~ Interview with Bruno Masulli ~
Master singer and master guitarist Bruno Masulli has released ´Darkness, Then Light´, the fourth full-length work by IN AEVUM AGERE, so we immediately asked him for an interview.
Bruno, congratulations on the finale of the trilogy of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Were you able to complete the project musically in line with your initial ideas?
Thank you Michael, I’ll tell you that concluding a trilogy was not my initial intention. In the beginning I intended to release a simple final EP with new songs always about Dante’s Inferno, but our label was interested in an album and this urged me to write new songs for a full length album. In the end we found ourselves faced with an entire trilogy.
It took you seven years to be able to start the trilogy in 2019 with a new record deal. Weren’t you worried beforehand about the release of the second and third parts?
No, because the other two albums had a big advantage. I had a lot more experience. ´Canto III´ had a long gestation for many reasons, it was a transitional period and after ´The Shadow Tower´ I also had many cultural ambitions. Among the many ideas, the theme of the Divine Comedy inspired me a lot, but I had to study a lot to be able to create material with this cultural weight. A lot of time has passed but in any case in the meantime two preview EPs were released ´Limbus Animae´ and ´Fugit In Solitudine´ which were fundamental for me before making another full length of that type.
How would you describe the musical differences between the individual parts of the trilogy? Has the music also developed?
Yes, absolutely. Music evolved and I learned new things day by day. Growth or evolution are things that feel like new pages in a book that is being leafed through. I think it’s inevitable.
The last part is very power metal, so mostly power doom, right?
Well, you know, I’ve never bothered to codify the genres I play. My influences are many, about IN AEVUM AGERE already in ´From The Depth Of Soul´ times the clear influences was referable mainly to CANDLEMASS, but the sound were already contaminated, many reviewers and insiders were already talking about „Power Doom“ at that time. I can tell you with certainty that evolution has led me to create songs that increasingly have my own identity, never neglecting the origins and all the influences that are part of my background.
Did you draw inspiration from new influences when playing the guitar?
No new ones, certainly many of my guitar influences have emerged over the years. I feel particularly free in all my projects, without thinking if what I do is doom, thrash, power, death etc… I have my own (how can I tell you) personal codes of reference trying to diversify the style based on the band or project. With IN AEVUM AGERE I manage to mix a lot of my background and create a very varied sound, but always coherent with the reference genres. But even with the voice, as someone has noticed, at the beginning, I was inspired by a purely epic and „Messiah Marcolin„-style singing, in time I followed my natural course.
To what extent were your colleagues, bassist Marcello D’Anna and drummer Michele Coppola, able to contribute or were you happy to have found them?
With Marcello and Michele I found a long-lasting line up and this is already a great thing for a project that started as a one man band! Even if the “modus operandi” is always the same and even if more often than not they are free to actively participate in the arrangements by bringing their style and ideas.
What does the future of IN AEVUM AGERE look like?
After the “Dante experience” I will begin to dedicate myself to another concept album, dedicated to the theatre. I am aware that this is another very demanding work, but it is what I plan to do. I have already started, it will take the necessary time.
Will there be another studio album that stands on its own? Do you have another contract with „Metal on Metal Records“ for that?
The future is uncertain you know, we will see what awaits us and what the tide could bring.
What is Bruno Masulli’s favorite pastime when he’s not holding the guitar?
It’s a nice question! I have always played sports to keep fit. I love the sea and nature in general. I write a lot and read and love classic cinema and theatre. But I have to tell you that any excuse is good to inspire me with new material and compositions. I like to spend a lot of time in my little studio.
Has your life in general changed in Italy over the last ten years, or has life stood still for you, so to speak?
You know, life also changes because there are many things that change us or make us grow. Personally I have an increasingly conscious perception of existence. A concrete awareness and this sometimes leads me to isolate myself from the madness of the world. And I think that those who are aware of their existence feel the change/ growth day by day.
When and where can we see IN AEVUM AGERE on stage next?
Well, for now we have made a date in our homeland and I hope for new dates from September.
Thank you, Bruno.
Thank you so much for the interview!
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