Brand new power/symphonic metal act ALTERIUM have released their debut Of War And Flames over a month ago, it’s already gaining positive reception from press and fans alike. Rock Out Stand Out’s Lotty Whittingham spoke to lead vocalist Nicoletta Rosellini about the album, mental health, and video games. Here’s what happened.
How has the feedback for Of War And Flames been? I have seen it’s pretty positive.
Actually, we were really surprised by the response from fans and the press. I mean we knew we had a nice album coming out as we wouldn’t invest so much time in something that wasn’t that good. We were really surprised that we got a lot of reviews with really high ratings but we are really happy as it was a really long journey to bring this new band together as well
Of course, the band got together in 2022.
That’s right, it formed right after the split of my previous band Khalidia. Myself, the drummer Dario [Gozzi] and Paolo [Campitelli] the live guitarist decided we still wanted to do music together and I had some of the songs that I had composed for the third Khalidia album that ended up in the Alterium debut. I already had things I had been working on for several months. This is why it didn’t take us so much time to write the full album and to release it as six of the songs I had already started before Alterium formed.
I was going to ask if the songs were ones you had written previously for Khalidia. What six songs were originally going to be on Khalidia’s third album?
The title track, Crossroads Inn, Siren’s Call; I don’t remember the others [laughs] Of course we had already recorded our cover of Bismarck and Crystalline too. Drag Me To Hell, Heroine Of The Sea, Chasing The Sun and Shadowsong were all brand new. Whilst we were recording the album, we recorded a total of fourteen songs so there is going to be more music coming from us in the upcoming months.
We decided to only feature ten songs on the album because as a new band, it’s important for us to keep releasing new music. Mainly because the music business has changed a lot in the past years and nowadays it’s really important to keep releasing music mainly because of the digital streaming platforms like Spotify. Together with AFM Records, we decided to release only ten tracks for the album and then there is going to be new music coming out from us very soon. We’re going to keep you entertained for quite a long time and we have already started to write for the second album.
These songs that didn’t make the album, are they going to be single releases?
Yes, I think in the end there’s going to be an EP but they will be released one at a time because every time you release a new song on Spotify, you get a new chance to be featured on an editorial playlist. That’s why we’re doing it that way and it’s why we released six singles before the debut album release. It’s something I am not a huge fan of doing as I love vinyl and CDs but when you are starting a new band, nowadays it’s something really important to do.
It actually worked really well for us as we got featured on those playlists I think four or five times out of six and that provided a huge boost for our Spotify channel. Considering we are a new band, there’s something that we needed to do to make things grow faster. I am not getting any younger so I don’t have time to waste [laughs]
That’s a handy tip for new bands so thanks for sharing that. I made a note of some of the track names from Of War And Flames, first one Crossroads Inn. Were you playing the game of the same name when you decided you wanted to write a song about it?
Yes. I actually got inspired by video games a lot. Whilst this song wasn’t written with the video game in mind, we were working on a medieval song and I saw this was going to be a fun song. One that you can hear in a medieval tavern and then my brain connected the two together; I then decided that this was going to be a Crossroads Inn song. I think it fits with the game so well and we also got in touch with the game software company Klabater, they are from Poland. They were really excited to feature our track so it’s like an official track for the game and we are so proud.
That’s really cool, I like how no track sounds the same on Of War And Flames. There’s the medieval tavern track which have just talked about, another being Siren’s Call. That took back to old school Visions Of Atlantis and Nightwish, was that the direction you were going with that?
Yes it was. When I was writing the vocal lines for the verse, I was always thinking that this could fit very well in a Nightwish song. It was something that we wanted, we wanted to show as many different kinds of music we can produce. That’s why we included something in there that was melodic but also classy and not too mellow; something that would fit with a Nightwish album or other bands that have that style. Actually, it’s my favourite track from the album. I don’t know why and if I had to choose a song that was going to be popular, I would have said Siren’s Call but it ended up being the title track that has a lot of engagement. It’s not something you can say for sure when working but for me it was Siren’s Call.
As you were saying, you have a different variety of songs on the album to showcase what you can do. It also shows your wide vocal range; when you’re writing the songs, do you already have in mind what vocal style you are going to use for each song?
Absolutely I do. Sometimes I work on something that already exists so I go with the flow. Most of the time when I do the music part, I am starting off from a vocal melody so sometimes I already have it clear in my mind how I am going to sing that song. Some other times, I work on some ideas from our guitar player and the other guys. So when that happens I try different styles until I find something that fits the song.
Sometimes it’s really fast where I give it a couple of tries and then I find the right vocal style. Other times it takes a lot of time, sometimes a whole day, trying to find the perfect vocal line for the song and then I’m still not satisfied. When that happens, I will leave that track for a couple of weeks and then I go back with the perfect idea. So it’s not always easy to write the proper vocal lines but I keep working until I am satisfied. When I go to the recording studio, we do another check with the vocal lines alongside our producer Lars Rettkowitz from Freedom Call. We didn’t change what I had originally put together too much but in the past with Khalidia, we did a lot of work to make the vocals fit.
I think with this album, I was more conscious about my voice so it was a lot easier to write the perfect vocal lines and so that’s why we didn’t change too much compared with I already did at home. It was something I was really happy with as it tells me that I grew as a singer and a composer.
On the album, what was the most challenging song to sing/record/put together?
I think it was Siren’s Call and it’s the most tricky to sing live because I use three kinds of vocal qualities inside the chorus. The first time I performed this I thought “why did I write this song” [laughs] It was so difficult, it’s tricky for me to sing that song live but I’m trying to get more into it.
Was the first time you performed that song at Epic Fest?
No, we played a show in September. That was the first time I performed it and where I thought how difficult it was to sing live [laughs] So I really took the time to study it so by the time Epic Fest came around, it was already much better.
I caught you at Epic Fest and really enjoyed your set.
Thank you, actually I felt it was our best performance so far. It was really funny as we had three festivals and the only one that went really well was Epic Fest. This was because at the other festivals, there were lots of problems with the in-ear monitor at the time so both in Germany and Italy, we couldn’t hear anything. When you have been in the music business for a long time, you can still perform well without being able to hear anything. At least at Epic Fest, everything was perfect. It was really great to play and hear everything so we really enjoyed Epic Fest.
The room was packed, there were people standing outside.
They told us people were standing outside the room. It was a fantastic crowd too; there was also crowdsurfing on Bismark I think.
One of the things we like to talk about at Rock Out Stand Out is mental health.
I went through a difficult time when it was the end of Khalidia because it was difficult for me to let go of a band project that I had been working on for twelve years and so I started to have a lot of panic attacks. It was a difficult moment for me and I reached out for help because I realised I wasn’t sleeping at night, I wasn’t feeling good at all.
This is something that happen to all of us, we are all human and there’s nothing wrong with asking for help. Sometimes, we are too much inside of what’s in our heads that we can’t see any solution or a way to that solution. Sometimes it’s better to stop for a moment and ask for help, to talk to someone who can give you advice on how to process something. Mental health is something I care a lot about. As a musician, if you’re not in the right mood and you’re not doing well with your mental health, it can be difficult to compose.
During the pandemic, I was working a lot and our tours got cancelled. We didn’t know if we were going to perform ever again and there was a bad situation where I couldn’t write anything for about six months. It’s really important to take care of your mental health.
Sharing personal experiences helps us feel less alone, thank you for sharing yours. What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learnt when looking after your mental health?
For me, it’s to learn how to let go. I am always trying repair and fix things that are broken; whether it’s relationships, people or situations. It’s difficult for me to get used to huge changes, I’m still learning to let go and it’s something that’s really difficult to do. It caused me a lot of problems with the previous band and some other situations in my life. I am learning how to let go of things that aren’t going in the right direction.
I can relate, I am trying to learn that as well. What do you like to do to unwind?
Usually it’s video games, they’re a huge part of my life. My standard relaxing day is usually me playing my favourite video games; most of the time it’s World Of Warcraft, at the moment I am also playing Diablo 4 and Baldur’s Gate 3 which I am really enjoying. It’s like living a different life for a few hours and that’s something I really love. I am not a competitive gamer so every time I play, it’s just to have fun and enjoy the story and lore of the video game.
Speaking of video games, what video game universe would you like to live in?
World Of Warcraft, it’s a huge part of my life and I have been playing these games since I was fourteen. I grew up playing those kinds of video games and some of my best friends are ones that I met on those video games. We spent a lot of time playing together and they became my best friends. It’s not true that if you play video games, you’re going to be alone forever. It’s not true, that’s what my Mum told me every time and nowadays she sees me going around with those friends. I proved her wrong [laughs].
You can talk to people whilst playing the games as well.
Exactly, I also think these things became more normal during lockdown so they realised the value digital connections had on people.
Is there any songs about World Of Warcraft on the album?
There are two songs. One is Drag Me To Hell; that tells the story of Baldur who sat on a frozen throne after the fall of the Lich King and that was the main inspiration for that song. Also Shadowsong, it’s inspired by the night elf Maiev Shadowsong; she was the jailer of Illidan Stormrage. The song talks about weird relationships, it’s not a romantic relationship but a love/hate relationship between prisoner and jailer.
Do you have a message for Alterium fans and our readers?
We’re going to release more songs and also working on getting live shows booked so I really hope we can see each other very soon. We are still a new band so it’s not easy to get many shows at the moment, that’s why we haven’t announced any dates yet. We have something scheduled for the fall and we hope to meet you all very soon.
Thank you so much Nicoletta for speaking with Rock Out Stand Out and best of luck with the album.
