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| From L to R: Tita Tanni, McEntee, Anselmi, Stravino, Neabore, Sherwood |
Interview with Titta Tani, former drummer of NECROPHAGIA and the legendary Italian band GOBLIN. Between 2003 and 2005, Titta shared tours, albums, and friendship with Killjoy. Today, he honors their legacy by uniting horror, death, and extreme metal with his latest musical project, SEASON OF THE DEAD: Horror Death Metal from beyond the grave! Read on or be devoured by zombies.
“Necromancy” is not only a 3-minute-plus intro but also a brutal introduction to your debut album, Zombie Chronicles Vol. 1. What does this intro mean, and finally, how was the songwriting and recording process for this first zombie chapter?
Ciao Jorge, Titta’s here, muchas cracias for the space on your fanzine and ciao to all the readers. Necromancy has been written by me while driving and whistling the main theme. I was thinking to be in a scary and dark forest or a jungle with a creepy sound generated by tribal drums (I’ve recorded ‘em at the same time with 6 toms plus a kick with the help of Andrea Gianangeli… I have only two hands, so… regarding the screams I was thinking to an ancient tribe of cannibals who call spirits from the vasty deep. Giacomo added a really deep tone with his 8 strings guitar.For the other songs, me Giacomo Anselmi and worked together for a month to write the songs and to write the lyrics in a wonderful “trip” through the classic death and gore metal.
This supergroup brings together names like John McEntee, Chuck Sherwood, Fiore Stravino, and Dave Neabore. How did the connection between you and them come about, and how challenging was it to coordinate such different schedules and musical visions?
They are such an amazing friends and real pro from the death metal scene and not (as DOG EAT DOG), for us they are real living legends and they was really happy to collaborate with us without any thoughts about the good success of the writing session. Very easy to be honest, Fiore lives in my same city (Rome) so we record his 2 songs in a day, Chuck and Dave did a fucking good job as bass players on the covers and on the original ones. John did what he knows at its best. Precious!!!!! Regarding the way we assembled everything, I sang the guidelines in Giacomo’s presence, sharing thoughts about metrics and stuff like that and we sent to them and the result is amazing, in my opinion. It's rotten as it's best, no compromises, no editing, everything’s real in the classic spirit from the 90’s. We need to thanks our label, TIME TO KILL RECORDS, that gave us the freedom to do this kind of project without limitations. Enrico (the owner) is a big fan of it.
The production sounds dense, humid, and cinematic, almost like an old Italian horror VHS tape. What were you trying to capture in terms of atmosphere and sound? Favorite tracks and why?
Giacomo and I have been collaborating for years with GOBLIN, with different line up (the masters of the horror soundtracks) and we are really into this kind of stuff but we learning too the lessons from the masters of this genre as Mortician and Necrophagia (my old band). Wow favorite tracks I can speak for giacomo too, THEN WE’LL RISE and VODOO RITUAL…but necromancy gave us chills!
Killjoy has always had that ability to merge horror and metal in a very personal way. What does it mean for you to continue their legacy under the name SEASON OF THE DEAD, taken from NECROPHAGIA's debut album? How important is this album to the genesis of death metal and horror? And last but not least, what's the significance of the album SEASON OF THE DEAD to extreme metal and horror genres?
The album “season of the dead” is a milestone, we must to admit it! Rotten, great lyrics and they wrote it in 1987…can you imagine?? The album was released a few months before Death’s Scream Bloody Gore debut album, which makes it one of the first full-length death metal albums and consequently, valued by collectors. So I think It’s an important album for all the death metal fans around the world. We don’t want to be a “copycat” but we want to try to help the younger ones to rediscover his music and understand from where death metal really came from.
Many fans wonder what it was like to work with or know Killjoy. Could you share a memory or anecdote that summarizes who was really behind the myth?
Damn, I’ve played, records and tour with Killjoy and Necrophagia from 2002 to 2005 and everythime I think about it, a smile grown on my face. Killjoy has been a really good friend, he was such a nice guy with its personal vision about the gore, the horror and everything that is close to this genre. He was a GOBLIN’s super fan and we met in an horror convention in New Jersey and asked me to join the band.
The title Zombie Chronicles Vol. 1 suggests a continuous story. Can we expect a conceptual narrative that unfolds across several volumes?
Absolutely my friend, our idea is to write another chapter with some of the living legends from the death metal scene….I cannot hide that I would like to have Will from Mortician and other people as him….I will try!
In some statements, you mention an inspiration from Marie Laveau and voodoo in the song “Voodoo Ritual,” which is one of my favorites. Could you elaborate on how that figure and her symbolism influence the album's narrative?
Let me explain to people who don’t know Marie Laveau is. She was a dedicated practitioner of Voodoo, a healer, a herbalist, and an entrepreneur. Laveau was also known as a prominent female religious leader and community activist so not only a “voodoo brujera”. Me and Giacomo decide to dedicate the song to her story, but only regarding the voodoo stuff, cause we love “zombies” stuff and the legend around the awaken from the death with VOODOO RITUALS”
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| Titta Paying with NECROPHAGIA |
We came, as italians, from there. But I think Romero and Fulci are the main inspiration. Regarding Fulci, his vision about the horror movies and the way he direct the movies and the actors gave us the right light to write the album. Some people consider the fulci’s movies as something a “c” category or trash….I think they re right and thats what people like.
Finally, the two Necrophagia covers at the end of the album are fantastic. If Killjoy could hear Season of the Dead today, what do you think he would say?I am sure he would be proud about it, John did an awesome work singing the original tunes and pay the perfect tribute during the covers. He and Killjoy were really good friends and John is always mention how Killjoy was so important for him and for his future career in death metal….INCANTATION are fucking great! Jorge thank you for your support and still thank you to the readersI would like to say that today, nov 6th, we’ve been confirmed for the Obscene Fest in 2026. Our album will be out nov 14th so check it out via TIME TO KILL RECORDS and via our Insta Channel seasonofthedeadband. Muchas Gracias and GORE FOREVER!
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| Titta & Killjoy |
Links:
SEASON OF THE DEAD
https://www.facebook.com/seasonofthedeadband
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