EMQ’s With Karmian
EMQ’s With Karmian
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Italian Death Metallers, Karmian. Huge thanks to their vocalist, Andrea Bertolazzi, 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?
My name is Andrea Bertolazzi, and I’m the vocalist of Karmian. The band comes from Modena, Italy, and its roots go back to the mid-2000s, when the project first started under a different name. That early phase was important as a learning process, but it never fully crystallised into a stable lineup or a clear artistic direction.
In 2011, the founding members decided to start again from scratch, this time with a stronger vision and a more defined identity, and that’s when Karmian truly came to life. With the new lineup, the band began shaping a sound rooted in melodic death metal, influenced by Swedish and thrash traditions, but with a strong focus on atmosphere, narrative and conceptual depth.
Over the years, we released several records, each one representing a different step in our evolution. From the early conceptual EP Ways of Death, through the historical concept of Surgere et Cadere, to the live album that captured our on-stage intensity, the band slowly grew both musically and as a live act. After the pandemic, a lineup change marked another important turning point, allowing us to fully develop ideas that had been maturing for a long time.
Today, Karmian are a band with a clear identity, built through continuity rather than sudden changes. We see our history as a gradual path of growth, where every release and every live experience has contributed to shaping who we are now.
How did you come up with your band name?
The name Karmian doesn’t have a fixed or literal meaning. It recalls the idea of karma without directly referring to it, and that ambiguity is important to us. We like the fact that it’s a kind of empty space that listeners can fill with their own interpretation, rather than something overly explicit or tied to a single concept.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We’re from Italy, specifically from the Modena area in the north. The metal scene here is passionate and very underground-driven. There are many dedicated bands (Trick or Treat, Unbirth, Darkend and so on) and fans, but it often requires a lot of effort and persistence to emerge, especially internationally. Live shows and personal connections are still the backbone of the scene.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Our latest release is the full-length album Horror Vacui, which is about to be released. It’s a concept album built around real Italian murderers, not to glorify violence, but to explore the psychological and existential void that precedes it. Each song focuses on a different figure and on a specific form of inner collapse, using crime as a lens to talk about emptiness, alienation and the inability to coexist with the void. The album is meant to be listened to as a whole, as a single narrative journey rather than a collection of unrelated tracks.
The first single taken from the album is Beastmaster of the Void, which is already out. The song is inspired by the Bestie di Satana case and represents one of the most direct and aggressive moments on the record. What interested us was not satanism as a belief system, but what we define as “acid satanism”: a confused mix of occult imagery, drugs, rebellion and the need to belong. In this context, satanism becomes a language rather than a faith, a way to give shape to alienation and to justify excess and violence.
The song portrays that spiral of disorientation, addiction and loss of identity, where emptiness disguises itself as rebellion until it turns into real brutality. For us, Beastmaster of the Void works as a manifesto for Horror Vacui: it introduces the album’s themes in a very raw and uncompromising way, showing how the fear of emptiness can mutate into destruction when it remains unresolved.
Who have been your greatest influences?
As a band: Death metal in all its forms, especially the Swedish melodic death metal scene, has been a huge influence, along with thrash metal roots. Bands like Slayer shaped our idea of intensity and attitude, while each member also brings influences from hardcore, black metal and more extreme territories. For me, for the Lyrical depth: Cradle of Filth, and Black metal of the90s for the allusive atmospheres.
What first got you into music?
I started listening to music as a kid thanks to my parents. They loved Queen, and I still love them today. Freddie Mercury remains, for me, the greatest of all time.
During middle school, I moved on to bands like Aerosmith and Guns N’ Roses, along with some of the then-contemporary grunge scene, and Load by Metallica, which had just come out at the time. From there, the metal path opened naturally: digging backwards through Metallica’s discography, discovering thrash metal, and alongside that, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.
My real extreme turning point came in 1997, when a friend gave me a pirated tape saying, “This stuff is unlistenable.” For me, it was exactly the opposite. It was everything I was looking for in terms of visceral sensations, and I didn’t even know music like that existed. The tape was Nemesis Divina by Satyricon. From that moment on, I went through a long black metal phase that, in a way, never really ended. I came to death metal later, mainly in the early 2000s.
In reality, I listen to a lot of different music, even outside of metal. What matters to me is that it feels honest and true. I don’t really have prejudices when it comes to sound.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
That’s a difficult one, but collaborating with a band that still has a strong identity and a real vision would be the key factor. Someone who values substance over hype. I would like to personally collaborate with Emperor or perform a duet with Fabio Lione for a concept. Quite a strange mix, I know.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacken. Do you need further explanation?
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
His gnarled piece of chocolate
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Thank you for taking the time to listen, especially if you go beyond the surface. That kind of attention means everything to us.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Freddie Mercury
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
Creating and telling stories exorcising my internal demons, along with sharing beautiful experiences with band mates and people we meet. I hate the long waits BEFORE the shows.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
I’d like to see more long-term investment in bands and ideas, rather than just marketing finished products and chasing trends. At the same time, I understand how difficult that is today for everyone involved.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
“Nemesis Divina” by Satyricon for the influence on me
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Vinyl for collection and size, the bigger the better
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Touring with Venom Inc in the same tour bus. was one of the highlights, both musically and personally. Sharing the road, the tour bus and the stage with musicians like Mantas and Tony Dolan was not only inspiring from a musical point of view, but also on a human level.
Being able to talk with them, exchange experiences, and realize that true legends can also be genuine, humble and down-to-earth people meant a lot to us. At the same time, playing in front of demanding audiences with, for example, Dying Fetus and feeling that our live impact stood strong alongside such an iconic band gave us a huge boost of confidence and confirmed that we’re on the right path.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
I’m not a musician full-time; I also work in the healthcare industry. Skiing is the other thing I like to do a lot, along with listening to and playing music.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Satyr, Ihsahn, Burzum, Corpsegrinder and Araya. I love Chaos
What’s next for the band?
Videos for the new album, new music already taking shape, and planning as many live shows as possible, especially abroad.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
Site: https://www.karmian.it/
Bandcamp (musica e merch): https://karmian.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarmianBand/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karmian_official/
Youtube: Karmian – Death Metal – YouTube
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?
I think Roll is correct, but here in dialect we say “magna e tasi!” (eat and shut up, in the sense that the name is not important, the taste is, very Italian answer)😉
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thanks for the space and the interest. If you listen to our music, take your time with it. That’s all we ask.
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.
