It has been over ten years since Damned Spring Fragrantia formed in their native of Parma, Italy. Evolving from their early metalcore/deathcore days, the quintet’s sound now thrives in the tech-metal sphere. Their new EP, ‘Chasm’, marks a new chapter for DSF with Dario Zatti coming in on guitar, bringing wirey, djent elements to their metallic blasts.
Since forming 2006, Damned Spring Fragrantia have called Parma their home. Known for its cuisine and architecture, the Northern Italian city has a rich cultural history. However as Damned Spring Fragrantia tell us, the current music scene in Parma appears to be quite lacklustre.
Nevertheless, DSF were willing to teach us more about what Parma has (and hasn’t) to offer.
The City:
Damned Spring Fragrantia : I am from Parma, in the north of Italy. The great thing about living here is that, given its position between two of Italy’s major cities (Milano and Bologna), it enables me to reach most of the major cultural and artistic events in our country.
Its People and Culture:
DSF: Parma is a city famous worldwide for its typical foods and related businesses, some of its art, and its classical music tradition. The people living here are generally minding their own business; kind of the exact opposite of the typical Italian stereotype.
The Music It Inspires:
DSF: This certainly does not create the optimal environment for progressive or extreme music genres to grow as you can expect. The struggle of being noticed as a new band here is very real, so this creates a situation where most of the bands stay at a local level, while the few who actually manage to get a bit noticed are very extreme in their sound.
The Local Music Scene:
DSF: We don’t really have one. Although, if we had to pick one I’d have to say pop-punk though.
Its Most Famous Musical Sons and Daughters:
DSF: Modern Age Slavery is a band that’s been active for quite a while and has been able to maintain a good fanbase. We respect their work.
Its Unsung Heroes:
DSF: Given the small community of our city, none come to mind.
The Bands To Watch Out For:
DSF: At this moment bands to check out are Slander, Despite Exile, and Fall of Minerva.
The Venues We Visited:
DSF: Blogos, Vidia, Rockplanet, and Live Forum are all extremely cool venues, big enough to hold a consistent amount of people, but not dispersive, so you can really get close to the bands you’re listening to, before and after the show. The underground vibe you get allows for smaller bands to get noticed by the respective fanbases, and the community to grow.
The Venues We Played:
DSF: It would definitely be the Mu. It allowed us to get comfortable on big and small stages alike, given its multiple stage choices.
The Influence Home Has on Our Songs:
DSF: In a way we did touch on this subject in one of our new songs. The message of our new single ‘Float’ is to oppose yourself to what seems inevitable, to not live passively and fight for what you feel is your right path, even when you have to swim upstream.
‘Chasm’ EP by Damned Spring Fragrantia is out now on Basick Records.
Damned Spring Fragrantia will be touring the UK in February.
February
04 The Black Heart, London
06 The Black Swan, Bradford
07 The Old Hairdressers, Glasgow
08 Conroy’s Basement, Dundee
09 Alma Inn, Bolton
10 Harvey’s Club, Luton
Damned Spring Fragrantia links: Facebook
