Summon: How did the band get started?
Yixja: Dalla Nebbia started in 2010 as just Zduhać and myself. I showed him a song idea I had, and he wrote some lyrics. This first song developed into Dimmed Through the Smoke, which is on our first album.
Zduhać: When Yixja showed me the demo of what became “Dimmed Through the Smoke,” I was instantly hooked – so beautiful and melancholy, and I told him it’s the exact kind of music I wanted to be a part of. We went on to write a few more songs and recorded a demo and EP as a duo, and then decided it was time to expand into a full band. Bassist Tiphareth and drummer Alkurion joined us to record our first full length album The Cusp of the Void. For the album we just released, Felix Culpa, Norwegian violinist Sareeta has also joined us and really adds a new dimension to our sound.
Summon: What kind of music do you play?
Yixja: We play a form of black metal that’s sometimes aggressive and malicious, sometimes melancholic, and draws heavy influence from doom metal and 70’s progressive rock.
Summon: How has the fan response been?
Zduhać : We are still very much “underground,” in that not very many people know us! But, those who have heard our music give us very positive feedback.
Summon: Where did the band name come from?
Yixja : “Dalla Nebbia” is Italian and translates to “from the fog”. We felt this phrase described the sound of our music, and like much Italian the words themselves had a nice aesthetic to them.
Summon: Introduce the band members and what they do in the band.
Yixja: Zduhać is the primary vocalist. Alkurion is the drummer. Tiphareth is the bassist. I play guitars and synths, and provide the supplemental clean vocals.
Summon: Who writes the music? Lyrics?
Yixja: I generally write the music and Zduhać writes the lyrics.
Summon: And where do the lyric ideas come from?
Zduhać: Inspiration can come from many places – and when the inspiration hits, lyrics spill out of me very quickly. I can go weeks without a good idea, and then when something clicks, I can put an entire song’s lyrics down on a page in just a couple minutes.
Yixja: Some themes the lyrics have covered involve the insignificance of mankind in comparison to nature, the fragility and fleeting aspects of memory, the inevitability of death, and the failures of religion to solve human problems.
Summon: What is your view in Satanism and Occultism?
Yixja: Well I think Satan makes a great metaphor for human individuality and rebellion against the status quo. And I’m a pretty big fan of stories and music inspired by him, for what that’s worth.
Zduhać: We do not worship any gods, and that would include not worshiping Satan or Baphomet. We have also decided not to use any Satanic or occult imagery, since it doesn’t really fit our aesthetic or our worldview. But I agree with Yixja, that Satan as a symbol of rebellion against the dominant ideology does very much resonate.
Summon: How many albums/CD’s have you released?
Yixja: Dalla Nebbia has released an EP and two full length albums.
Summon: Tell me about some the songs on the latest CD?
Yixja: There’s really quite a lot of variety on the album. The first song Until the Rain Subsides I think is a good introduction to Dalla Nebbia, as it includes many different aspects of our sound, from slower doom influenced sections, to tremolo picked black metal riffs, to sweeping violin arpeggios. Lament of Aokigahara is for the most part a slower song rooted in doom metal, but with dissonant King Crimson influenced harmonies to the guitar riffs. The title track is a very aggressive black metal number that’s loaded with blast beats and cold keyboard lines, and it features some guest guitar performance from Aort of Code. Paradise in Flames is a longer song that opens with an amazing violin performance from Sareeta, leading to a long melodic section with post-rock influence, before erupting into black metal for the final minutes.
Zduhać: Lyrically this one is very diverse as well, “Aokigahara” is about the so-called “Suicide forest” in Japan, and the lyrics are written from the perspective of the trees, who witness such sadness year-round. Paradise in Flames goes into our thoughts on religious cults, “Abandoned Unto Sky” discusses how death surrounds us at all times, and etc. etc.
Summon: Do you have any side projects?
Yixja: Alkurion and I have a death/funeral doom project called Mesmur that released our debut last winter. Alkurion also drums for a blackened death metal band called Funeral Age.
Zduhać: I fronted a tech-death band in Missouri called Kilmaat. I moved away and they now have a new vocalist.
Summon: Who are some of your musical influences?
Yixja: Among many others, Windir, Enslaved, Arcturus, Agalloch, Shining, Lunar Aurora.. also a lot of progressive rock like Yes and King Crimson.
Zduhać: Yes, any of the black metal bands that went off the beaten path still inspire us. We do love the old stuff like Darkthrone and Emperor and Bathory, but of course when it gets weird is when our ears perk up.
Summon: Which current bands?
Zduhać: There are a ton of bands going right now that are pushing the genre forward and in different directions. I have a great love for Panopticon from America, Cult of Fire from the Czech Republic, and it could be a bit controversial to say but I really like Deafheaven, and think they’re turning heads for a reason; that band is very talented and intense, and not afraid to turn its back on “orthodox” black metal. I can respect that, and find inspiration in what they’re doing with the genre.
Summon: What is the band like when you play live?
Yixja: We are spread out across the US, and with one member in Brazil, and as a result don’t have a live show. Maybe one day, but not in the foreseeable future.
Summon: What do you think of the US Black Metal/Death Metal scene?
Yixja: There’s not much of a scene where I live in eastern NC, but I’m into a number of US bands. A lot of the nature inspired black metal that has come from Bindrune Recordings, like Panopticon, Alda, and Falls of Rauros is really fantastic, for one.
Zduhać: If you’re willing to dig, there’s some really great stuff in pockets of the US. In Minnesota, where I live now there are some really cool bands – False, Obsequiae, House of Atreus, and Vulgaari all come to mind…really neat bands.
Summon: What do you think of the Overseas scenes?
Yixja: Europe is obviously the source of most quality black metal. In terms of “scenes”, I guess one personal favorite of mine would be the avant/black scene from Germany. So many amazing envelope-pushing black metal bands came from there- Lunar Aurora, Nocte Obducta, Secrets of the Moon, Farsot, Klabautamann, etc.
Zduhać: Yeah Scandinavia is great for black metal, but there is great stuff being made in other parts of Europe – Drudkh from Ukraine, Negura Bunget from Romania, Cult of Fire from the Czech Republic, and of course some really great French bands (Blut Aus Nord, Belenos, Deathspell Omega just to name a few).
Summon: What are some of new favorite black metal/death metal bands?
Yixja: I just recently got into Mare Cognitum and Spectral Lore, who both put out amazing albums last year.
Zduhać: I’ve been listening to a good bit of death metal this year – some stuff I hadn’t heard of before, but am super into now – Sulphur Aeon from Germany put out probably my favorite death metal album this year – “Gateway to the Antisphere,” I also just got turned on to the band Alkaloid (also from Germany!) – their album is really great, and super weird.
Summon: When do you guys plan on writing any new material?
Yixja: Whenever we have some free time and inspiration.
Summon: What does the future hold for the band??
Yixja: We haven’t yet planned the next step, but I’m sure you’ll hear from Dalla Nebbia again.
Contact them at:
https://www.facebook.com/dallanebbiamusic
http://dallanebbia.bandcamp.com/
