Interview: Fulci
We wanted to provide a violent album with no compromises. The lyrics are very explicit, reflecting the sadism and the trauma of the killer. Of course we wanted to reflect the urban decadence of New York at that time.
Italian horror obsessed death metal maniacs Fulci return with their latest brilliantly brutal offering, Duck Face Killings and it sees the band pay homage once again to their legendary namesake director Lucio Fulci, this time concentrating on one his most controversial films, The New York Ripper. The band don’t hold back on the bloodshed and the grime and nastiness of the film is captured perfectly on their new album. Gavin Brown caught up with Fulci guitarist Dome who talked to us in depth about Duck Face Killings as well as discussing everything from horror to hip hop in a great interview with one of the best and most bloodthirsty death metal bands on the planet at the moment.
E&D: Your new album Duck Face Killings is out next now. How excited are you to be bringing out this album and paying homage to The New York Ripper?
Dome: Hell Yeah! We’ve been working on this new album for 2 years. We put a lot of energy in it! The New York Ripper”is a very perverse and sadistic film, so writing lyrics and music based on this movie was not easy at all. But we are very satisfied with the result.
E&D: How did the creation of the album go?
Dome: Of course we watched the whole Lucio Fulci filmography but when we pick a movie on which we’d like to develop the album concept, we watch that specific movie again and again to enter as much as possible in the director’s vision and to study all the themes and details we want to develop. Usually we enter the recording studio and we record the songs straight away. This time we took some more time doing pre-production. We listened to the songs for a year or so, we made some rearrangements and changes. In the meantime we met Edo who played some shows with us. He is very talented and he has a very open mind about music so we proposed to him to record the album. The whole process took more time than usual but it was worth it because the album sounds more violent than any other record we did before.
E&D: Lord Goat aka Goretex from Non Phixion appears on the album. How was the experience of working with him and how did you hook up in the first place?
Dome: Lord Goat is one of our favourite rappers since we were kids, together with Ill Bill and Necro. They forged what is known as death rap. Fiore had the idea to try to ask Lord Goat since he knew Goretex is a huge fan of Italian genre cinema. We DMed him on Instagram and we started to talk. We just told him which movie we were working on. Of course he knew it and he did the rest!
E&D: Was having that gritty New York hip hop vibe a cool thing to have on Duck Face Killings?
Dome: Since the movie is placed in New York we wanted to invite guests from the New York area and since the The New York Ripper movie has a lot of decadent urban settings and some cool scenes in the New York’s metro. We thought it made sense to have some death rap vibes on the album.
E&D: Are you fans of hip hop as well and which other rappers would you like to appear with Fulci?
Dome: Yes we listen to a lot of rap music. Would be cool to collaborate with Mos Def, Run The Jewels, Freddie Gibbs, Body Count, Onyx, Action Bronson and many more!
E&D: Wood from Skinless also features in the album. How was it having him on the album?
Dome: We grew up listening to the bands of the golden era of the Relapse Records. Skinless was part of that wave and they are among the bands that influenced our way of playing metal with hardcore influences. We knew they were following us on social media so we hit Wood and asked if he was up to feature in a song. He is a very down to earth guy. We had a very good time talking to him and we are really happy to have engraved this connection forever on the record. We hope to meet him soon and maybe to have him on stage with us singing!
E&D: The outro to the album track, ‘A Blade In The Dark’, features some awesome synth vibes, was that a tribute to the music from the original The New York Ripper soundtrack?
Dome: Yes, we like to tribute the original soundtracks. Since the mood and the soundtrack of the movie is more urban/crime, we used some brass synths, funk bass and we had a saxophonist featured in the outro track.
E&D: How was it having Wes Benscoter do the artwork for Duck Face Killings?
Dome: We still don’t believe he did this masterpiece for our album cover! Wes replied quite soon. He said he, of course, knew Lucio Fulci and he heard about us so he was up for the project! He did a great job creating artwork in between a movie poster and a death metal album cover. He balanced very well the references to the movie being gore and graphic but at the same time not explicit for the sake of it.
E&D: Can you tell me when you originally saw The New York Ripper in the first place?
Dome: I don’t remember when! But I remember that at that time I was attracted to very extreme movies. It was the period I saw the Pasolini movies, the snuff movies and everything was censored and forbidden! The New York Ripper shocked me because Lucio went far from his previous gore effects, the naked scenes were almost soft porn and the general atmosphere was very nihilistic. When the movie ended I had a sense of hopelessness and disgust towards humanity.
E&D: Did you want this album to reflect the horror and sleaze of New York where the film was set?
Dome: We wanted to provide a violent album with no compromises. The lyrics are very explicit, reflecting the sadism and the trauma of the killer. Of course we wanted to reflect the urban decadence of New York at that time. We also give space to the duck-like voice. It’s very grotesque when you hear it in the movie but when we extrapolated it and placed it in the album it became even more creepy and disturbing.
E&D: The New York Ripper was banned in the UK for 20 years due to its violent content. Was this violence a perfect counterpart to the aural violence of Fulci’s music?
Dome: Yes, exactly, the extreme violence of the movie inspired us to write straightforward songs. We played very sharp riffing giving the feeling a knife is cutting you. There is no time for love, just time to slash!
E&D: Do you feel that is one of the most underrated movies in Fulcis’ career?
Dome: I don’t think so. There are other Fulci movies very underrated like A Cat in The Brain or Don’t Torture a Duckling or Door to Silence.
E&D: The album ends with the track ‘Il Miele Del Diavolo’, is this an indication of the Fulci film your next album will focus on?
Dome: Not really. Since the last track features a saxophone played by Mario Luce, our friend Danny Boy suggested we title it ‘Il Miele Del Diavolo“ (the Devil’s honey). We thought it was a good idea to pay homage to this movie since we don’t think we will ever develop a full album on it.
E&D: What other Fulci movies would you love to make an album about in the future?
Dome: Of course his masterpiece: The Beyond! But the list is very long!
E&D: How are things with your new label 20 Buck Spin and how did you come to sign to the label?
Dome: We are really happy! We knew Dave some years ago when he wrote a testimonial letter to help us obtain a visa to tour in the US. We sent him some merch, our previous releases and a two track demo. We really think 20 Buck Spin is one of the best extreme music labels around. Every record it’s labeled by 20 Buck Spin, it’s for sure a good record! You don’t even need to listen to it before buying it. We worked together very hard on the construction of the new album and we can’t wait to release it!
E&D: It’s been a decade since your first demos Incubus In The Surgery Room and City Of The Living Dead. What are your main memories of those early days of Fulci?
Dome: OMG! I never count the years! 10 years have passed already! In my mind nothing has changed. We are still watching B movies and listening to sick music!
E&D: How have Fulci evolved as a band since those early days?
Dome: Well of course the main difference it’s that now we have a real drummer! But I don’t know if it can be considered an evolution! Ahahah! I’m joking we love Edo and I think it really embraced the band’s concept and he is powering the band’s sinergy.
E&D: How was the experience of recording the Morrisound Sessions at the famous studios?
Dome: Oh! That was THE EXPERIENCE! We were in the “place“ where arguably the music and culture we love was born! Meeting Jim Morris and working with him was an incredible moment for us. Only those who have grown up listening to Death, Obituary, Deicide, Morbid Angel could understand how crazy it was for us being there! We recorded everything in one hour and we used the remaining time we booked just to talk with Jim about the Morrisound good old days.
E&D: What are your all time favourite albums to come out of Morrisound?
Dome: Hard to say! But in the top 10 there is for sure Tomb Of The Mutilated, Human, Formulas Fatal to the Flesh and The End Complete.
E&D: How have your recent live shows gone and how has the new material from Duck Face Killings go down?
Dome: We are working on a new set list so in the last few shows we also played the new songs. These summer shows were very wild! we could feel the energy of the people! Even if we have a real drummer now we would like to keep the visual elements during the live shows. We played on some big stages recently and it was insane but we prefer the small clubs. The set is more creepy and sometimes very hardcore!
E&D: Are you looking forward to coming over to the UK on tour in October?
Dome: Sure! We will be in Glasgow, Manchester and London in October and we can’t wait to play the new setlist! We really believe that the UK is the motherland of all the sickest heavy metal bands of the universe and it’s an honour for us to come play there.
E&D: You’re also heading out on the Devastation On The Nation tour with Morbid Angel, Suffocation, Uada, Knoll and Mortiferum. You must be excited about that?
Dome: Yes! I still don’t believe this is going to happen! We will tour the whole US with all these sick bands! It’s a dream coming true! Or maybe it’s more appropriate to say that it’s a nightmare coming true!
E&D: What Fulci live shows have stood out to you as the most memorable over the years?
Dome: For me the most memorable show is always the next one!
E&D: What other horror genres and movies are you fans of?
Dome: I’m into zombies, slashers, thrillers, giallo, sexploitation, poliziottesco, sexy commedy, cannibalistic, western, fantasy… mainly movies from B to the Z series!
E&D: Who are your favourite ever horror directors? Not including Lucio Fulci of course!
Dome: Jean Rollin’s vampire movies, Jess Franco, Mario and Lamberto Bava, Deodato, Lenzi, Andrea Bianchi, some Argento, Massaccesi, Mattei, Craven, Carpenter, early Cronenberg, Raimi, Troma, Jason, Halloween and Freddy series, Buttgereit, Schnass, and of course Romero.
E&D: What lesser known horror films would you recommend to check out?
Dome: If you are just starting with less known stuff please watch these: Burial Ground, Zombie Cop, Cross of the Seven Jewels, Paganini Horror and then Il Bosco 1. Anyway you need to be mentally strong to survive after all these! Ahahaha! Thank you so much for the interview! Fulci lives.
