LUPI GLADIUS

Fabio Vitelli asked me if I was interested to do a review for his latest single by his project Lupi Gladius. We already knew him from his band Hidden Place, but Lupi Gladius makes dark folk music in the style of old Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, so it was obvious I was interested! So interested that after hearing those two songs, I felt the urge to give Lupi Gladius a forum to talk about themselves.

Can you introduce Lupi Gladius to our readers?
Lupi Gladius is born in 2002 in a small town from the South of Italy called Pisticci.Our passion and love with some kind music atmospheres together with our love for art,(literaure, history etc.) nature let starts everything.Then there were not so many bands in neofolk scene.It was really a music for few,yes, as now, but not like 14 years ago. Remembering well it was more underground than now and we have from that time really nice memories , from music to our time spent together.

You and Sara are related, brother-sister?
Fabio and Sara are brother-sister.This is an interesting question because many get confused of it

Can I say Lupi Gladius is a sideproject of Hidden Place, or do we have to see both bands as two different entities?
They’re two different projects but they’re just one entity also because we’re the same members,except the male singer. Obviously both projects make different kind of music, one neofolk, another one new wave. We think that in Hidden Place you can notice Lupi Gladius-influences as in Lupi Gladius you notice Hidden Place-influences although we’re talking about two different bands

While Hidden Place is a darkwave/synth based bands, Lupi Gladius chooses the path of dark folk/martial. In which outfit you feel yourself the most comfortable?
We feel comfortable in both outfits. They’re different but at the end you feel the same approach to music. It happens sometimes,when we finish to write a song we ask ourselves: “Do you think this song is for Lupi Gladius or Hidden Place?” So we decide which project fits better that song.

You started Lupi Gladius in 2002, but it took ‘til 2013 before the first cd was published, why so long?
Yes, true. In 2003 we stopped with Lupi Gladius until 2013.This because we spent all our time with Hidden Place. We do not why ,but ithappened. Maybe we could have published more Lupi Gladius albums but we do not know if we would be satisfied. We think that it’s not needed to make many albums, otherwise you risk to be repetitive and ,in our opinion, unsatisfied except if you are a “pioneer” like Death in June, Current 93 or Sol Invictus, or if you are able to make an album that’s different from the previous one and give something new. Making many similar albums is quite quite annoying. We focus on quality and variety, not on quantity. At least we try! Thankfully there are also bands which agree with our opinion.

In the past the members of Lupi Gladius did a guest performance on La Mia Piccola Guerra of Egida Aurea, was that because you were already friends, or how this that collaboration took place?
We have been glad to take part of “La Mia Piccola Guerra” as guests and this happened because of being friend with Diego Banchero.It has been a nice experience !

On Lucania, Lupi Gladius’ first album, Spreu & Weizen and Waffenruhe did a remix, two fantastic bands in my opinion. Imagine you have carte blanche, which artist(s) would you love to work with?
We would like to work with Death in June (including old members) and, as well ,with David Tibet.We think they’re the fathers of our music scene.We would love to have Douglas P or David Tibet.

Is De Sideribus the harbinger of a new album, are you working on it, and if so, can you tell us more about it?
For now there is not an album planned, but you never know, things can change and we could release one. We’ll see.

We all know Italy had some of the best bands to offer, especially in the dark folk scene, which automatically brings high expectations to listeners when they know a band is from Italy. Do you see that as an encouragement or more as a restriction?
We are happy to hear that Italian bands are followed abroad.We think that in Italy there are many interesting bands and , as Italians, we are so glad for it.The thing we like about the Italian scene is that every band gives something of itself and because of it, bands are different from each other. It’s hard to find copycats here.

When push comes to shove, what are your favourite albums in the dark folk/martial genre?
There are different albums that we love like Nada, But What ends when the symbols shatter?, Rose Clouds of Holocaust by Death In June, Trees In Winter and Lex Talions by Sol Invictus, Thunder Perfect Mind and Island by Current 93.We are quite sure we could mention quite some other albums by these bands.

In dark folk and martian there will always be the endless discussion about politics. I see music and politics as two different matters, but apart from that, what’s your look at Europa of today, and the world in general?
The European situation is sadly bad and in the way how it goes, let us thinnk that it will be getting worse.Yes this our opinion seems so negative, but it is like that. We can say that we’re living the “death of Europe” and there is nothing that we can do about it.We ‘re hearing just nice promises and words but we do not see any facts.

Are there plans to perform live with Lupi Gladius, and if so, where and when can we see you play?
Like for a new album, we also will see if we will perform live. Just need wait for a bit and see how things evolve.

Dimi BRANDS
20/06/2016