Top 5 Album-Inspiring Films w/ Hideous Divinity

September 15, 2017

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We talk film-themed metal, tours, and album inspiration with Enrico from Hideous Divinity on this week’s Friday Guest List.

Hi Enrico, how’s things going? Adveniens has been very well received since its release earlier this year, with many calling it your strongest work to date. Do you agree with this sentiment? Was there anything different in your approach to the music that you could attribute to this?

Hello there. All very well, from the HELL ON EARTH tour with the amazing guys in Cattle Decapitation and Broken Hope! I do agree we made a huge step forward with “Adveniens”: a step towards an obscure and more mature sound. During the last two years I totally fell in love with bands such as Sulphur Aeon, Akhlys, Adversarial, Inquisition… in a time when it seemed there was no chance for a new real breakthrough, these bands showed me a new way. To incorporate these dark elements in our style was not an easy task but we took the challenge and we managed to achieve our number one purpose: do something different.

Can you tell us a little about the album’s title? I’m not familiar with the word Adveniens. Is there a unifying concept between the songs?

“Adveniens” is an ancient Latin word meaning “arriving” referred by the Italian philosopher Massimo Cacciari to an “eternal, possible age, as achieved by the poet able to sublimate the suffering of the present, and therefore to foretell the catastrophic alternation of future ages”.

The entire album concept is a violent reflection on art, on the prophetic role of the artist, and on the innovative power of violence able to change language. It revolves around two main pillars: the philosophical one based on the work and reflections of Walter Benjamin about art in the age of mechanical reproduction, and mostly, about his messianic vision of history; the cinematographic one, strictly connected to the literary one, is given by the David Cronenberg movie “Videodrome”.

The band’s sound seems to straddle the edges of both brutal and technical death metal, two genres that are generally regarded as constantly striving to push things towards the extreme. Do you feel that the pressure to outdo your previous work is a healthy motivating factor or more of a hindrance for the genre in general?

Good question. I’d say both. There’s definitively pressure because the extreme metal scene is filled with talented bands now more than ever: natural consequence is, if you “fail” an album, you possibly won’t have a second chance. The only thing I’m personally not so concerned is the “technical” side of the thing. Even though we’re often labelled as technical DM band, I believe that refers more to bands like Necrophagist and Obscura. I’m not into technical display, I concentrate on the songs… also because I’m not that good with the guitar, haha.

Hahah, I think everyone can relate to that. What’s next for Hideous Divinity? I know a few members are involved in various other projects (Onryo, Nero di Marte, Aborted etc.), will you be touring extensively for this release?

We’re having a fantastic time with this amazing tour, Giulio will soon be busy with the recording sessions of Nero di Marte (another band I truly worship) and Stefano has a pretty tight schedule with Aborted (needless to say I love them too). I think then I’ll be able to do some brainstorming on my own and start working on new songs. Never too early to start.

Awesome! Your topic today relates to your interest in cinema. How integral is the influence of film on Hideous Divinity’s music?

In H.D., music and cinema have a symbiotic relationship. I consider cinema as the 20th century’s highest form of art, it has always been part of my life since I was a kid, and still does. Therefore, the choice of a constant movie-inspired concept in our albums was almost an automatic choice.

Right, well that leads us to the theme of the list you’re giving us today, which is the Top 5 Film Concepts You’d Like To Base An Album On. Let’s see what you’ve chosen…

1) Naked Lunch

This movie, together with the W.H. Burroughs book, has haunted me since when I was a teenager. Struggled all my life to find a meaning until I realized I had to let the movie go thru me… like water. And then try to see what was left in me afterwards. It’s not only a movie about drug addiction, it’s a movie about the evil in America that’s has been there “since before the Native Americans”, and about a methodology in self-destruction. I’ve incorporated elements of this movie since my early days at Hour Of Penance, but never dared to go for a full concept… maybe the time has finally come.

2) Only God Forgives

Possibly the most violent movie I’ve ever seen. A surrealistic Bangkok nightmare with the best photography ever brought on a screen. When you can’t tell reality from dream, you realize you’re in the hands of a maniac. This is the sort of movies I go for.

3) The Rover

Very few movies render the “end of it all” feeling like this one. Guy Pearce’s monologue once caught by the Police… simply devastating. Will we feel like him, once we understand it’s over for us too?

4) The Pillow Book

Not like anything I’ve seen before or after in my life. When symbolism reaches another level, and human body becomes a canvas. Problem is, how to use the concept in not a cheap, stupid gory way. Will have to work on that, I guess.

5) The Tree Of Life

Malick has the power to take you, within a number of frames, from an all-American drama to a documentary about cosmos and the birth of mercy. In conclusion, any violent emotion able to make you feel dizzy is suitable for a death metal album: like standing on the top of the highest tower in the world, with the rumbling noise of your fear filling your ears.

Pick up Adveniens through Everlasting Spew Records or digitally from Hideous Divinity’s Bandcamp page. Keep up to date with news on their Facebook page, and catch them currently on tour with Cattle Decapitation and Broken Hope.