Jumpscare – Interview & Review
By Zohar Belkin
- Prologue
JUMPSCARE is a melodic death metal band with metalcore influences from Naples, Italy. In the year 2019 they’ve released their debut album “Don’t Close Your Eyes” which received compliments all over the world. In this article, we will talk to the found of the band, drummer GRAZIANO CICCARELLI.
- Don’t Close Your Eyes
Unlike Traditional Death Metal, this album features a lot of Modern elements. The album consists of razor-sharp guitar tracks, as well as precise drums and heavy bass lines, incorporated well with the singer’s vocals.
The album features 8 tracks with a total length of 33 minutes, but make no mistake – thought the songs are shorter than we got used in the Melodic Death Metal genre – they are reaching and touching, the lyrics are exciting and the overall the whole album is managed
Through the music I’ve lost count of time and enjoyed the whole release – such albums make a good reminder why I love Extreme music so much – it brings the joy and fun out of me and takes me back to my teenage years where I’ve discovered Death Metal.
I give this album a 10/10, because this album makes a perfect masterpiece in my eyes.
- JUMPSCARE members – Questions
- What can you tell me about the local Italian scene?
Italian metal scene is full of amazing bands from North to South of Italy. That’s crazy because over the years we just met a lot of talented guys from other bands.
Italian metal has some great band that kicks asses worldwide such as Lacuna Coil, Rhapsody, Fleshgod Apocalypse and some “newcomers” (just to name a few) like Elvenking, Hideous Divinity, Genus Ordinis Dei that are Really doing great stuff worldwide. Speaking about Naples (our hometown) and South Italy there are tons of tons of bands most of them are really talented, but we have just few places that give space to underground metal. There are a lot of organizations and also artists that supports the but the problem I think is the same everywhere and that is the lack of possibility to have big spaces to host big shows here, in the past there were a lot of big shows, but those big venues are closed or they decided to make another type of music, but heavy metal is surviving in club and venues, we hope that underground metal will be popular more and more. But there is a bit of distance between “mainstream metal scene” to “underground metal scene”.For now, speaking about Napoli and South of Italy, even if there are a lot of talented guys, nobody reached the high level as the band mentioned because they are from mostly from the center to north of Italy. The fact that there are not a south Italian band signed to a major label or at level of the band that I mentioned at the beginning of this question it’s the spirit that aims us! We want to prove that South of Italy have nothing less in comparison to other parts of Italy and Europe. It means to work a lot, but we are motived with such reviews like this one and we are working to get higher and higher every day. And the love for this music and this culture is pretty huge, and those are the daily motivation from we woke up when we go to bed.
What stands behind the lyrics of DON’T CLOSE YOUR EYES songs?
Althrough it’s not a concept album lyrical themes are around one topic : Revolt Against Modern World.
It is a criticism in its entirety to all modernity and to the whole system of life that surrounds us, it is an invitation to reawaken consciences to understand that no one can impose our lifestyle on us and that we must make our voice heard,
With this record we focused our attention to what is going on around us, speaking about war and its consequences (Dead Bodies), about we are destroying our planet (Earth Decay), about how personal relationships (whether in love or friendship) are no longer true and are dictated by a materialistic impulse that sees people’s principles fall for pure “opportunism” (Falling Tears), regarding the cycle of life in Germany in the modern world, which we wanted to maximize to the utmost to make it clear to the listener how the way of life and our routine are harmful for everyone and to look for another answer because another answer is possible (Mate Feed Kill Repeat, the first Slipknot album inspired us in the title cause they wanted to bring to the light the same message too), we then compared the paralysis of people to react to the abuses of this society as a sleep paralysis (Paralyzed), how the violence reigns in this world (Seventh Circle) and in the last song (Sickness) we told of a figurative encounter between man and illness and how this forces man to annihilate himself. At the end of the piece, however, being hopeful and wanting to carry a positive message, we always leave room for the revenge and the victory of man over materialism. While the title track (Don’t Close Your Eyes) contains everything we want to convey with this album, the main message of our work, a message of revenge and above all to remain vigilant and active in this reality without suffering it passively.
A different world is possible: Don’t close your eyes!
That’s our “motto” !
In particular Seventh Circle was inspired by the Dante Alighieri’s Inferno (Divina Commedia) chant XII, you can hear a spoken part by Salvatore (bass) extracted by the original opera of the italian poet (in original language,our mother tongue).
A little fact for all of you guys : The “monster” that is in the album cover, it is our mascots that we called “SCAREHEAD”. It represents all the meaning of eight songs in one entity, if you look to it closer!!!
- What is your inspiration as a band?
Since we listen to all kind of heavy stuff, we are influenced from classic rock/metal to all the modern bands… if I have to give some name I’d say LACUNA COIL , FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE and Rhapsody for their career and their mission to bring Italian metal to the world. If I must nominate some of my favorite band I’d say IN FLAMES, DARK TRANQUILITY and SOILWORK for their contribution to birth of the Melodic Death Metal. We try to have our own style combining the European and North American Metal, but since we are four guys that listen all kind of stuff, it’s difficult to make a list of what bands inspired us.
MHF Magazine/Zohar Belkin
