Interview with Hidden Lapse

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Hidden Lapse is a melodic metal project, touched by progressive and the most modern metal too.
We tell stories, too.
We get inspiration from many different sources going from power-progressive to the alternative rock/metal scene.

Band Members

Alessia Marchigiani – Vocals
Marco Ricco – Guitars
Romina Pantanetti – Bass
Alessio Monacelli – Drums

Dan: How did the band form?

Marco Ricco: We started as an instrumental/prog duo with Romina (Marco, here). Things heavily evolved since that last “meeting” in 2011 when we started creating the band’s pillars (telling tales about fictional characters): we decided to include a female vocalist (our longtime friend Alessia) in the same moment we were just drinkin’ something together. It wasn’t planned at all. We managed to pull out “Redemption” in a couple of years in between 2014 and 2016, then we had some issues and basically got back on the trail early 2017 when our drummer Alessio jumped in and got our first contact in the business with Rockshots Records.

Your band is a melodic progressive metal band. How did you pick that as the format?

Natural evolution. I wrote most of the songs, pre-record them and let others work out their arrangements. In this process I discovered how to enhance everyone’s talent and, while we often say otherwise, music is a bit of science too. You need to fully understand what you’re doing in order to come up with a manageable formula. In “Redemption” we were a bit more prog-oriented; we were wild caterpillars. Now, in “Butterflies”, I decided to put more attention on the high contrast between the heavy riffing and the ethereal style of Alessia’s vocals. I don’t like the “female fronted” tag anymore, to be honest: I don’t write with a “female singer” in mind, but with the idea to pull out… intimate and melodic songs, yet powerful and intense.

What was your first gig like?

Our debut gig was with the awesome “Metatrone” (label mates and great musicians) in our town. It was a blast: we played in front of the old cathedral, with good friends and vibes and everything was in its place. We’ll never forget it. We weren’t perfect and I think I forgot a couple of notes here and there, but… whatever. 🙂

I am going to name a few bands from Italy. Tell me a sentence or two something about them.

Rhapsody of Fire

I love them. I grew up in the “power metal golden age” and RhapsodIES are among my favorite bands of all times.

Lacuna Coil

Great inspiration and a concrete example of how metal can be easily influenced by many currents.

Giusy Ferreri

Good for her.

Laura Pausini

Good for her.

Christian Death

Respect, not a fan. They showed tons of courage and personality.

Graveworm

Respect, not a fan. They showed tons of courage and personality

Sonya Scarlet

She’s personal and unique, love or hate usual. I’m kinda in the middle though. She’s very expressive.

Theatres des Vampires

I didn’t have the extreme goth epiphany as many of my mates. As above, I still appreciate the darker feel here and there in my short (but still relevant) goth moment.

Giorgia Fumanti

She has insane control and intensity. High, high level here.

Alessia tell me about your musical background?

Alessia Marchigiani: I grew up listening to melodic power metal (like Stratovarius, Nightwish), but I really like the extreme side of it, like Dimmu Borgir, Amon Amarth, and Deathstars. I used to sing, play (as a guitarist) and listen to many different styles of music, from Marylin Manson to Dark Tranquillity. I don’t deny a soft spot for classical and pop singing too.

What has been the biggest crowd you played for?

I guess we had a good crowd (numbers wise) with Temperance and Imago Imperii (the parallel project of our drummer Alessio… yeah, he played twice and he’s alive). When you touch “hundred” it’s a great deal in Italy.

Any festival you would like to play?

Summer breeeeeeze. And that other deutch festival. Oh, and that other U.S.A. festival named “prog” something ahahah.

What would be your dream tour?

Less than a couple of years ago we were guessing and I told: “Temperance, Seventh Wonder, Symphony X, Kamelot…” We achieved both Temperance and Seventh Wonder. What’s next? Let’s hope for the better ahah. I’ve other mundane dreams though. Touring with some friends (Walls of Babylon above all, town mates and brothers, check ‘em out!) would be great as a human experience.

“Butterflies” comes out May 31, 2019. Are you ready to promo it?

Hell yes! In Italy is very hard to come up with persistent tours and dates, but we have a great label and we have some good “digital” plans to promote the album as well. We love this album and we hope our fans (and new followers) we’ll love it as well!

Have you ever hear the saying “Don’t eat butterflies”

Not that much, but I know there’s a good book to read aha

Butterflies tells the story of a terrorized woman passing by a solitary poet in a dark mood; a lonely clown in an almost empty circus seen through the filter of a notebook screen by a nemophobic teen; and more. How do you put it all together?

Well, Hidden Lapse is all about telling fantastic stories with some connections to the real world. These characters are butterflies: they are complex, beautiful, fragile and not so “beautiful” if looked closely. It’s a deep metaphor, to me. I wrote the album in a week or so and every day I just imagined one character and “played” accordingly. They can be mundane heroes, antiheroes or “villains”: in the end, their stories are not that weird as it seems from the prose. They are characters coming out from every day’s stories and newspapers: I wanted to give some space to these archetypes without trying to over-analyzing. The album is about degrees of separations, causes-effects and the unexplicable sense of guilt we all share, driving our choices in crucial moments of our lives.

On the LP I enjoyed SLEEPING BEAUTY SYNDROME and GRIM POET. What is the favorite track on the LP and why?

Those are nearly my favorites as well, aha, but it’s hard to choose for me.
Alessio’s favs are “Cruel Enigma” and “Glitchers”. Romina’s are “Cruel Enigma” and “Grim Poet”.
Alessia’s real-time votes go for “The Letter 0” and “Glitchers”.

Who plays keyboards on the tracks?

Marco:Me. Some of ‘em are carefully programmed (written on tabs through midi), some of ‘em played (as the piano/keyboard parts on the above mentioned favorite songs of yours or the ones in “Dust”).

How do you see yourself in five years?

Hopefully still in the “business”, hitting the stage, surrounded by more musicians and people to share our journey with! In general, we like what we do as is, so we just take what we get and follow the flow.

Anything in closing?

Thank you so much for your space and time. Follow us if you like our work and don’t forget to support the scene through social and actual gigs! And even more than anything else: don’t stop listening to music. Buy it or stream it, but just do it!
Metal’s alive, more than ever.