Stealth on Rock Attitude

22 Ιουνίου 2025 Rock Attitude Team Stealth

Rock Attitude had a chat with the Italian metallers Stealth for the interesting interview that follows.

“Your 2023 single ‘Sleep Paralysis’ explores hypnagogic states—what inspired the jump into more concept-driven themes?”

– IVAN: We started 11 years ago with the release of our concept album ‘Fight For Your Faith’ and continued with the single ‘The Fake New(s) World in 2022. With the 3 songs featured in ‘Sleep Paralysis’ we finished exploring and experimenting new sounds and new ways to write our lyrics.

I mostly took inspiration from my own experience during the hypnagogic state and I wrote all the 3 songs featured in the single. I also wanted to make a tribute to the Swiss artist Heinrich Füssli choosing ‘The Nightmare’ as cover for all the single versions released. This 250 years ago work of art is the best visual representation of sleep paralysis.

“What was the most surprising creative challenge turning a dream-like, surreal theme into a metal track, both musically and lyrically?”

– IVAN: I’d say it’s a further step forward the band’s maturity. I think we improved both sound and songwriting and our new guitarist Marco brought a breath of fresh air into the band. All songs have been composed as usual. I wrote the main structure of each song and then the others added their ideas. I have to say that I found working with our new guitarist Marco a very interesting and innovative process.

In general we try to blend music and lyrics as much as possible as part of our composition effort. For instance adding a female vocalist in some songs, the use of low B tunes, a most powerful way of singing, writing about a concept, those are things that we never experienced before 2014. That’s why If you listen to all the songs featured in our latest album and singles,from ‘7 Hours Under Fire’ to ‘Parasomnia’ you will definitely notice a common thread that unites all 15 songs.

“Your songwriting process seems quite fluid—how do you decide whether a song starts with one member’s idea or evolves collectively?”

– IVAN: We usually start from one of my ideas or our bassist, Daniele, that we develop in common including ideas from everyone in the band; it’s a process where everyone has a part to play and a say in how the song will come out in the end. But it’s not always like this. There’s not a precise songwriting process, everyone gives his contribution. So it happens sometimes that a single member idea evolves collectively or just the opposite; a collective idea is developed by only one of us.

“Have collaborative compositions ever led to unexpected stylistic shifts? Could you share an instance where someone’s idea really pushed the song in a surprising new direction?”

– IVAN: Our song ‘Boiler’ released in 2011 is a clear example of what you asked. Initially we composed it with a slow tempo in a ‘Alternative/Nu Metal style’ but then David, our drummer at the time, decided to double it and the song took a thrash and heavy direction that all the members liked and approved. ‘Boiler’ will celebrate its 15th anniversary next year and I have in mind to release some live recordings, rarities and demos of that song so you will better understand the difference between the initial composition and what we released at the end.

“You’ve toured varied countries—Croatia, UK, Latvia, Ukraine—which audience interactions have been most unforgettable for you?”

– IVAN: There are a lot of great gigs that we played. I remember that one at the Fontaine Palace in Liepaja during our Latvian tour in 2007 or the gig at Rout 66 in Kiev, Ukraine which is worth remembering also for the facts that are happening these days. There is also our first gig abroad, in Croatia almost 20 years ago and I don’t forget our incredible UK tour in 2017 and all our performances at Renaissance Alternative Music Festival in London. We always have a special feeling when playing in the UK in front of our good friends, new and old fans.

“During your 2022 London gig, the backing tracks glitched and Michele played blind—how do moments like that piece your performance together and affect chemistry on stage?”

– IVAN: They definitely do that. Making mistakes during our live performances obviously allowed us to improve our show as well. If I listen to our old live recordings I can’t help but notice how many inaccuracies there were. And that’s exactly what we’ve been working on to improve our performances both live and in the studio.

“From thrash roots to industrial/nü metal flavours—how do you maintain a distinct Stealth identity while constantly experimenting?”

– IVAN: It’s not easy at all. Actually this is something that we try to do on every release we are going to produce. Our sound is constantly evolving and we have to pay attention to what must be recorded and/or included in a song and what must be discarded. We love experimenting with various metal styles but we also like maintaining a precise standard of sound.

If you listen to our first two EPs it is clear that it was something very close to Thrash Metal while with our first two albums we moved from Hard Rock to Crossover and also a bit of Alternative Metal. In the last 10 years we settled for a more specifically Heavy and Industrial kind of sound. We are constantly evolving to something new and we are always open to all kinds of music styles, both heavy metal and not. That’s why we take so long to release an album

“With electronic elements added post 2014, are there more sonic surprises you’d like to explore next—ambient textures, synths, unusual instruments?”

– IVAN: I love playing my didgeridoo now and then and I have a lot of folk instruments, particularly from our region ‘Le Marche’. I am curious to add them in one of our next songs but for our upcoming release I can say we just added several orchestrations and there will be also some surprises regarding the vocal parts. So stay tuned to listen to new brand songs soon.

“Your 25th anniversary compilation in 2022 captured one song from each era—choosing just one must’ve been tough. Which song’s story behind that remaster resonated most with you?”

– IVAN: All the 12 songs have their own story behind but I like to mention the one for ‘Paradise of Hell’ originally released in our 1998 first demo EP ‘Mind is Blind’. We played the launch gig for the EP in a festival into a disco club of our area. I forgot one of my cables to plug my guitar to the amp and I asked to borrow it from a guitarist from a ‘Ligabue’ cover band (an Italian light rock artist) who had just played before us. Once on stage I made it clear to the audience, in a not very polite manner, that we wouldn’t have played like that Ligabue shit. You can imagine the reaction of that guitarist when he came to get the cable back after our performance.

“Looking ahead, you’ve teased a split concept album and are preparing new material—how do you balance collaborative label projects with keeping the Stealth identity intact?”

– IVAN: Collaborating on new projects and delving into new musical ‘adventures’ is one of our prerogatives. It’s part of our nature. I have to say that all the labels we have collaborated with have left us free in the composition process. There have been discussions during the mixing, about choosing this or that sound but never during our songwriting.

That’s why we’ve changed so few production and distribution labels. Our collaborations with them have been long-lasting and have brought us great results.