After the two-year break Cadaveria, Italian singer and songwriter, comes back with the new music. Inspired by that, we’ve had a brief talk with her. Read below to learn a bit more about the creation process, the upcoming events in the band’s life and some shamanic rituals!
MG: Hey! Nice to meet you! How’s it going?
Cadaveria: Everything is okay, thank you! What about you?
MG: It’s alright, thank you. Let’s start with your newest single “Shamanic Path”. The song is based on true story and your own experiences with native tribes and their Shamanic practices. This sounds so interesting and the lyric video you did for the song turned out so well. Tell me a little bit more about it.
Cadaveria: Yeah, more or less two years ago I met two Italian people who spent the winter in Brazil. One of them is in connection with a local tribe called Kariri-Xoco, and in February of 2020 I had the opportunity to join them for two weeks in Brazil. It was just before the pandemic, I was so lucky! I spent five days with this tribe in the sacred area where they’re building a cultural center called Sabuka. They are living by selling their handcrafts and trying to keep their old traditions. They’re going to schools, meeting young people, explaining the ancient traditions. So, for me this was an opportunity to make some humanitarian action: I helped them build small houses for sleeping and practicing some rituals. I ate with them, I danced with them around the fire, I cooked with them, I got some healing rituals from them. I was so lucky and so honored to live something so interesting and intense, spiritually speaking. In full contact with nature and animals, I could see how the tribe members keep with such dangerous species as cobras. Here, in Italy, we are afraid, we want to kill them. But in Kariri-Xoco they use a piece of wood to escort them outside the area. It was really impressive! This trip was a rebirth for me. Before going there I was not sure about my artistic future and when I came back I was able to write 5 songs in a night.
MG: Wow! That’s impressive!
Cadaveria: Everything that was inside me for two years of my illness, was ready to come out, I just wrote it down in a few hours. As soon as this pandemic ends, I will come back and meet the beautiful people of Kariri-Xoco again!
MG: This is such a unique experience! Going back to “Shamanic Path”; the last line in the lyrics says: “I’m Akanawã”. What does it mean?
Cadaveria: Yeah, it’s the name I got when the shaman and the cacique, his right hand, the man, who helps the shaman in his practice, rebaptized me in the sacred river there, in Brazil. They gave me the name Akanawa, which means “arrow that goes far”.
MG: Prior to „Shamanic Path“, you dropped „Divination“. This one was freely inspired by Candomblé ritual of reading the Buzios through which you can know your past, present and future. Would you like to know what awaits you in the future? It sounds a bit scary, doesn’t it?
Cadaveria: Yeah, in fact (laughs)! In Brazil I met a priest from Candomble, who reads the Buzios. He told me a lot about my past, why some specific events happened, why I repeat some of my mistakes. He revealed some important aspects of my character, so now I have more awareness and more consciousness and thanks to this I can live the present better and face the future.
MG: So now you are more prepared, right?
Cadaveria: Yeah. It was so interesting!
MG: In the music video for your single “Return” you almost don’t show your face, which is quite unusual for you. Why did you decide to do it?
Cadaveria: Yes, you are right. It’s because I wanted to reveal my new image only with “Matryoshcada” song, cause when “Return” was supposed to be released, I already had in mind to show the two matryoshca dolls with the old and new me on cover. Later we decided to express this transformation also in music video for “Matryoshcada”. So I wanted to create a bit of suspense. The new band pictures haven’t been spread yet, so I just wanted to appear in the end, in the cameo. All of this is better explained in the “making of” video that we’ve released this week. It’s entitled as “Genesis of creation” and reveals some… “mysteries” about the recent singles. You can find it on our YouTube channel as well as all our material released so far. It’s explained in “behind the scenes” of these singles how these ideas were born, how we transformed them into images. Our drummer, Marcelo Santos, is producing all the music videos for us. We do everything: we make the music, we manage the cover-art, we create the music videos. Really, Cadaveria is a band that works 360’, you know.
MG: Yeah, now for smaller bands it requires much more effort. You have to know not only how to create music, but also how to promote it yourself, how to make cover artworks, maybe even how to create your own merch!
Cadaveria: Exactly!
MG: Well, this year we’ve heard a lot of new stuff from you. You’ve already released 4 new singles. Does it mean the new album is coming? Or do you want to stick to releasing singles regularly?
Cadaveria: When we returned to the music scene in October, we had an idea just to release some singles. But the truth is, we have other songs ready to be recorded, and so I think we’ll do some more singles in the next months. Probably we will make them converge into a new full-length album, probably next year. We will see (laughs)!
MG: In 2018 you decided to take a break but then the breast cancer came. During this period of two years of silence and undergoing the treatment, was there ever a moment you thought for yourself like this is the end of your career? Or was music something that kept you going and helped you fight the battle?
Cadaveria: Well, in that period I totally concentrated on myself, on my healing. All my energies were focused on feeling better, on meditation, on yoga, on chemotherapy, on surgery and so on. And I must admit, I totally quit music, I was just listening to my body, to myself, to the nature. Probably I needed this, I needed this break. And yes, there was a moment when I thought not to go on with music, not to sing anymore. As I said, the journey in Brazil was crucial for this, it was a sort of rebirth for me, so now I’m singing again (laughs). I have to say that it was not exactly music that kept me going, but since I decided to make my illness public and to share my process with my fans, I received a lot of love from them and this really helped me to feel better. It was probably one of the things that convinced me to come back to the music. In fact, “Matryoshcada” is dedicated to them. In the final frame of the video, there is a “thank you” to all the people who stayed with me during my illness.
MG: Usually people try to avoid the theme of cancer, but you shared your experience with everyone. This is very brave of you!
Cadaveria: You know, I did it just because I’ve always had a very clear and honest relationship with my fans and I could not tell a lie. I mean, what else could I post on social media? Some old photos, throwback pictures? No, it wouldn’t make sense. It doesn’t reflect my way of being. That’s why I showed the entire process. And sometimes it’s easier to tell the truth than to tell a lie. The universe was so kind to me that brought me so much love from my fans, so I know I made the right choice.
MG: Yeah, I understand. Anyway, how does it feel to be back?
Cadaveria: It’s like the first time! I mean I’m so happy but I also feel different, because I feel more free, more positive. My approach to life and my approach to music have changed. I can really enjoy what I’m doing, I try to avoid any stress, I take my time. That’s why even if we already have a lot of new songs ready, we decided to release “Return” and “Matryoshcada” as singles and to come back to the recording studio later. I have to admit that releasing a full-length album in October-November 2020 would be too energy consuming for me. And I think this new vibe arrives to the listeners in the new songs.
MG: You’ve just celebrated 20 years of career. Congratulations! When you look back at when you first started and now, what do you feel is the biggest evolution your music came through?
Cadaveria: Oh, well, I think the fact that we’ve always accepted the changes, we’ve always been ready to contaminate our music with new experiences, we’ve always looked inside us to find new inspirations… I think this is the reason why our music is so hard to define and to classify. I can proudly say that we are not the copy of any other band and we don’t follow any trend. We are in perpetual evolution as life is. I like to focus on my present, I let the past go. Surely the music of nowadays is different from one we could play in the beginning, but the soul is the same and I think everyone who knows our music can recognize our specific “mark” in it.
MG: I would like to know more about your songwriting process. You write lyrics but also the music. What do you take inspiration from, where is your special place to write at, are you a day or night writer…
Cadaveria: There’s no specific place and no specific time because I continually take notes if something inspires me. I take notes on the plane, while walking… Everything can inspire me: my personal experiences, movies, places, dreams… Then, when I feel the need to create a song, I reorganize my notes in a proper lyric and the music comes with them. Sometimes I record some melodies on my phone, as I can’t play any instrument. Later show them to the guitarist and together we transform my melodies into guitar riffs and I find a vocal technique that suits it. Usually I think about the clean melody first and then, when the structure of the song is done, I decide if I’m gonna sing clean or growl or scream this part. For the last singles I worked a lot with Marcelo, the drummer, to merge all the ideas coming from the different members of the band. Marcelo and I took care of the pre-production and the whole process. I have to thank Pete, Cris and Pier who were cooperating with us, but the biggest part of the work was done by Marcelo and me.
MG: Besides Cadaveria you have another project, DyNAbyte, which hasn’t been active for a pretty long time, for about 10 years. Should we expect any revival of this project? Do you still feel inspiration or passion for industrial/alternative metal?
Cadaveria: Well, I’m always open to new experiences, but concerning DyNAbyte you should know some years after the release of DyNAbyte’s second album the mastermind of the band, the guitar player LJ Dusk, took a long period of break to dedicate himself to his own stuff and family. And, well, this long period is still in act (laughs). Meanwhile the bass player, John, who was also a bass player in Cadaveria until 2015, started another band, and I have to say that the relations between me and him are rather cold at the moment. So I don’t think DyNAbyte will have a future.
MG: In your biography on your website, it says that if you were a god, you’d take the earth 300 years back. What’s your biggest problem with society and the way we live nowadays? Obviously, there are countless things we’re doing wrong, but what is the most important thing for you that you would change and do differently?
Cadaveria: Yes, 300 years back or at least before the industrial revolution, cause I think the problem is that everything rotates around money. People who got the power and money want more power and money. They see no problem in destroying nature, let people die without food. Thousands of people are suffering from the hunger and thirst in this specific moment as we speak. Is this normal? People are asking to go back to normality after the pandemic, but what is normality? Is it normal that some people have no food and other people swim in golden pools, for example? This doesn’t make sense!
MG: Yeah, we have a very controversial situation here. I would agree with you on that, things are very strange now. What is in store for you next? What are your plans for the rest of 2021? Do you plan to return to the stage after the pandemic is over?
Cadaveria: Well, I can reveal you that the new single will see the light in June and the rest more or less is secret so I ask you and the readers to follow us on Instagram @cadaveriaofficial and on Facebook to discover more. But since you asked me about the live activity, I have to say that in the last 20 years we played a lot. I’m very satisfied about the results we got, so if and when we’ll go back to live activity, it will be cause we received a very good offer we cannot refuse, you know. I have already played in old tiny venues in Italy and in many similar clubs in Europe, so if I have to come back to live activity, I want a proper stage, a proper production, otherwise we’ll continue recording the material in the studio only. It’s very stressful for me to manage everything, including the live shows, so I need someone to take care of this, someone to set up a proper stage for us, someone to provide the good conditions.
MG: That’s all for today, thank you for speaking to us.
Cadaveria: Thank you for the invitation!
MG: Yes, you are welcome. It was very nice speaking to you! Anything you would like to tell our readers?
Cadaveria: Well, since all our singles are digital and nowadays everything is concentrated around Spotify, AppleMusic and Itunes, I just want to invite them to follow us on Spotify and to stream our songs and also to go on our YouTube channel to check out our music videos. These are the small and simple actions they can take to help us and support us. And I want to thank everyone who has been following me since the beginning and to give a warm welcome to the new fans. That’s all, take care everyone!
Metal Goddesses 