Metal Anarchy

Time for the next edition of Metal Anarchy’s “new music showcase,” the feature where I introduce you to artists that readers of this site may find interesting. This time I have an exclusive Q&A with Subterranea.

METAL ANARCHY: Tell me a little about your band:

SUBTERRANEA: My band is actually a solo project, which I know, is uncommon for metal. I am a trained operatic singer, cellist, keyboardist and drummer and I compose, record, produce and audio-engineer my music myself.

The name of my project is Subterranea, and I think, for me personally, it’s a meeting ground between my inner artist and my inner engineer (perfectionist, scientist). I was always fascinated with larger-than-life wall of sound symphonic productions both in baroque music and in metal and Subterranea for me is both the outlet and exploration ground. A lot of my experiments with symphonic/metal production happens while composing tracks for Subterranea.

When it comes to conceptual themes, most Subterranea motives and lyrics are inspired by Medieval literature, world Folklore and Ancient mythology that I have been fascinated with since childhood.

I always liked the darker, chthonic side of mythologies: the origin story of Gorgon, as well as the lesser known “horror stories”, if you will, surrounding Eleusinian Mysteries and rare chthonic cults in Greco-Roman religions. In Irish mythology, there are ghastly hauntings and spirits like Banshee, which I keep mentally returning to every time I practice upper range notes. In a way, I think, I am very intrigued by the image of “monstrous feminine” and this imagery keeps reappearing in my music.

At least half of my sophomore release “Kingdoms Fall” was heavily inspired by the folklore of British Isles, with some tracks drawing on Icelandic folklore, which I find incredibly fascinating. The song Sidhe is inspired by Banshee mythology, for instance. Uggla Sang as well as Forestdweller are inspired by Icelandic sorcery and nature spirits

When it comes to genre conventions, I really have no “genre cornerstones”: my sound is inspired by bands like Alcest, but also progressive rock. I also draw inspirations from Dan Swano projects, Opeth, Storm Corrosion, baroque music and folk. There are enough electronic influences in my music as well, including some of the “lead” guitar sounds you might hear on tracks like Escape being actually very distorted synthesizers.

METAL ANARCHY: Who are your main influences?

SUBTERRANEA: Chelsea Wolfe, Myrkur, Bjork, Dan Swano, Alcest, Storm Corrosion, Heilung, but also really I am influenced by a lot of different music every day and it doesn’t necessarily reflect on my performance or composition/production style: I like Megadeth, some music by Rush, Rammstein, Marillion (Fish Era), Porcupine Tree – and every day I am exposing myself to new music some of which I end up being influenced by.

METAL ANARCHY: What is your latest release and why should readers of this site check it out?

SUBTERRANEA: My latest concept release is Myrkri (“Darker”, Islandic) EP. It is a very multi-faceted release that draws on many inspirations and genres of music I really enjoy (plus, it features a couple of amazing guitarists). You can expect to hear anything from industrial-folk to progressive metal and symphonic metal. One of my guitarist friends that I really admire (Constantin Necrasov, Half Past Four) after listening to the record said: “Your compositions don’t just go A-B-C-A-B (with regards to song structure), they just cover the whole alphabet”. I will leave this observation here as a “teaser”, hopefully it intrigues the readers to check the record out.

METAL ANARCHY: What can people expect when they go to your live shows?

SUBTERRANEA: Haha, I am not exactly sure. I myself do not know what to expect of my live shows anymore. In the past I performed in a few different formats – life operatic vocals and synth; sometimes just operatic vocals with looper and backing tracks; I also performed with session musicians (violin, bass, guitar). Recently, however, my live set has evolved the addition of live cello and drums.
Hopefully, my live shows leave the audience intrigued and mesmerized, and wanting to hear more.

METAL ANARCHY: Where do you see your band heading in 5 years?

SUBTERRANEA: I hope to continue touring and meeting/collaborating with fantastic musicians from across all genres. There’s really no end goal or entitlement to rock’n’roll fame, I love what I do and I hope to keep sharing it with the world. There will definitely be a couple more releases in the next five years.