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Italian Vittorio Sabelli leads Notturno, a blend of depressive black metal with classical, jazz and folk elements that stands out for its expressive use of the clarinet and melancholic acoustic arrangements. With a background in orchestras, jazz and extreme projects, Sabelli creates a unique identity, with lyrics that explore loneliness and despair, reflecting urban atmospheres. Follow our interview with the leader, with lots of cool stuff about the scene, music production and bands.
It’s been a long time since I’ve interviewed Black Metal bands here, so I’m always happy when a really good band comes along to talk to us. So to get us started, could you tell us a little bit about your musical background and how you came to Notturno?
Hi Groundcast, and thanks for your interest in Notturno!
My journey has definitely been a bit unconventional. I started out to play music in a marching band and a folk group, and only later I move into the more academic world of the Conservatory. After spending a long time playing in a Symphony Orchestra, I eventually got into Jazz, which opened the door to working with so many amazing musicians from Europe and the U.S. It’s all been part of my path and when I won the audition for the Orchestra I was working in a factory, putting oil, gasoline, and airbags into Fiat vans. In addition, while doing that, I’d be listening to Miles Davis, Beethoven, and Slayer on my walkman headphone!
The moment I had the chance to leave that job, I jumped at it. After twelve years and more than 350 concerts across Europe with the Orchestra, I felt the need to explore new musical worlds and to deepen my own language, throwing myself into an intense, almost obsessive, study of Jazz for over a decade.
That whole experience was key to the birth of my first extreme project, Dawn of a Dark Age, because it allowed me to pour all of my musical experiences into it, without setting any limits. And that was really the first step that led me to explore new territories — which, over the years, evolved into INCATNVM, A.M.E.N., and Notturno.
The first thing I could say about your music is that it’s really beautiful. Usually depressive black metal bands have few acoustic parts, usually as a break from the dark and depressive atmosphere, but I really fell in love with the acoustic parts of the songs. How did you find this musicality?
I come from a long career as a clarinetist, and I’ve been teaching this amazing instrument for over twenty years now.
Since the clarinet is a melodic instrument, I really tried to give Notturno more of a chamber music vibe, something you don’t usually hear in other Depressive or Atmospheric Black Metal projects.
It plays a big role in Notturno, just like it does in my other projects, because that particular tone that special sound you get from the ebony body of the clarinet, is something you just don’t find anywhere else in extreme music.
I’m really happy that I was able to make the clarinet such a defining part of these projects. And together with Kjiel’s expressive and unique voice, I think we’ve managed to stand out from the rest of the Black Metal scene.
Honestly, that’s probably one of the greatest achievements you can hope for: creating a sound that’s truly unique and impossible to copy.
What influences you musically? DSBM bands usually have a big (and excessive big) influence from Lifelover, but I feel that in your case there is also a great flair for classical music in many of your compositions and a preference for quieter themes, but without losing the melancholy.
You totally picked up on my influences, which are deeply rooted in classical music, folk music, and jazz.
By throwing all those genres into the same pot along with typical Black Metal elements, you get my projects, a mix that’s enriched with clarinets, piano, string instruments, and that magical atmosphere I try to give each one of them every time.
Lifelover and None have definitely been big influences on Notturno, especially on a poetic level.
When it comes to writing music, though, if I ever feel like something I’m working on sounds too close to something I’ve already heard before, I immediately try to change direction and push the music towards new paths.
As for the melancholy vibe that’s something rooted in Romanticism, a musical period where the clarinet played a starring role in chamber music and orchestral works.
I try to bring a bit of that same atmosphere into Notturno‘s songs.
I really like the lyrics of your songs, I think they’re very profound in that they combine both the feeling of melancholy and the immediacy of the city atmosphere, in a combination that has a touch of modernity and sadness at the same time. What influences you when you write these lyrics?
I don’t really have a set method for writing lyrics or composing music.
Most of the time, a song starts with an idea on the clarinet, maybe an arpeggio or a short phrase, but every Notturno song is born under special circumstances and during tough emotional moments.
That’s when I try to turn those feelings into a story, and from there I work on it until it all comes together and makes sense.
Despair, indifference, and loneliness are the main themes that come through in the songs on “Our”, delicate topics, but unfortunately they’re things that millions of people experience nowadays.
When I started listening to the songs, I realised I knew the voice, it was Kjiel from Lifeless, a band I really like. I wondered what it was like to work with her and to know from Kjiel what it was like for her to be part of Notturno?
Yeah, Kjiel has such a unique way of expressing herself, you can recognize her voice out of hundreds of singers and our collaboration started almost casually.
I’ll let you in on a little secret: originally, I had recorded what would eventually become Obsessions with a male vocalist. But as soon as I realized it wasn’t coming out the way I had imagined, I shelved the whole thing for over two years.
Then one day, by chance, I found the project again on an old hard disk. I don’t even remember what the original name was! I opened it up, gave it a listen, and immediately knew what was missing! I needed a female voice.
Some musicians sent me a few tracks featuring Kjiel (I think it was with her band Eyelessight), and as soon as I heard her, I reached out and sent her the songs I recorded.
And then… she disappeared! She completely vanished for three months without a word.
Just when I was about to start looking for someone else, she came back out with all the vocal tracks recorded.
But at the moment I heard her very first sigh on the track, I knew we had something special.
That connection has carried us through the making of three albums so far.
And honestly, Notturno simply wouldn’t exist without Kjiel.
Could you tell us a bit about the production of ‘Our’? I really enjoyed that it was a simple production, but very well done.
Stefan Traunmüller has been my right-hand man for many years now, and he’s the one behind the sound not only of Notturno, but also of all my other projects (Dawn of a Dark Age, INCATNVM, and A.M.E.N.).
He’s able to give my music exactly what I want, without me even having to tell him.
He brings out every little detail, especially in Notturno‘s compositions, which often shift dramatically in dynamics, moving from whispers to rage, from blast beats to acoustic sections.
Stefan manages to blend all these elements together perfectly, making them sound natural.
It’s the kind of work that takes an incredible amount of skill and a rare sensitivity.
Honestly, Stefan is the person who turns my dreams into reality… and your nightmares too.
I’ve interviewed a few bands from Italy and I always ask them what the metal scene is like there. As far as I know (and I really hope I’m wrong) it’s hard to get a slot if you’re not a power metal band and you’re not Rhapsody of Fire.
Of course, the more mainstream music is still what the majority of people follow here in Italy too, but there’s also a strong and vibrant underground scene.
There are lots of bands drawing from our folk and traditional roots, trying to create their own unique, local sound, something that stands out in a sea of hundreds, even thousands, of bands that all sound similar.
In my own small way, I try to do the same: to give Dawn of a Dark Age, INCATNVM, and Notturno each a very distinct identity.
And do you have any cool bands from Italy that you would like to recommend to our readers? It doesn’t have to be metal, but something you think we should know about?
One of the most original bands out there right now is definitely Ponte del Diavolo, a wonderful band that released an album last year through Season of Mist.
Their singer, Erba del Diavolo, also collaborates with my project A.M.E.N., which released its second album, Argento, this past January through My Kingdom Music — a tribute to the king of Italian horror cinema.
This project isn’t metal at all; it’s built on a foundation of classical music, blues, and jazz, which gives it a really dark and psychological vibe.
We’re a Brazilian press and as such I always ask you which Brazilian bands you know. Are there any that you know and like?
I absolutely loved Sepultura to death up until Chaos A.D., and Sarcófago are just an incredible band.
I’m sure there are hundreds of amazing bands from Brazil out there.
Personally, I had the chance to play in Brazil a few years ago with my Choro Brasileiro duo called Chorando Brazil.
I really hope to come back to your wonderful country in the next few years!.
I really want to thank you for the interview. Now leave our readers a message, let’s go.
I want to thank you and all your readers for your interest in Notturno.
All I can say is: always keep supporting underground music, because without a doubt, it’s the most genuine and honest music you’ll find these days.
If anyone wants to listen to or support my projects, you can do so through my Bandcamp page: https://dawnofadarkage.bandcamp.com/, or by contacting me directly at notturnoblackmetal@gmail.com
A presto,
Vittorio
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