Ever Metal – EMQ’s With Nefastis
Ever Metal – EMQ’s With Nefastis
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Italian Symphonic Death/ Thrash band, Nefastis. Huge thanks to Simone and Andrea 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?
Simone Colombo: We are Simone Colombo on vocals and guitar, and Andrea Lenzi on guitar. We started playing together and founded Nefastis. After our first album and a promising start on the live front, personal issues and constant lineup changes forced us into a long break — but we’re breaking that silence with this upcoming release. On this album, Fulvio Manganini plays bass and Federico Pennazzato plays drums.
How did you come up with your band name?
Andrea Lenzi: The name comes from Latin. In the Roman calendar, days were divided into three types: Fasti, Nefasti and Infausti. The Roman calendar didn’t just count the days — it defined their ‘quality’ from a religious and legal standpoint, distinguishing mainly between dies fasti and dies nefasti. This distinction was used to regulate public, judicial and religious life, establishing when certain acts were permitted or forbidden.
The Dies Nefasti were the ‘unlawful’ days, in which judicial activities and political assemblies were suspended for religious reasons. They weren’t necessarily ‘unlucky’ days in the modern sense, but rather days dedicated to the gods. It sounded cool and had a meaning, so it was the perfect choice.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
Simone Colombo: We’re from Milan, Italy. Our scene has a lot of great bands, but unfortunately, despite quite a few shows being organized, the underground scene doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Simone Colombo: “De Diebus Fastis Nefastis Infaustis” is our first album, much more thrash-oriented compared to our upcoming release, “Shadows at the Light of Dawn”, to which we’ve added a strong orchestral and melodic component. The album is divided into four acts, each opened by an instrumental track. What we tried to do with this record is make the listening experience enjoyable and fast-paced, alternating tighter tracks with slower, more emotional parts — it’ll be up to you to say whether we pulled it off. Accompanying the album release will be the music video for the track Vortex of Light.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Simone Colombo: There are a lot of influences in general — we love listening to a wide variety of music and I think every genre has contributed to our compositional development in some way. On the metal side I’d mention Kreator, Wintersun and Children of Bodom.
Andrea Lenzi:
I’d say about 35% of my inspiration comes from metal music, and the rest from classical music, film soundtracks, prog rock and classic rock in general.
For metal, I have some key reference points, mostly older stuff — early Metallica, early Iron Maiden, Hypocrisy, early Ensiferum, Norther, early Children of Bodom, and some Nightwish albums.
What first got you into music?
Simone Colombo: We’ve always been lovers of good music and we’ve always gone to see a lot of concerts. I’d say the desire to get up on a stage and create something of our own is what pushed us to form the band.”
Andrea Lenzi: AC/DC and the blissful ignorance of just how much of a pain in the ass it would be to make an album with so many orchestrations… haha.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Simone Colombo: It would be amazing to collaborate with Tuomas Holopainen from Nightwish and have him orchestrate one of our albums, but staying in the realm of reality, I’d love to share the stage with and get to know as many bands as possible. I really love the atmosphere that comes from playing together.
Andrea Lenzi: Tony Martin from Black Sabbath — it would be incredibly cool to have him sing on one of our tracks as co-lead vocals.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Simone Colombo: There are so many great ones, and for a band like us, it would be fantastic to play at any of them. But Brutal Assault in the Czech Republic holds a special place in my heart.
Andrea Lenzi: Wacken Open Air!
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Andrea Lenzi: “I can’t recall anything strange at the moment.”
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Andrea Lenzi: Listen to our album from beginning to end — it’s the only way to truly understand the whole message. With concept albums divided into acts, you really can’t get into the mood or grasp the full picture if you skip the instrumentals. Sit back in a comfortable chair, grab a beer or a glass of wine, and just let it take you away.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Andrea Lenzi: Difficult question… maybe Neil Peart of Rush.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
Simone Colombo: The satisfaction of creating something of your own and being able to share it with others. The feeling of performing your own music on a stage is something truly unique. Hate might be too strong a word, but behind those moments of joy, there’s a lot of hard work, and often frustration — sometimes caused by things completely out of your control.
Andrea Lenzi: Hate… the fact that it’s so easy to lose technique on guitar if you stop practicing. Love… composing music that lives forever.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Simone Colombo: I understand it’s a tough period, but I would ask the record labels to invest more in bands.
Andrea Lenzi: I think new music is created to last only a few months — I mean, the way it’s composed: you have X seconds to get to the chorus, the chorus has to be catchy, and so on. The point is that we still listen to albums from the 70s and 80s that set new standards and stood the test of time. These days, I find very few albums that dare to take risks and raise the bar.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Andrea Lenzi: Wintersun – “TIME 1”. INCREDIBLE!
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Andrea Lenzi: I haven’t seen a cassette since the 90s… I do love vinyls even though I mostly listen to music digitally on Spotify.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Andrea Lenzi: Playing the New Year’s Eve opening for Tom Angelripper of Sodom was an amazing experience.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Andrea Lenzi: I’m a senior marketing consultant and I run my own B2B business consultancy. Cool job.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Simone Colombo: Ozzy , Rick Wakeman,Warren Ellis,Rob Halford
Andrea Lenzi: I don’t really know…
What’s next for the band?
Simone Colombo: Lots of live activity and focusing on new compositions that are already in the works.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
https://www.facebook.com/nefastis.italy
https://www.instagram.com/nefastis.symphony
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?
Andrea Lenzi: Can’t really say, mate — I lived in the UK for a while, in the Merseyside area, but that was a long time ago.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Andrea Lenzi: Thank you to you for the space and the interview!
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
