Interview- Dark Reflection

Italian old-school death metal band Dark Reflection will release their debut EP, in January, 2025. Titled Under the Sign of Vlad Tepes, the upcoming musical material will come out...
Dark Reflection-the band pic

Italian old-school death metal band Dark Reflection will release their debut EP, in January, 2025. Titled Under the Sign of Vlad Tepes, the upcoming musical material will come out via Pest Records! Musically, the EP strikes a punch, while thematically it strikes a nerve… More than enough reasons to connect to Riccardo Silla, the founder of the band, guitarist and songwriter, for what turned out to be a very interesting and revealing discussion.

DinIntunerec: Hello, Riccardo, thank you for getting on board with this interview. You founded Dark Reflection in 2022, with the declared purpose to play old school death metal. Tell us what drove you to this and how you guys met.

Riccardo Silla: Hi Daniela, it’s a pleasure doing this interview. It becomes apparent that my true passion for old school death metal drove me to play that kind of music…  Exactly that kind of music we were listening to at the beginning of the 90s, when so many death metal gems were released. With regards to my band mates, let’s say we met through friends of friends.

DinIntunerec: What is your musical background? Did you have other musical projects before? Also, are any of the guys still involved in other projects?

Riccardo Silla: I’ve always been listening to a lot of extreme music, spanning from Bay area thrash metal to Florida death metal, Swedish death metal and also melodic black metal. In the past I used to play with a couple of neighborhood garage bands. On the other hand, my band mates are well-known in the Italian metal scene. Mauro is also playing with Deathcvlt and In Lacrimaes et Dolor, Mike is playing with Scala Mercalli and Lorenzo used to play with Bothers and Emperial Abyss.

DinIntunerec: Your debut EP, Under the Sign of Vlad Țepeș will come out in almost one week. As the title makes it clear it’s a concept EP, dedicated to an important historical figure. Tell us more about your passion for history and also how you got familiar precisely with Vlad Tepes’ reign.

Riccardo Silla: Under the Sign of Vlad Țepeș isn’t just a concept EP, but it’s also intended to be the celebration of the Voivode as a hero, fighting to regain the independence of his country. I’d like to point out I consider medieval history to be fascinating and I see the Romanian medieval history as particularly fascinating. With regards to Vlad Țepeș reign let’s say I got familiar with him when I lived in Romania for a period of time for working reasons. Over there, my Romanian friends told me some stories about the Voivode’s reign.

DinIntunerec: It is crystal clear from the lyrics that you are drawn to the historical side, not to the myth and folklore approach. I mean, there is a lot of lore and foreigners are fascinated by vampire stories and the myth of Dracula, while you’re more into the serious stuff.

Riccardo Silla: I have to admit I’m quite bored by the usual story about that fantasy figure invented by Bram Stoker. The real story of Vlad Țepeș is definitely more interesting than the story told in that famous novel.

DinIntunerec: Why Vlad Tepes, anyway? There must be a story behind your admiration, please share it with us.

Riccardo Silla: I admire Vlad Țepeș because he used to fight for freedom and of course he used to fight to regain the political sovereignty of his country. Furthermore, I admire him because he used to fight against corruption and crime, while supporting the economic growth.

DinIntunerec: The EP includes four songs, each related to a specific battle. Can you give us more details about each song’s theme and how was the research process behind their creation?

Riccardo Silla: Each song is related to a certain battle and every battle is like a chapter arranged in a chronological order to create a story. The first song is about the first combat between Wallachians and Ottomans in open field, which ends with the famous impalement of thousands. The second song is about the storming and the fall of the strongest ottoman fortress on the Danube. The third song is about the multiple ambushes that occurred in the forest of Vlasia. The fourth song is about the night storming of the ottoman camp set up south of Târgoviște. Behind the lyrics creation there’s a lot of reading of history books and the help of a friend of mine to novelize the historical events for better emotional impact.

DinIntunerec: The first single from the EP came out at the end of December. Why did you choose to release The Forest of Impaled first? Do you consider it the most representative thematically, or musically?

Riccardo Silla: As I have already mentioned, the songs are related to historical events, battles so the chronological order is important in order to create the story. It has nothing to do with thematical or musical relevance, it’s the first stage in the narration.

DinIntunerec: Also, let’s go a bit deeper… The statement in the beginning of the song touches a sensitive concept: freedom! Which indeed, cannot be bought! Nor can it be properly valued until one has it no more! It’s a sensitive concept which has been lately put into question more than ever! Personally, I think we should all cast some more glances into the past so that we shall not make the same mistakes (even if under a modern coat). What do you think?

Riccardo Silla: Of course we should learn from history not to make the same mistakes several times. However it might seem it’s pretty hard for people to do it. We should ask ourselves what happens when freedom dies for security.

DinIntunerec: The debut EP is coming out via Pest Records, a Romanian label. How did this come to happen?

Riccardo Silla: It was a natural choice for both sides. We wanted to sign a deal with a Romanian label. On the other hand, Pest Records liked our music and our historical concept.

DinIntunerec: Give us a few details about the recording and production of this EP.

Riccardo Silla: Our debut EP was recorded and mixed at Ulag Zone by Mauro “Ulag” Mancinelli who also did a great vocal performance on the EP.

DinIntunerec: Who created the cover artwork and what does it symbolize?

Dark Reflection

Riccardo Silla: It’s a painting of Theodor Aman dated back to 1866 and it’s called Battle with torches. This work of art depicts the night attack at the ottoman camp set up south of Târgoviște.

DinIntunerec: What do you plan to do after the release? Are you going to make a video for any of these songs? Also, did you think about the concepts that you want to address in the future?

Riccardo Silla: Maybe we will make a video for the opening track. With regards to the future, we’ re planning to further develop the concept of Vlad Țepeș.

DinIntunerec: What about live shows? Have you guys already had the live debut?

Riccardo Silla: We never played live as Dark Reflection. Hopefully, we’ll do it soon in a proper location. Actually, we have something in mind, but I will not reveal anything on the subject just yet. Let’s say it will be a surprise!

DinIntunerec: Dark Reflection has no bass player yet. Who recorded the bass parts? Also, what’s the plan for future shows? Will you track the bass guitar or are you actually looking for a permanent bass player?

Riccardo Silla: Well, yes, no bass player yet, it was I who recorded the bass parts on the EP. However, we want to enroll a permanent bass player to take up the duties in the future, both for the recordings to follow and for live shows.

DinIntunerec: How did you come up with the name of the band? Why Dark Reflection (singular)? Do you see it as the reflection of the darkness within yourself? Or is it more like a conceptual name, which has everything to do with the dark lyrical concepts you intend to dig into?

Riccardo Silla: The name of the band is taken from a song featured on the album Blood from Stone by The Moaning. I must add of course the name Dark Reflection has something to do with our dark lyrical content.

DinIntunerec: How does the creative process go in Dark Reflection‘s case? Who does what? Also, does it start with the concept of the song and then you create the appropriate sound or is it the other way around?

Riccardo Silla: We deal with songwriting with the intention of conveying certain feelings that embody some of our ideas. I usually write most of our songs.

DinIntunerec: What were the main obstacles that you had to overcome during the creative process of the EP and also during the production?

Riccardo Silla: The main obstacle that we had to overcome was to select the best songs to be recorded. It isn’t an easy task when you have to choose among several good songs.

DinIntunerec: Regarding the sonic construction of the songs… the aggressiveness of old-school Florida death metal is there! Yet, from time to time I feel the intricacy and melodic touch of Swedish death metal. What are your main musical influences?

Riccardo Silla: You got it quite accurate. My main musical influences are surely Florida death metal and Swedish death metal.

DinIntunerec: What expectations and hopes do you have regarding Dark Reflection? To what extent are you committed to this project?

Riccardo Silla: We’re fully committed to Dark Reflection and we aim to release a full-length album soon. Hopefully, we will become one of the most famous death metal bands from Italy. I want people to talk about Dark Reflection when talking about Italian death metal. To put it plain and simple, we are dropping the EP in just a few days, then, a full-length will follow. And we’ll go on! I’m sure that soon enough we’ll harvest what we sowed. So, let’s just say you’ll be hearing from us a lot in the future!

DinIntunerec: Could you explain how all the elements in the music help to build the atmosphere? Also, what does a good atmosphere mean to you?

Riccardo Silla: When there is a bond among elements, everything works out and then you’re able to build an atmosphere. A good atmosphere means you were able to convey the feelings that embody your ideas.

DinIntunerec: How do you see the underground metal scene nowadays? Apart from quantity, as it seems there are a lot of new bands emerging everywhere, do you think there is quality too?

Riccardo Silla: To be honest, I don’t follow any modern-day underground scene. I’m a fan of old school death metal. With regards to new bands, I have to admit that Lik and Darkened are great.

DinIntunerec: What do you think about the new generations, do you think they pay attention to the lyrics and to the message of the music they listen to?

Riccardo Silla: I guess the new generations pay attention to the lyrics. They are probably aware you have to do it if want to be able to fully enjoy music and have a complete experience. At least that is how I see things and I hope the audience share my view point. I mean, metal is not an ‘easy’ music… one needs some sort of depth to be drawn to it. Depth of mind… depth of soul… The sound touches some chords, while the lyrics complete the experience and make make it whole.

DinIntunerec:  Back in the days having a band and making music was a challenge from various perspectives: starting from the lack of technology, to the huge costs of instruments and even because of the mentality, as being an artist and not producing something for the society was frowned upon to say the least. Nowadays there is so much technology, the internet keeps bands alive with musicians living in different countries even… Not to mention that anyone can afford to buy a guitar nowadays… Yet, there are other challenges these days… because there are so many bands it is hard to be original and consistent at the same time. And to stand out. What do you think?

Riccardo Silla: I fully agree with those points. I must add that, nowadays, technology definitely helps us find cost effective as well as time saving solutions that make it easier to work. With regards to originality and consistency, I guess as long as you write music in a spontaneous way you will succeed in achieving certain objectives.

DinIntunerec: What is the most important life lesson that you have learned so far?

Riccardo Silla: Never stop fighting for what you believe in and for the people who care about you. Never ever give up, that’s the lesson I learned.

DinIntunerec: Thank you for your time, any final words for our readers?

Riccardo Silla: Thank you for your support. Keep the flame alive!

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