With After Dark out now, we dive into how Infernalizer came to be, their sound, writing, and more with frontman Claudio Ravinale.
How did the idea of Infernalizer come to be?
Infernalizer: Been active in the music industry since the year 2000, give or take, but despite having fronted various bands throughout the years I was still missing some sort of “solo” project, so during the first wave of the pandemic we found ourselves with quite a lot of free time on our hands and we used that time to write the first album, to finally get the whole thing going, that’s basically how this band started. Then we focused on The Silverblack for quite a while and then we got back to Infernalizer and wrote a second album coz we had a lot of fun doing the first one and people seemed to enjoy it as well, so why not?
How would you describe your sound in five words?
Infernalizer: I just need two, horror metal. There’s a lot of 80s metal in this album, a lot of gothic metal too, but I think horror metal describes what we do perfectly.
What metal genres influence you as a band the most?
Infernalizer: we’re a weird hybrid of 80s metal and gothic rock with vocals that sometimes become extremely aggressive and make us quite recognizable.
How did you decide on the tracks for After Dark? How much more music can fans expect?
Infernalizer: Well, I have a few corner stones when it comes to Infernalizer, first of all there must be 10 songs on the album and the first and last ones must be instrumental tracks, just like the opening and closing themes of a movie. Then it’s about the flow, I usually try to not put close to each other songs that maybe sound similar, it’s cool to keep the album dynamic and to somewhat carry the listener on a journey with different moods and tempos. We’re gonna write new music for sure, maybe we’re gonna release another The Silverblack album first, but we’re not done with Infernalizer yet so expect more to come.
How is the writing process for the band?
Infernalizer: Usually Neroargento comes up with an idea and demoes a raw version of the song’s structure so I can work on lyrics and vocal lines. Then I record vocals and we complete the track adding or changing tiny bits here and there until we’re pleased with the result.
Where do your lyrics come from? What inspires your writing?
Infernalizer: At this point lyrics just materialize by themselves while listening to music. I dunno, maybe I did it for so long that it has become second nature, but as soon as I listen to a track I immediately start to write lyrics for it without having to think about it at all. Inspiration comes from life in general and the music simply awakes what’s already inside you. All you have to do is listen to it and put the words on paper, not a great effort.
Are the songs a collaborative effort?
Infernalizer: Yeah, by Neroargento and me, despite having well defined roles we send ideas back and forth all the time so sometimes he adds a little piece of music that I suggest to enhance a certain part and so on, we’re very collaborative.
Does the band have a main songwriter?
Infernalizer: Neroargento clearly does the bulk of the work, I mean, he writes all of the music, records all the instruments, produces the tracks… I do my part with vocals, lyrics and the general direction I want the project to go, but he’s clearly the main songwriter.
How does the music affect the lyrics and vice versa?
Infernalizer: There’s just one track on this album that had been developed starting from lyrics without music, all the others started with music first so I’d say music usually affects the lyrics. That’s pretty obvious if you think about it, having happy lyrics on a moody track would be quite weird.
How would you describe the evolution of the band’s sound?
Infernalizer: Well first of all the production is better, the tracks are more focused, I think generally speaking this album is done better, the previous one was a little bit all over the place. It’s also more mainstream and catchy and not in a bad way. We wanted to go more towards an 80’s hard rock direction while keeping the gothic attitude.
Are any of the band members known on the local scene from any other bands?
Infernalizer: I guess both me and Neroargento are kinda known at this point. The live line-up is not carved in stone, we have different musicians that we can call when needed, we are all busy people with multiple bands and projects, so the only constant musicians involved in the project at the moment are me and Neroargento.
What can people expect from Infernalizer live compared to other bands?
Infernalizer: Everything’s been done before, so I won’t bullshit you sayin’ that we’re somewhat special, coz we’re not. What I can tell you is that we’re good at what we do and try to have as much fun as we can while doing it, that’s a very important thing for any band, coz if you don’t enjoy what you do you better quit immediately. Our overall live set-up and attitude is quite raw and punk rock.
Name the top 5 band influences of the band and the top 5 bands that Infernalizer sounds like that fans like.
Infernalizer: Well, the top 5 influences are surely Alice Cooper, Type O Negative, Billy Idol, Iron Maiden and Sisters Of Mercy. While the top 5 bands we sound like are probably Wednesday 13, The 69 Eyes, Lordi, Lord Of The Lost and Gothminister.
