Interview with While Sun Ends, Progressive Post Death Metal Band from Italy

While Sun Ends is an Progressive-Post Death Metal Band, hailing from Bergamo, Italy. They’re Carlo Leone - Bass, Vocals, Enrico Brugali - Drums, Massimo Tedeschi - Guitar, Diego Marchesi - Guitars, and Stefania Torino - Vocals (lead), Flute. WSE gave us some information. Check it out.

Tell us about WHILE SUN ENDS?

WHILE SUN ENDS is a prog/post death metal project, as some people like to define it: we all are from Bergamo, and we like to make our Sunday mornings productive by gathering together and playing the music we enjoy! Music is a passion to us, first of all, and that’s why the sound has been changing and molded throughout the years, following our –also- changing musical influences and experiences.

“Terminus” is the last product of a path across musical evolution and a change of members (Stefania Torino succeeding Serena Caracchi as lead singer): it’s the second full length from the band, released on 26^th august 2016. It has been recorded in summer 2015, mixed @Studio73 (Ravenna) by Riccardo “Paso” Pasini, and mastered @BoilerRoom (Chicago) by Collin Jordan. At the moment, we are bringing this new album around Northern Italy, as we did in the past with our other works.

<a href="http://whilesunends.bandcamp.com/album/the-emptiness-beyond">The Emptiness Beyond by While Sun Ends</a>
What are lyrical themes of WHILE SUN ENDS?

We’re aware that our lyrics are not very usual or easy-to-follow to a listener: we have a tendency to skip the main themes being written in music, or better, we like to examine main themes of human behavior in a more descriptive and verbose than poetic way. Basically, we try to scratch the surface, and observe what’s beyond the so-raped poetics of human passions. Nevertheless this style, which may seem too roughly rational or pragmatic, we are really passionate about these themes. “Terminus”, particularly, is a journey through knowledge and self-consciousness: beginning from our limits in measuring reality, we come up with a synthesis of our cycle of emotions around the existential spiral, ending up to the previous –but deeper and wider- point of departure.

<a href="http://whilesunends.bandcamp.com/album/knowledge-ep">Knowledge Ep by While Sun Ends</a>
What are your influences?

Generally, we keep our eyes wide-open and rely on our experience. We think about it and try to build our music translating our own emotions, feelings and reasons into lyrics and vibrations. We all are fond of art, particularly music, cinema, paintings and photography, and these things influence us; plus, in the creative process, we consider the “why you create” more important than the “what you create”. Anyway, we are a metal band, and our musical influences lie their roots in progressive rock ’70 and extreme metal. We love bands such as Opeth, Katatonia, Novembre, In Flames or Genesis, Camel, Area, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso… Well, we like lots of experimental artists, too, like Bjork, Manes, Mike Patton, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Ephel Duath and a few others…

<a href="http://whilesunends.bandcamp.com/album/thisposition">ThisPosition by While Sun Ends</a> Who are Your Favorite Italian Metal Bands?

Italy is full of really great metal bands! There are “older” metal bands such as Novembre, Ephel Duath, In Tormentata Quiete (incredible underground band!), Thee Maldoror Kollective, that are really awesome. Now, there is this band called “Sunpocrisy”, with whom we shared the stage on more than one occasion and… well, what they do is simply sublime. They’re a prog/post metal band which began with death influences, creating shows in a unique way throughout the years, using lasers, strobe lights, and gifting the public with great atmospheres.

How did you choose the cover artwork "Terminus"?

Well, the Sun definitely represents the band, and conveys an idea of a compass spreading around our name. Alpha crossing Omega, laying on the background, calls to mind the main concept of the album: a journey in which starting and ending points, somehow, are overlaid.

The name of the album itself means “last stop”, but also, any means of transport, after reaching its “Terminus”, comes back to the starting point of another journey.

How were the songs written?

Stefania: when we meet up, someone shares his idea he came up with, and we try to work on it, discuss it, and slowly build something out of it. Usually, before the vocals are written down, the main frame of the song (with guitars and drums at least) is already there.

Carlo and I are the ones who write down all the lyrics. As said before, “Terminus” isn’t very imaginative or graceful as a lyrical work: that’s because every song is a product of a discussion based on a prearranged specific subject, which was aimed to be nestled on the journey-like general concept of the album.

As I entered the band when the album was already in the pipeline, it was not very linear to integrate my work with the guys’: also, I still was the less experienced in the band, so I guess I had to learn a little bit about them and about their habits! My hope for the next project is to get the right space to put in more of myself, and simplify the writing process of the vocals.

How did the recording process go?

We recorded all our parts in Diego’s (our guitarist) and in Enrico’s (our drummer) studios with Riccardo “Paso” Pasini’s help; then we moved to Studio 73 in Ravenna for guitar and bass re-amp and mix. It took us two weeks for this job, and it was really incredible. Paso is a great sound engineer, and we were so excited to work in Studio 73, since we knew about his experience and ideas: we appreciate tons of albums recorded by him (the previous-mentioned Ephel Duath, Sunpocrisy, In Tormentata Quiete…)… we couldn’t be but satisfied about “Terminus”’s result!

What are your future plans?

At the moment, as we said before, we are carrying “Terminus” around Northern Italy, sharing the stage with very nice bands and meeting new public. Hopefully, we’ll have some more lives around Italy with more bands, and, who knows, we could manage to set a tour in some other country!
Also, we are eventually thinking about a new musical project, but it’s still smoldering J

Are there any countries you’re interested in touring or performing in? Why?

It would be really nice to move to Germany to play with other bands from Wooaaargh! We would like to play in France, Austria, Switzerland and other European countries near Italy (it would be fantastic to end up in more exotic places, tho! There seem to be some people appreciating us from the overseas). Anyway, finding some stages in Nothern Europe –Norway and Sweden in particular- would be a dream: we really love metal music from there.

Any last words?

We’d just like to thank BDP Metal for this nice interview, Riccardo Paso Pasini for its great job, Wooaaargh, and anyone who supported us in the creation of the album and in its diffusion.

See you on stage!

While Sun Ends: