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无声的尖叫，噩梦的开始 - 意大利Symphonic Black Metal乐队Mortress专访

今天采访到的是来自意大利的Symphonic Black Metal乐队Mortress，2022年由Federica和Carlo组建，随后鼓手Lorenzo加入了乐队，今年乐队刚刚发布了他们的最新单曲“Silent Screams, Infernal Dreams”，这是一首气势磅礴，氛围浓重，旋律优美的歌曲，Federica和Carlo两个在组建Mortress乐队之前，一直都有自己的个人项目，所以在创作这种类型的作品非常的得心应手，在Symphonic Black Metal的基础上Carlo还加入了一些Neoclassical和Melodic Death Metal这两种元素的加入也让乐队的作品在旋律和氛围上更加的突出，还有鼓手优质的演奏也很好的体现出作品的氛围，这首单曲的发行也让我更加期待他们的即将发行的新作品，在单曲发行之际乐队的Federica女士与杂志取得联系进行了一次专访！

（V: 代表笔者 F: 代表Federica）

Today's interview is with Italian Symphonic Black Metal band Mortress, formed in 2022 by Federica and Carlo and joined by Lorenzo on drums, this year the band just released their latest single ‘Silent Screams, Infernal Dreams’, a powerful, atmospheric and melodic track. Infernal Dreams’ is a powerful, atmospheric and melodic track. Both Federica and Carlo had their own solo projects before they formed Mortress, so they are very comfortable with this type of work, based on Symphonic Black Metal. With the addition of Neoclassical and Melodic Death Metal on top of Symphonic Black Metal, the band's melodic and atmospheric sound is further enhanced by the addition of Carlo and the quality of the drummer's playing, which also reflects the atmosphere of the piece. On the occasion of the release of the single, the band's Ms Federica contacted the magazine for an interview!

(V: for the author F: for Federica)

采访对象：Federica（Mortress乐队创始人）

采访时间：2024.12.04

V: 你好Federica女士很高兴见到你，感谢你联系我的杂志进行采访，我想这是你们乐队第一次接受中国杂志的采访。首先向所有的中国歌迷问好。Mortress是一支非常年轻的乐队，成立于 2022 年。你们最初是如何组建乐队的？Mortress这个名字的含义是什么？

Hello Ms Federica, nice to meet you and thank you for contacting my magazine for an interview. I think this is the first time your band has been interviewed by a Chinese magazine. First of all, say hello to all your Chinese fans. Mortress is a very young band formed in 2022. How did you form the band in the first place? What is the meaning of the name Mortress?

F: 谢谢你！我真的很荣幸，也很感谢这次绝佳的机会。我热爱中国文化，希望有一天我们能在中国现场演出！向我们所有的中国歌迷问好！我们的乐队诞生于2022年，是我一个人的女子乐队和Carlo的Heavy-Death Neoclassical乐队的融合产物。我们开始在各自的小镇--群山环绕的Cuneo和Cherasco--聚会上一起演奏旋律，这些旋律最终成为了我们的歌曲。命名为 “Mortress”的灵感来自于我们对Death乐队的热爱，我们希望向它致敬。“Death“在意大利语中是”morte“的意思，我们将其与堡垒融合在一起，表达了一种力量，一种不会轻易崩溃的力量。

Thank you! I’m truly honored and grateful for this fantastic opportunity. I love Chinese culture, and I hope one day we can play live shows there! Warm greetings to all our Chinese fans! Our band was born in 2022 as a result of the fusion between my one-woman band and Carlo’s heavy-death neoclassical solo project. We started meeting in our respective towns, Cuneo and Cherasco, surrounded by mountains and hills, to play riffs together, which eventually became our songs. The name "Mortress" was inspired by our passion for the band Death, which we wanted to pay homage to. "Death" in Italian means “morte,” and we fused it with "fortress" to convey an idea of strength, something that doesn't crumble easily.

V: 你的乐队最初由你和吉他手Carlo组建。后来鼓手Lorenzo Aimo加入乐队，使乐队阵容更加完整。Lorenzo Aimo是如何加入乐队的？你对他的工作满意吗？

Your band was originally formed by you and guitarist Carlo. Then drummer Lorenzo Aimo joined the band to round out the lineup. How did Lorenzo Aimo come to be in the band? Are you satisfied with his work?

F: Lorenzo是我们的朋友曾与Carlo合作过。我们非常喜欢他的风格，因此决定邀请他加入乐队。当他听完我们的歌后，他说："好吧，我很乐意让它们变得更有气氛！” 就这样我们的乐队之旅真正开始了。我们对他的鼓声感到非常兴奋，他不仅履行了自己的承诺，让歌曲变得更加大气，而且还为歌曲带来了活力和原创性，使歌曲远远超越了典型的Black / Death Metal领域。

Lorenzo is a friend of ours and had already played with Carlo. We loved his style so much that we decided to ask him to join the band. When he listened to our songs, he said, “Okay, I’d love to make them more atmospheric!” That’s when our journey as a band truly began. We’re very excited about his drumming. Not only has he kept his promise to make the songs atmospheric, but he’s also brought energy and originality to them, taking them far beyond the typical black/death metal territory.

V: 我刚刚听完你的单曲我很喜欢。，音非常出色。你们是在哪个录音棚录制这首单曲的？

I've just finished listening to your single and I love it. The recording is brilliant. What studio did you record the single in, and which producer worked on it?

F: 事实上，这首单曲是我们在家里的录音棚里自己制作的，我们在一次排练中即兴创作了这首歌，然后说："伙计们，我们必须把它录下来！” 我们就这么做了。Lorenzo铺设了鼓轨，奠定了基础，而我和Carlo则加入了贝斯、吉他、合成器并写了歌词和演唱，我们只委托Davide Billia进行混音和母带处理，他在自己的“Mk2录音室”里出色地完成了这首歌曲。

Actually, we self-produced the single in our home studio. We improvised it during a rehearsal and said, “Guys, we have to record this!” And so we did. Lorenzo laid down the drum tracks and set the foundation, while Carlo and I added bass, guitars, synths, and wrote the lyrics and vocal lines. We only entrusted the mixing and mastering to Davide Billia, who did an excellent job on the track at his “Mk2 Recording Studio.”

V: 你们乐队的成员都是经验丰富的音乐家，擅长创作Black Metal类型的作品。能谈谈你们的创作过程吗？我知道你们刚刚完成了第一张专辑的创作。能谈谈新专辑的创作过程吗？

The members of your band are experienced musicians who write in the black metal genre. Can you tell us a little about your creative process? I know you’ve just finished writing your first album. Can you talk about the writing process for the new album?

F: Carlo和我都来自独立的个人项目。我们习惯于自己作曲、录音和制作歌曲的每一个部分。我的创作方式偏向于Raw Black Metal。有一天我请Carlo为我的一首歌加入吉他。来自Neoclassica音乐背景的Carlo的独奏天赋让我惊叹不已。从那时起我们开始将我的旋律和他的旋律融合在一起并共同创作新的旋律。这张专辑就这样诞生了。我认为这张专辑包含了非常多样的元素，有时甚至是截然不同的元素，但它们共同创造出了新的东西。

Carlo and I come from independent solo projects. We were used to composing, recording, and producing every part of our songs on our own. My approach leaned towards raw black metal. One day, I asked Carlo to add guitars to one of my tracks. Coming from a neoclassical background, the result was astonishing to me, thanks to his incredible talent for solos. From that moment, we started blending my riffs and his with our respective influences, as well as writing new ones together. That’s how the album was born. I think it contains very diverse and sometimes contrasting elements, but they work together to create something new.

V: 你们的音乐主题是什么？为什么选择这个主题，你想通过它表达什么？你们还创作了歌词部分，歌词是谁写的，灵感来自哪里？

What is your musical theme about? Why did you choose this theme, and what do you want to express through it? You also created a lyrics section—who wrote the lyrics, and what was the inspiration?

F: 我们的主题主要关注人类领域，尤其是情感。我们想讲故事，分享我们的生活经历。歌词的基调无疑是黑暗的，但也蕴含着光明和希望。这张专辑包含了更多振奋人心的旋律并在侵略性和温和性之间摇摆。我们希望借此邀请听众走进这个黑暗的世界，同时鼓励他们在自己的内心深处寻找力量、希望和解决方案，即使一切看似迷茫。

Our themes mainly focus on the human sphere, particularly emotions. We want to tell stories and share experiences from our lives. The lyrics are undoubtedly dark in tone, but they carry light and hope as well. The album includes more uplifting melodies and oscillates between aggression and gentleness. Through this, we want to invite listeners into a dark world while encouraging them to find strength, hope, and solutions within themselves, even when everything seems lost.

V: 你们的Logo设计非常简洁，这是我个人最喜欢的风格，因为它很容易让人记住你们的名字。谁为你设计了这个Logo？你们的专辑封面设计得非常漂亮，就像地狱里的场景。谁设计的？

Your logo design is very simple, which is my personal favorite style because it’s easy to remember your name. Who designed this logo for you? Your album artwork is beautifully designed, like a scene from hell. Who created it?

F: 我们在社交媒体上发现了一位名叫Alim的艺术家的作品，我们已经有了草图和一些想法。我们想要一个既独特又易读的Logo--有点方正，让人想起Old School Death Metal，但也能让人联想到Black Metal的森林。Alim立刻理解了我们的想法，没过几天我们就有了自己的Logo。至于单曲的插图，则是我自己创作的。我热衷于电子游戏，也曾是一个小型独立团队的成员，因此我设想了一个恐怖主题游戏的场景。我用A 对一张照片进行了纹理处理，这张照片拍摄的是一直在燃烧的美国鬼城Centralia。正如你正确指出的，这看起来就像是地狱中的场景。我用绘图板绘制了被铁链锁住的人物，将其与歌曲的主题联系在一起，仿佛被困在那些被诅咒的地狱梦境中，无处可逃。

V: 祝贺你的首支单曲"Silent Screams, Infernal Dreams"发行，你的作品非常华丽，节奏时快时慢，旋律和Sold都很棒。看来你的吉他手技艺精湛！你对自己的作品有何看法？在你们即将发行的首张专辑中是否有新的创新？

Congratulations on the release of your first single, "Silent Screams, Infernal Dreams". Your work is magnificent. The tempo varies from fast to slow, with great melodies and solos. It seems your guitarist is very skilled! What do you think of your compositions? Are there any new innovations on your upcoming debut album?

F: 我们为这首单曲和接下来的作品感到非常自豪，尤其是我们独立完成了大部分工作。这张专辑肯定会有更多的氛围变化、更多的技术部分、与乐队以外的艺术家合作，甚至还会有一些小惊喜。但现在我还不能透露更多！

We're very proud of this single and what's to come, especially since we did most of the work independently. The album will definitely have more atmospheric changes, more technical parts, collaborations with artists outside the band and even a few little surprises. But I can't reveal more than that right now!

V: 2024年即将结束，你们今年发行了单曲并创作了第一张专辑。你的下一步计划是什么？你们目前是否正在与任何唱片公司联系，以发行首张专辑的CD版本？

As 2024 draws to a close, you’ve released singles and written your first album this year. What’s next for you in terms of new work? Are you currently in contact with any labels to release a CD version of your first album?

F: 我们目前正在寻找一家唱片公司发行我们的首张专辑。我们正在尽最大努力，希望有一天能以此为全职工作。

We’re currently searching for a record label to release our debut album. We’re doing our best to one day make this our full-time profession.

V: 作为一支年轻的乐队，你们参加过哪些现场表演？哪些现场表演给你们留下了深刻印象，你们在2025年有什么新的现场表演计划吗？

What live shows have you played as a young band? What live shows have impressed you, and do you have any new live shows planned for 2025?

F: 我们决定等我们的专辑正式发行后再进行现场表演。

We’ve decided to wait for the official release of our album before playing live shows.

V: 虽然你们是一支非常年轻的乐队，但你们非常有前途，我会一直关注和支持你们的乐队。我也希望通过这次采访，能有更多的中国乐迷发现并支持你们的乐队。你们有什么想对中国歌迷说的吗？

Although you’re a very young band, you are very promising. I will always pay attention to and support your band. I also hope that through this interview, more Chinese fans will discover and support your band. Do you have anything you want to say to your Chinese fans?

F: 我们迫不及待地想和你们见面，迫不及待地想登上你们的舞台！我们发自内心地感谢你们，正是因为有了你们的关注和支持，我们的工作才会如此精彩。这让我们有力量继续前进，创作出新的音乐与大家分享。

We can’t wait to meet you and take the stage there! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts because it’s the people who follow and support us that make our work exciting. This gives us the strength to keep going and create new music to share with you.