EMQ’s With REVERBER
EMQ’s With REVERBER
Hi Everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Italian Power-Thrash Metallers Reverber. Huge thanks to them for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Hello, we are Reverber! The band was born in Italy in 2007, in Rome, with the aim of playing thrash metal at maximum power. There have been many line-up changes, but the founders are Marco Mitraja (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Alessio Stazi (drums).
How did you come up with your band name?
When we started playing together, the guitarists and the bass player had an identical Marshall in the house and even in the distortions an excessive dose of reverb was used. One evening the discussion opened to decide the name of the band and after several liters of alcohol Marco said jokingly “let’s call ourselves Reverber!”. The others, however, really accepted and the name remained the same! Some time later our bassist at the time, Vittorio Pacifici, claimed that the name was actually right because “where we walk the sound of the flames of hell echoes”. We were kids, but I still think it’s really like that today!
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
Siin Rome, in the Lazio region, in central Italy. When we started the scene was still quite fervent, but nowadays there are too many bands and too few metalheads able to sustain the scene. Even the clubs where you can play metal are very few. The most passionate metalheads are now in their fifties and hardly move to follow emerging bands, they prefer to follow more bands that maybe were part of the scene twenty or thirty years ago. There are still some young people, but they are rarely passionate about a genre like thrash metal, they prefer more modern stuff. Moreover, today’s generation is much more moderate and many of the times snobbish. Let’s say it’s not a good time for metal here in the Bel Paese.
What is your latest release?
Our latest album is The Satan Creation, mixed and mastered at Hertz Studio, Poland.
Who have been your greatest influences?
We have always had varied influences. As for thrash metal, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Testament, Exodus and Annihilator as far as the USA is concerned, while as far as European thrash is concerned, Kreator and Sodom. Of course classic metal also had a big influence on us, Black Sabbath, Dio, Motorhead. Alessio the drummer also has a visceral passion for the most extreme metal, which is evident from the songs, especially in the last two albums, where you can hear the influences of death and black metal masters. Special mention for Manowar, for us always a source of inspiration and example in everyday battles (in the last album there is a cover of “Thor the Powerhead”). We play thrash, but there’s a lot of Manowar in our music.
What first got you into music?
Metal is the culture that unites us since we have known each other and we have understood that it is also the best language we can use to express ourselves. Many of us, in life, struggle to show ourselves, to say what we think, to concretize a critique. Music allows us to be this, ourselves, in a sea of dots all the same and homologated. If you want to get to know us as the people we are, you can do so by listening to our records and seeing us play live.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
We can’t think of a particular name, but it would be great to collaborate with bands overseas, maybe in Central or South America. Thrash is very popular there and people seem more close-knit than ever. But in general we would like to collaborate with any band that espouses our musical ideals and has the same attitude as us. Not a few times we have happened to share moments with bands that are musically very good, but do not have that spark in their eyes that every musician, metal or not, should have.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Probably Hellfest in France, Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium and Bloodstock Open Air in the UK. Brutal Assault or the 70000Tons of Metal would also be great.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
The most absurd one that comes to mind was given to us by a completely crazy guy who followed our concerts for a while. He lived in a car. After a concert (during which he picked up the microphone stand and started screaming in the audience while moshpit) he joined us at our rehearsal room, where we were dropping the instruments. We were hungry and being late at night all the restaurants in the area were closed. So he went in his car-camper and gave us what would have been his lunch for the next day: old sandwiches with mortadella (classic Italian cold cut). From that day on, he was nicknamed “the crazy sandwich maker”.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Never give up and always support the bands that follow. Not only by going to concerts or buying merch, but also simply by sharing news and music on social media: it costs nothing, but for bands, nowadays, it is essential.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Cliff Burton.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
The most fun part is playing live, seeing mosh people with your music and singing your lyrics in chorus. Even more so the backstage, where you share moments with the audience and with other bands, is certainly something that enriches you and increases your personal baggage. What we hate is that to get to all this many times huge sacrifices are necessary and many of the times we are forced to deal with dissonist or completely incapable people, who do not respect the work we do and probably not even what they do.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
The music industry, if before it was also based on aesthetic canons, is now practically based only on those. We see hundreds of bands with millions of views that have nothing to do with the music heard and played, they look like commercials for record labels. As a result, they have a lot of space on large stages but they only know how to guarantee an aesthetically breathtaking show, devoid of any real attitude to metal, devoid of any feeling. Stuff written at the table like 90s boybands.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
“Kings of Metal”, Manowar.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
We think metal and rock in general are the few genres left where fans still love to buy physical media, it’s kind of a mystical connection with bands. Most likely the CD remains the best because it is affordable at an economic level and still allows the fan to breathe the vibrations of the band, thanks to the booklet and the printed cover. Vinyls and cassettes are very aesthetically beautiful supports, but the costs go up, especially those of production and it is not always easy to please everyone.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
We played in very different contexts and each of these gave us different emotions. We could tell you the mini-tour with Tankard with whom we spent SOBER and fantastic days, the Wings of Bea Metal fest where all the staff has been dedicating themselves for years to a mega-fest dedicated to a deceased girl, the Mediterranea Metal Cruise where we also played an Anthrax song together with Mr. Joey Belladonna, or our last release party here in Rome, where our fans gave their all to support us and a wonderful concert came out. Beautiful memories, difficult to replicate.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
The work we do now to support ourselves, but with an empty existence, without a purpose.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Joey De Maio, Lemmy, Phil Anselmo, James Hetfield and Ozzy.
What’s next for the band?
We are planning a lot of dates for 2026, 2025 has not been the best, we have had a lot of changes and difficult times. With the entry of the new lead guitarist Federico we have already started working on the writing of the new album and crazy stuff is coming out. As they say here in Italy, “those who have time do not wait for time”.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
We prefer the Youtube channel: https://youtube.com/@reverberofficial475?si=yJGbLHRdelCkkys7
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun, a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?
A bun!
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
To the bands: never give up and always be yourself. To the fans: support, support, support!
Thank you for your time and have a good year! Cheers from Italy!
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