A few questions - interview with death metal band from Italy - MASS STRANGULATION.
Answered Roberto (bass), thank you!
Ave, can you introduce your band to our readers? – When was it founded and what style of music do you play etc.?
(Roberto) Hello, and thank you for this interview!
Mass Strangulation was formed in 2007 in Campobasso, southern Italy. From the outset, our intention was to compose original songs inspired by the legendary European death metal scene of the early 1990s. After putting together five tracks and just as we were about to record them, the guitarist and drummer at the time left us, leaving me and Francesco with a handful of songs and nothing else, so we mothballed the band.
In 2022, over a few beers, we decided to revive the group, and immediately contacted Marco and Jacopo on guitars and Pino on drums. We began composing new songs, completely discarding those from 15 years earlier, and after choosing three, we recorded and released them as an EP, “The Red Tip Massacre”, our official debut.
Where and under what conditions were you recording the new album? Who was in charge of sound, production and mastering?
(Roberto) ‘The Red Tip Massacre’ had a somewhat complicated gestation. The drums were recorded at Landscape Studio by Gianluca Vergalito, the guitars and bass were recorded at Samnite Studio by Marco Alfieri, our guitarist, while the vocals were recorded, also at Samnite Studio, by Giuseppe, the singer of Sakahiter, in which Marco, Pino and I also play. When everything was ready, we entrusted it to the skilled hands of Stefano Morabito, mastermind of 16th Cellar Studio in Rome, who took care of the mixing and mastering.
How many copies were released and which medium was used for this new edition (CD, digital, vinyl, cassette)?
(Roberto) The EP was released on CD and tape, in a very limited edition! To be honest, I can't tell you exactly how many copies Sign Of Evil Production printed, simply because its owner, immediately after sending us the CDs and tapes, just... disappeared! We haven't heard from him since, so we have no idea how many copies he put on the market, let alone how many he sold…
Who is the author of the lyrics and how were they created and about what do the lyrics deal with?
(Roberto) We don't like things to be conventional, so I can tell you, without any problems or embarrassment, that we don't write the lyrics, but Valeria, who is Francesco's partner, our singer.
You may wonder why we made this choice... Well, it's easy to explain... While we were busy composing songs in the rehearsal room, one day she came up with three lyrics that simply left us speechless, so we decided that from then on she would take care of them. She is also a psychologist, so she is able to tackle the themes we deal with from three very particular points of view: that of someone who is passionate about the issues analysed, that of a woman and that of a doctor.
The themes deal with serial killers and brutal murders, with one peculiarity: they are all Italian murderers! We wanted to distinguish ourselves a little from the usual themes addressed by death metal bands, while remaining in a similar field that would go well with the sound of our songs, and here we are...
Who created the logo of the band, and who took care of the graphics and the website? What about you and social networks? Do you consider these things important?
(Roberto) The logo is the work of Roberto Toderico, a dear friend of mine, whom many will surely know as the creator of numerous logos and covers for bands of a certain calibre such as Asphix, Sodom, Artillery, Pestilence, Severe Torture, as well as artwork for festivals such as Party.San.
The cover, on the other hand, features a drawing by Mario Uggeri, an old Italian illustrator, depicting the Circeo massacre carried out by Angelo Izzo, who is also the protagonist of the story told in the EP's title track.
The rest of the CD artwork is my work, while the website is still under construction.
Being an old man, I literally hate social networks, but luckily Marco and Jacopo are younger and take care of them. I realise how important they can be nowadays, even though I consider them absolutely ephemeral compared to the old means of communication such as magazines, fanzines, radio, etc., and that is exactly why I cannot tolerate the fact that today, instead of moving forward on the basis of their real value and the effort they put into composing and promoting their music with live performances, bands have to worry about constantly posting content on social media to make people aware of their existence. It's a stupid way to approach music, and it's a product of the stupidity of today's times, as well as, in my humble opinion, the antithesis of the original philosophy and lifestyle of metal...
Which label did you choose for releasing your album and why this label? Are you satisfied by how your label represents you and takés care about you?
(Roberto) As I mentioned earlier, ‘The Red Tip Massacre’ was released in February 2025 by Sign Of Evil Productions, a small Polish label that mainly deals with extreme underground metal. It was Viktor, the owner, who contacted us immediately after we uploaded our EP to the main streaming platforms, waiting for a label interested in releasing it. At first, we enthusiastically accepted his proposal for two reasons: we had an important live show in Rome supporting Cancer coming up, so we were in a bit of a hurry to release the EP, and also because he seemed like a very active and proactive guy, so much so that from the very first contacts we were also talking about possible dates in Poland to promote the CD. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, after sending us the material, he disappeared, and we still have no contact with him, so I can already tell you that we will definitely be looking for a new label for the release of the full album…
Which bands do you idolise and where do you get your inspiration?
(Roberto) If you've had a chance to listen to the three tracks on the EP, you'll have noticed that our main inspiration comes from the Swedish death metal scene, so leading names such as Entombed, Dismember and Unleashed, without forgetting other European bands such as Bolt Thrower, or a few American bands, although the latter influence is undoubtedly less significant than the others…
Did you send your record to some Labels - which are the labels? How was the response?
(Roberto) As already mentioned, everything was done very quickly, so as far as the EP is concerned, the only real contact we had was with Sing Of Evil Production. We will definitely be sending out some promos soon to start looking around in anticipation of the first full album, which we would like to release by the end of 2026.
How many gigs have you played? Which type of gigs do you prefer, whether it's (clubs or festivals) and which of your performances would you consider as the best?
(Roberto) I'll tell you that despite the long break from 2007 to 2022, and despite only having one EP to our credit, since we got back into action we've been asked to play around here in southern Italy, and at the moment we've already played a good number of live shows, many of them with bands of old friends who are also active in the underground scene, such as Taxidermia or Mauled, just to name a couple.
Personally, I like both situations. I like small live clubs because the performance takes on a wilder form, with people pogoing on top of you, while I like festivals because they are generally better organised, the stages are bigger, you meet people, you see old friends again...
Of the dates we've played so far, the one supporting Cancer in Rome is definitely the one that left us with the best memories, both because of the calibre of John Walker's band and because there were so many people there, they were moshing like crazy under the stage and we had a really great time...
What about your plans for the future? What do you want to achieve with the band?
(Roberto) We are currently working on the full-length album. We have five complete tracks and a series of riffs that will make up the remaining three, after which we will begin pre-production and plan to start recording in late summer, so that we can release the album by the end of the year, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
What we want right now is to play as much as possible, because live performances are what we do best, as confirmed by the feedback and compliments we have received.
On stage, we are able to unleash our wildest side...
How and where can your fans contact you? Can you provide some contact information?
(Roberto) Despite myself, we are on all the major social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, and on digital platforms such as Spotify and Bandcamp, but I prefer people to stop and talk to us before and after our live shows. Face-to-face contact is always the best way to communicate...
Thanx for the interview.
(Roberto) Thank you for giving us this space and greetings to your readers. If we happen to be in your area, come and say hello and rock out in front of the stage during our performance, you won't regret it!
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