Ireful (Italy)

Interview with Matteo

https://www.facebook.com/irefulthrash

Ireful is an old-school Thrash Metal band formed in 2020 under the sign of madness. In 2024 they released their latest full-length entitled Agents Of Doom. Meanwhile, just this week I had a conversation with a Matteo Sòllima aka M. Thunderbolt. Enjoy!

Metal Revolution: Hi Matteo, nice talking with you. How are things in Palermo/Sicily?
Ireful: Hi there hur mår du? Many thanks for the space! It’s spring now in Palermo, people and flowers open up like when you open your dick to clean it (Delete it if it’s too rude!), but too many tourists!

MR: (Laughing) No censorship here my friend. Can you introduce your band to our readers? What does Ireful stands for?
Ireful: Ireful is a sweetened way of saying “extremely angry”! Nobody had this name and we took it! We started in 2019-2020, united by a visceral passion/obsession for 80’s Thrash and Speed Metal.

MR: For someone who has never heard your music before, how would you shortly describe your sound to them?
Ireful: Good question, I still don’t know (Laughing). Some are excited about our music, some others are more critical about the our choice of the organic sound and the lack of novelty (probably because they love the plastic shitty sound) – but you know man, we play just for passion!
About the influences… Well, there’s a lot of stuff in our rusty cauldron. Of course I have to mention the Bay Area Thrash, Canadian and the German one. Personally I also take inspiration from Italian Speed/Thrash such as Bulldozer, Nuclear Simphony (Sicilians like us) and Raw Power, Negazione, Indigesti for the Hardcore/Punk vein. Actually so far we’ve had good success in the underground world with our two records. We’re glad for that.

MR: July 2024 you released band’ latest album, Agents of Doom. What can you tell us about this effort? How many songs?
Ireful: Agents of Doom contains 8 tracks for a total of approximately 35 minutes. I would say “fast and impactful” without frills and posh stuff. All the tracks were composed with the idea of an album made from the heart. I’ve read some reviews comparing our album to Violence and Exodus, and I totally agree (we can’t escape that!), although we’ve also drawn a lot of inspiration from the sound of bands like Sacrifice (Canada), Mortal Sin (Australia), and others…
Of course, the tendency is always to make comparisons with more mainstream bands, but that’s stronger than me, I prefer unknown bands, I give them great quality and enormous respect.

MR: Utilizing any new recording techniques to this one, compared to your 2021 The Walls of Madness release?
Ireful: We recorded in the most classic way; metronome tracks. No tricks no cheats and of course no AI (fuck it!)

MR: How does your creative process work in Ireful camp? What’s the creative process like when you compose a new song?
Ireful: I usually write the riffs or entire songs, and then we all make changes together if necessary. Then Mad Pig adds his solos—the beautiful, melodic ones—(mine are the most ignorant and dirty ones), and A. Medusa adds the bass lines and vocals. I rarely use programs like garage band or other gimmicks… I’m so busy with work and have little time, so I often record with my phone.

MR: What is your favorite track from Agents of Doom? Which song from the album resonates with you personally the most and why?
Ireful: Difficult to answer… I think I’m fond of the 5th song of the album “Blackhearted Master”. It was the first song I ever wrote for Ireful, but we didn’t put it on the first EP. Weird, huh?!

MR: What about the lyrics on Agents of Doom? Where did you get inspiration for writing lyrics and who was the main songwriter?
Ireful: All the lyrics were written by A. Medusa, he has a degree in history and philosophy, and the concept of the album represents “the absolute power”; does this sound familiar to you now at this moment in history?

MR: Very much so, unfortunatelly. How many copies of Agents of Doom has been released and which medium was used (as I have only listened to it on youtube) for this latest opus – CD, digital, vinyl, cassette?
Ireful: The CD version was released on Dave Rotten’s Xtreem Music, a Spanish label (500 copies), while the 12″ vinyl was released by me, on my newly founded label “Fish Market Records” (500 copies – damn it was so fkng expensive!).
No cassette release yet, but that would be great. Our first EP has been released on tons of formats around the world, from Japan to Brazil.

MR: I think you’re doing a fantastic job promoting your band, but do you have any support from a label/distro/promo company etc. or is it all the good old underground way by doing most things yourself?
Ireful: As I told in the previous question, we have a label but nowadays it’s so difficult to emerge. Of course “WE DON’T PAY TO PLAY” so we prefer to follow the DIY philosophy.

MR: What obstacles or challenges, if any, do you encounter when it comes to getting the music of Ireful out there and heard by potential new fans?
Ireful: That’s the best question so far… Nowadays, we can say the internet is a great resource for certain things, but people are very distracted and can’t focus on anything (in general) for more than a few seconds. And music is proof of this. Listening to a vinyl or CD means you identify with the band you’re listening to, knowing their history and other authentic anecdotes. I personally don’t have Spotify and never will—I still buy records, if I have the money, and I do so with enthusiasm.

MR: Your favorite thrash era(s) and how do you manage to balance raw speed with melody?
Ireful: I think 1985/1986 was the best for Thrash… all of us grew up listening to many kind of music, Blues, Bebop, Eng/Ita Prog Rock, Garage, Punk/HC, NWOBHM, Thrash, Death… but actually our music is not that melodic (Laughing), maybe the solos.

MR: What themes or messages do you want to explore in your future albums?
Ireful: Don’t know yet… I’d like us to focus on cinema (without favoring any one genre) or on themes related to our homeland, Sicily. We’ll see.

MR: Do you have any knowledge of the Danish (thrash) metal scene?
Ireful: Artillery, of course! Fear of Tomorrow (1985) still sounds like a bomb! A precious heirloom for Speed/Thrash lovers. Thrash aside… Mercyful Fate/King Diamond a band of crazy, brilliant people! You brought back a memory for me… about a Sicilian band of my punk friend Kjeld from Agrigento (he is half Sicilian and half Danish) and his band is called Skidt Hjerne!

MR: Nice, thx for sharing the story with us, ‘Skidt Hjerne’ translates to ‘Bad Brain’. Now, I would like to know how can people reach your band & music?
Ireful: As they want! Some people has put our music on YouTube, then Bandcamp and… I don’t know, maybe Spotify and all platforms as well, I think the label put all the stuff there. But the best way is with the records.

MR: Thank you Matteo for taking the time to do this interview. Anything to add for the readers of Metal Revolution Webzine?
Ireful: Tusen takk, min venn! Jeg snakker ikke dansk … litt norsk blandet med svenska! I talk like a drunk (Laughing).
To all your readers: we love you all guys, keep thrashing and come to Sicily to sunbathe!