
M: As a band we have been constantly active since 2004/2005, so a decade, although born in 1996 and operating for only a few actual months. As I already reported to a colleague of yours, we started out as a black/death metal band, always in a melodic sense and different from the crowd, with a desire to experiment within the boundaries of the same genre ("Dominium Noctis", "Haereticus" e "Ways of Descention") and the critical and public results were, except for isolated cases, really good. However I felt that we were not exploiting our potential with full freedom and courage, maybe out of fear, I don't know... we were a decent band, with good compositions under our belt, but the best was to come... in fact our musical background is full of heavy metal, dark rock, gothic and melodic death, so I said to myself "it's time to take a chance", those who don't take risks don't get anything out of life. "Inferno" made me tremble before the release, but afterwards it was an explosion of affection and esteem from everyone, the lyrics of "To Satan," "Black Church," "Buried in the dark abyss," "Voices of dead souls" and the other songs, accompanied by direct, powerful and melodic music, have forever marked our name in Italian metal, the sales are continuous (albeit within the limits of the historical time we live in) and the numbers on the web impressive for a band like us, which now enjoys a large following. The video "To Satan," our best-known song, is almost at 24,000 real views, a bang! And it all started from our very humble channel, not from a platform such as "BlankTV" or other similar ones may be, which makes one understand the real scope of the phenomenon. For an underground band these are remarkable numbers. As are the thousands of fans all over the globe who support us with a moving constancy. Italy, I think, must be proud. "Necrogod" confirmed and improved on what was done on the previous work, pushing the accelerator a bit on the metal and general groove, in a truly unique and exotic atmosphere given the themes covered in the lyrics and music. "Ecnephias" is the culmination of a journey, an album that makes us really happy in every way. We are no longer afraid of anything, our personality is out to the fullest. But point of arrival means for me of the "second phase" of the band, the best for me must always come and I won't deny you that I have already written new songs for the future.
L: What are your musical influences?
M: All classic and traditional heavy metal, 90s gothic, melodic death metal, melodic black, and dark rock.
L: You have made as many as five albums. Dominium noctis, Ways of Descention, Inferno, Necrogod and Ecnephias. An adjective to describe them? Which among them best represents the soul of Ecnephias?
M: Dominium Noctis: magical. Ways of descent: complex. Inferno: smart. Necrogod: curated. Ecnephias: sublime (for me at least). The most representative is hard to point out, I would say the last three together, led by Inferno That was the breakthrough album.
L: "Ecnephias" is your newest album for My Kingdom Music records. Can you introduce it to us? Can you also briefly tell us about the influences and individual tracks?
M: As I repeat a little bit to everyone in the interview, and I would have no other way to communicate it, "Ecnephias" is a treasure chest that contains a little bit of everything, in a degree for us never reached before, on a technical, compositional, interpretation and conviction level. It is heavy, dark, gothic, melodic... often melancholic but always powerful, "metal" but in our own way. It reflects a period of anger, fears, desire for change, research, introspection. It is a life story related to the Way of the Left Hand, branching between physical and dreamlike places. It is very reminiscent of the Twin Peaks TV series at the level of the story contained in the lyrics of each chapter of the concept. But with a "Mediterranean" and un-Nordic soul. Ecnephias Is "Mediterranean" in every sense. The influences are those generic ones I was telling you about above, maybe you can hear that we are lovers of Moonspell and Tiamat, the vocals may remind you of that as well as some arrangements, but at the end of the day it is us. No one invents anything anymore but at least we try to put in our own flour and not be mere clones like so many. I'm attached to all the songs on the album and it couldn't be any other way, but the lyrics of "A field of flowers," "Chimera," "Tonight," "Nyctophilia" and "Vipra Negra" feel particularly inspired and the music related to each of the tracks also particularly grabs me. Not at all leaving out the other tracks that we are proud and pleased with. "Lord of the Stars" is an incredibly energetic piece.
L: How does Ecnephias differ from the other titles in your discography?
M: It has a more metal production and is the child of a very inspired period for me. I could finally kick out all the melodic vein of my artistic state with a powerful and modern sound. The longest album (in length) in our history. The most varied. Perhaps the best.
L: After the lyric video of Vipra Negra the official video of Firewalker also from the album Ecnephias is already available... How were they received by the public?
M: Excellent response and numerous shares. We are not complaining about the support of our supporters. They are growing in numbers in all parts of the world.
L: What can you tell us about the lyrics of your songs?
M: They deal with psychological, intimate and esoteric themes. I think I can say very little, in the sense that many are clear and direct, while others reflect far too personal a status to make it user-friendly and I'm a little jealous of that. Everyone can find a suggestion that is their own or maybe not even find one or think I write bullshit. That's part of the game and the feeling.
L: Live dates? Are you planning a tour to promote Ecnephias?
M: Yes, there are some things in the pipeline that we will take a look at and think about as soon as possible weighing the pros and cons. Hopefully, we can have a decent tour in Europe and make it back with expenses.
L: What are the most important bands you have played with liv.e?
M: In the past Exodus, Opera IX, Necromass and in festivals Rotting Christ, Moonspell, Dark Tranquillity to many others. It was inspiring and also an example to observe some big names and to be close to them.
L: What do you think of the current Italian extreme scene?
M: I simply believe that there are individual realities of value and decent success, others that have been growing for a few years with some very decent works to their credit (which I follow and respect), and that all the rest - the so-called scene - is just and only hypocrisy, arrivism and grown-up children playing at being stars without having any history behind them, without having respect and dignity. Above all, with no musical style of their own, no research, no courage. A video is enough to exalt themselves in Italy. Sometimes a demo. We are, or rather they are, bad. I'll be mean but I don't care: if a band doesn't have a professional label behind it, doesn't have at least a few professionally produced albums and an established presence and esteem in the environment it will always remain "amateur". Which is not a bad thing, on the contrary! It needs to be understood, though. Being professional does not mean being more technical, faster and shit like that, but being able to make successful, exciting, well recorded, better produced compositions. Personal and inspired above all. And with behind the name a precisely professional promotional and commercial apparatus, even minimal, working with logic, competence and seriousness. Some severity is needed, I am sorry to be so raw and direct but one has to start telling it like it is. I love the underground and my lifestyle is always that, but on the meaning of "professional" I am very selective because I know what it means to spend months and months on a composition, weeks in the studio taking care of every detail, answering hundreds of mails and organizing work with labels. I know what it costs to get into a studio, to buy level instruments, to devote 2/3 of your day to your band. From Inferno onwards, we did objectively "perfect" studio work, also thanks to the trusted sound engineer, this from a formal point of view. It's meticulous work that few people understand except those in the industry. Then maybe not everyone will like your music, but no one will be able to speak ill of it in terms of execution and final performance. That is professionalism. The rest is something else, a lot of smoke.
L: Future plans?
M: I am waiting for sunshine and hot weather, top priority. Otherwise everything will go according to what we can arrange, maybe with some support from those in charge.
L: What about horror cinema instead? Are you a fan of the genre? If yes, what horror movies do you think are the best?
M: Certainly, I am a lover of the genre. Also many b movies and cult rarities. I prefer films with little physical violence and a lot of invisible violence: spirits, dark souls, occult forces, entities, psychology and the unconscious. I am very close to Pupi Avati as a sensibility, the masterpieces of Argento and the American masters.
L: Greetings to the readers of DarkVeins!
M: Thank you for your patience and attention and for taking a few minutes to read the responses of the very bad Mancan to the very kind Lady of Sorrow. Hugs to all of you, especially those deserving of esteem! To the enemies, all the love you can give.
L: Thank you and you Mancan! Below is the official video for "Vipra Negra," a track from the new album:
made a speech about the Italian scene that I really liked because I think the same things in general