Band Interview: Aborted (Stefano Franceschini – Bass)
Join the ManiaCult and you can never leave — at least not with your life intact. Aborted have crafted the perfect soundtrack to this sick sect, which demands human sacrifices to summon Lovecraftian demons. The sinister sound aptly snarls and snakes like the heads that worm their way out from the cult leader’s back.
Aborted are shapeshifters, evolving from blazing deathgrind to groovier fare before settling into a technical approach on death metal. On their 11th album ManiaCult, they split the difference between the over-the-top shred of TerrorVision and the dripping dark atmosphere achieved on follow-up La Grande Mascarade. You can read our review of the ManiaCult here or watch our video review below.
Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life had the distinct pleasure of speaking with bassist Stefano Franceschini of Aborted.
Hi Stefano. How are you?
I’m good, I’m good. Thank you. Let me just say it’s a pleasure talking with you as I’ve been following you for some time now. Not only because of how good you guys were about both Aborted and Hideous Divinity.
Oh, that is amazing. Thank you so much. We try.
Of course, then you succeed. I would say, well.
How have you been coping personally over the past 18 months or so regarding the pandemic, lock downs and restrictions?
I tried to stay as productive as possible. I was also studying and working on a Masters Dissertation.
Oh, wow.
It was a burden that I kind of always put off because of Aborted and shows and, you know, being on the road, but I tried to save it for a four break from work. And I did that and I graduated. I was OK. And after that I applied for a PhD programme, which I also won. And now, I’m studying as a PhD student in my town, Rome. And so, yeah, that’s the pandemic and I can call myself pretty lucky. I try to work as hard as possible, try to kind of see the silver lining in a dark cloud.
But it’s not really easy for everyone.
No, but that’s incredible to hear and congratulations and all that success. It’s not easy, as you say, to take the positives out of this period. So, to get anything, is just really uplifting to hear.
Thank you so much, man. Thank you. What I mean is not everyone has the strength. I’ve a lot of friends but I still struggle with the pandemic. There were a few times where I kind of even half-jokingly question myself as a musician because I hadn’t touched my instrument for months.
Let alone play a show for two years. Almost. Although it looks like we’re kind of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Where you were quite the focus early on in regards to the pandemic. Now we kind of just forgot about Italy, in Europe and stuff like that and focused on our own issues.
We set the bar! Haha.
How are things over there?
I would say that the whole entertainment industry is still really struggling to emerge from it. We had shows but with the whole distancing measures and that mess. Tiny shows. Those took place but the capacity was reduced massively. They don’t really focus or invest too much time and energy in the entertainment sector. Hearing something like Bloodstock happening, it’s like a mirage, literally something that I couldn’t see happening.
I don’t see anything happening for at least another year. Football is kind of getting the focus right now of course. It’s not just music though. Theatre and cinemas are slowly kind of going back to normalcy. But it’s really taking a while. At least you can go out again and eat at a restaurant.
Hopefully next year things will go back to pre-times.
Yeah. I think the impact will be felt for a while after that as well. Not just obviously behind the scenes, but also just from when it comes to the bands themselves.
Talking of which, Aborted. How much of an affect did the Pandemic have on the way you work, write and get an album together.
It’s funny, we’re used to working remotely. We rarely have downtime. Always on the road, shows and consecutive festivals and then maybe have a week of downtime. So, with two of us living in the United States, Sven from Belgium, me living here in Italy, we decided to take advantage of that kind of, you know, downtime in between shows to sit down together and work on music. But most of the time, we just write music remotely and send demos, discuss new ideas and riffs.
This gave us more time. Time to discuss arrangements, an opportunity to write preproduction demo versions of some almost finished versions of the songs. All so we could hear them once more with a little more insight and from a different perspective. The only difference, I would say is that it stopped our plans to meet all together like a week before it really took hold. Overall, it didn’t really complicate things.
We’re so close to ManiaCult’s release now. How are you feeling about it? Are you nervous about setting your baby out into the world or you’re just desperate to get it out now?
It’s kind of both. I wouldn’t say like old but we have been working on those songs for like a year. We listen to the songs non-stop after mixing. At the same time I’m really excited to get it out there and am looking forward to seeing what people actually think of the whole thing. The reactions have been incredible so far, so I’m really grateful for those.
And that’s great because Aborted has been going on for 25 plus years and we still have such dedicated fans. It is so humbling.
Do you think ManiaCult reflects a renewed Aborted? One that celebrates the past but is still looking forward?
Yeah, absolutely. I agree on so many levels because of course, it kind of built up from TerrorVision and La Grande Masquerade like you said but there’s still a good amount of technicality and atmosphere. The darkness and eerie melody that adds drama. We wanted to preserve that from the last few records but at the same time also felt it was kind of a high time to go a little back to the originals.
And I’m talking about the grind-like approach, the heavy that, you know, we felt this needed. So yes, I would say it’s kind of a combination of both things. The modern sound of the band and the kind of atmospheric melody from last two albums.
It is fascinating that your fanbase is so accommodating and varied. Have you ever been at a gig and looked around to see see people in their forties and fifties alongside people who are in their twenties, both experiencing in the same thing? Are you able to acknowledge that and take that in?
I remember we were in Australia. It was this dad with this kid the show. We hunted for them after for a little bit so we could take a few pictures with the son, and that was great. I kind of thrww myself in that because I didn’t really have my dad taking me to shows, but I have two older brothers.
That son and father were coming to shows for the last, like, three or four years. They’re really, really, really hard fans and now they’re friends. Every time we see them, it’s so cool.
It’s really cool to hear those sort of stories because it humanises you guys. 25 years of Aborted. It almost puts you in a scary place where people think they could never approach you and say hello. it’s awesome to hear that you still engage in such a way.
We will always be down to do that. I don’t care about any kind of spotlight that we might get. Of course, if it means that the band is getting attention then really proud of that. I’ll just be down to have a beer and I’m pretty sure it’s the same for everyone, actually. I’ve always been a metal head and only after that so I see myself as a musician. So, every time, you know, now I’m playing on stage, especially at a festival, the whole situation kind of reverses. I become the fan watching another fan, why shouldn’t we be on the same level?
