Morcolac/Interview with Sadomaster

Interview with Sadomaster

Interview by Jay Parker

1) Tell us about morcolac. Where does the name comes from? Who is in the band? When and where you formed?

Sadomaster: the name of the project comes from the fusion of words ‘’morto’’ (‘’dead’’ in italian) and ‘’varcolac’’ (ancient bloodsucking creature of romanian folklore, the original prototype of the vampire as we know it), and I conceived it in the summer of this year in my home. And, being conceived as a one man band, I am the only member to be considered permanent as composer of the songs. For the recording of the debut album I recruited a.b. as a session drummer, as well as sound engineer.

2) Your new album a vampiir is born is a real gem, melodic and dark, creepy and contagious… I love it… tell us about it… when and where did you record it? Who wrote the tracks?

Sadomaster: the album was recorded in the studio of a.b. during this summer. As I previously pointed out, I am the only effective member of the project for which I only take care of the composition of the songs. From his part, a.b. perfected the drum scores during recording, making the whole work of an even higher quality.

3) Tell us about the inspiration behind your music and lyrics…

Sadomaster: regarding the lyrics, it was my intention to deadl with specific topics in this album focused on vampirism and lycanthropy by deepening them both, and by personally conceiving stories of my imagination attached to those topics, which blend well with the musical part, for which I took inspiration from band of finnish black metal scene mainly, as well as french ones, but also by others who try to recreate that atmosphere that charactereizes a vampiir is born.

4) What were your musical influences growing up?

Sadomaster: personally, I grew up with bands that for the most part I still listen to today: the depressive, symphonic and finnish types of black metal were ones I always listened to the most, so they inevitably contribued to the conception of morcolac.

5) What equipment do you use to get that vampiric sound? Do you use any different guitar tunings?

Sadomaster: guitars and bass are tuned in d tuning, which contributes to dive dark feeling and power to the whole work. For the recording of the guitars, we have resorted to a stinger amplifier with the addition of a boss’ blues driver pedal. Bass and orchestrations have been obtained from plug-in of pc programs, and another sound engineer worked with us regarding orchestrations. To obtain the typical vampiric sound I recommend to use souns of violin, viola, flutes and harpiscord.

6) What are your plans for the future? Are you recording new stuff?

Sadomaster: I am currently busy recording my other project griverion, but despite it being the priority, I am continuing to compose new music for morcolac. We will undoubtely produce more material, and the release of a second album is a sure thing.

7) Tell us about the scene in italy… recommend some bands for our readers…

Sadomaster: here in italy the scene, already not very vivid in itself compared to other countries, also suffered a severe blow due to the pandemic, since the few concerts that could have been attended, had to have been canceled. I am not a great fan of the local scene, but I can advise readers to listen to works by Infernal Angels, Suicide Emotions, Infamous, Handful of Hate, Nocturnal Degrade, Forgotten Tomb and Prison of Mirrors to realize the musical quality also prposed by Italy.

8) What is your opinion of the current black metal enviroment and how do you think it will develop in the future?

Sadomaster: nowadays the scene is full of very valid bands from all over the world and everyone can listen to more and more bands for their own tastes in terms of stylistics and sub-genres: I hope this contributes to giving life to other equally valid bands.

9) Do you have anything to add for our readers?

Sadomaster: thank you for the appreciation that a vampiir is born is receiving, I guarantee you will hear more of morcolac in the future. In the meantime, I suggest you give a listen to my other projects ghostly aerie coven and griverion as well. Hail!