Die For My Sins is a band formed by 2 brothers, Fabio and Nicolas Calluori. After hearing the band’s debut album “Scream”, I got in touch with Fabio and fired off some questions to him and here is his reply to them:
How did you get into heavy metal music, and what were some of the first bands you heard? Are you still a fan of these bands?
FC: Hello Chris, first of all, thanks a lot for this interview and the great review.
I started to listen to heavy metal when I was 14/15 with classic bands like Priest, Maiden, Wasp, Helloween and some hard rock stuff like Motörhead, Motley Crue and the street scene like Guns n Roses, LA Guns etc. I remember that after buying some hard rock types of vinyl, I asked a friend of mine to let me hear some metal bands. He gave me two music cassettes, one with Seventh Son and Ram it Down and one with Keeper 2 and Headless Children and I was stunned by that stuff so I started to explore other bands like Savatage, King Diamond, Kiss, Vicious Rumors, Virgin Steele and so on. I also began to listen to thrash metal like Anthrax, Slayer and some extreme stuff like Kreator, Sodom, Venom or gothic bands like Paradise Lost. My first band was Electrocution and we played a sort of death/doom metal with some thrash elements but soon we moved to some more extreme changing our name to From Depths and the sound was in black metal direction but with some melodic and dark elements. With this band I published, after a couple of demos, one 12’’ and later an album, called De Profundis Clamavi. Meanwhile, in 1994 I founded Heimdall, playing with both bands for a period. Yes today I go on to love these classic bands that I named, plus others of course…first love is never forgottenahaa
Now how did you get into the underground metal side of things so to speak? What were some of the early bands you heard and do you still like them today?
FC: When I started to listen to metal I was moved by curiosity so I liked also to search for new bands and of course playing this type of music put me in contact with many underground bands, above the extreme scene was full of good but not well-known bands but honestly most of these I don’t know if now are still active. And today I unfortunately have no time to search for many new bands. Family, my bands, my recording studio activity etc…time is always short.
What made you want to pick up the guitar? Were you self-taught or did you take lessons? Who are your favourite guitar players?
FC: Thanks to this growing passion for metal and hard rock I started to play guitar when I was 15. I took some lessons at the beginning for some months, maybe a year, but then I started playing on my own. After some years, attended a music school in Rome (I live in Salerno, 3 hours from Rome) but just for a year because in the meanwhile I studied at university and then I started to work so I couldn’t take the train two times each month. However, I have always been more attracted by the composition aspect…I remember that after some months with classical guitar, I took an electric one and the first thing that I did was not study some cover, but to compose some songs and I soon wrote my first riff…in Motörhead style aha. So of course I like technical musicians but my favorite ones are players like Green Tipton, Criss Oliva and Randy Rhoads, players that are famous for their abilities but also for their riffs and melodies. I also love players like Malmsteen and Michael Romeo.
Now you have been in several bands before Die For My Sins, including your other current band Heimdall, who had several releases out in the late 90s up until 2004. Then the band broke up before the band got back together and had releases in 2023 and 2024. What made you and drummer Nicolas Calluori start up Die For My Sins?
FC: I love playing the music that I do with Heimdall, considering also that I compose all the songs, but as I told you I like this type of metal, powerful and direct with less fast passages, but of course you can hear in Die for my sins something epic in Heimdall style.
I did something similar a long time ago with Claudio Gallo, the first singer of Heimdall, we made a demo but then due to lack of time, we couldn’t continue with the thing.
For me,e it is natural to make this kind of music and I decided to write this stuff in a period when with Heimdall we were at a standstill during the pandemic.
Now how much time does Heimdall take out of your days?
FC: With Heimda, ll we are re-recording, in my Sonic Temple Recording Studio, an old well-known song to release on social networks to celebrate 30 years from the birth of the band, even with some pause haha. It will be a gift for all the people that follow us. At the same time, I’m writing some new songs for the next album. So actually I’m doing these things considering that I also record, mix and master our stuff.
So tell me what started up the idea between you and Nicolas Calluori to start up another band? Were the other members in Heimdall ok with it?
FC: At first the idea was born when I mixed and mastered the solo album of the singer Ian Parry (Elegy) called Rock Emporium, with the presence of many guests. I thought that it would be a great thing to try something different for me and to start some new collaborations.
So I wrote 3 songs and I sent one of these, Shades of Grey, to Ian Parry who was happy to participate and sing on it, doing an amazing job. About the rest of the vocals, after the realization of all the songs, I got in contact with some singers because we were also consideringhavinge different guests but when Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear, ex Gamma Ray) showed great enthusiasm about our stuff, we decided to send him all the songs. His powerful and intense voice fits perfectly to our musical style and when we got the vocal tracks from him we were stunned by his amazing work!
About Heimdall, no problem at all with the other members and Carmelo also did a great solo for the song ‘Dark Symphony”.
So how long did you have the idea to start up another band until you started writing songs?
FC: I started to write the first songs in February 2021 and completed them in the same year and 2022 we started officially with Die for My Sins.
How long did it take until you both started to write songs and who exactly plays on the album including the incredible singer?
FC: On the album I play guitars, bass and keys and my brother Nicolas is the drummer. About vocals, we have Ralf Scheepers on 8 songs and Ian Parry on one song, Shades of Grey. Then on lead guitars, we have two great guitar players and friends like Luca Sellitto (Timeless Fairytale and ex Stamina) on 6 songs and Carmelo Claps (Heimdall) on one song as I told you.
How did you come up with the band name and logo?
FC: Today choosing a name for a band is a tough tough thing haha. We considered many and many names…one day Nicolas came up with this idea remembering a great song from Sanctuary and we found that it was perfect for this band and our sound. About the logo, at the start, I did something red, like with blood running down haha, but I didn’t like it very much so I changed it to our actual logo, something more simple, modern and effective, that Vittorio Citro, the author of the cover, improved a little bit in the final version.
So where did you find the 2 singers on the album and did they say “yes” right away?
FC: Ian hired me to mix and master his album Rock Emporium 2, and after I finished, he was immediately very happy to take part in the project and sing a song. With Ralf it was also very quick, I tried to contact him and he responded immediately, I sent him a promo with 5 songs and he showed great enthusiasm to take part in the album…I must say that they are two incredible singers and it was a great pleasure to work with them.
Have the guys in Heimdall heard the album yet? I imagine they think it’s pretty damn good.
FC: Yes, they appreciated it! I have to say that so far all the people who have previewed the album have had nice words and honestly I also think that it’s a very good album ha ha…you have great tunes, fantastic vocals, and powerful music with some epic atmospheres…it’s what I want to play.
Now when you were writing songs for Die For Our Sins, how hard was it to make sure the music would be different from Heimdall?
FC: I have to say it wasn’t that difficult…the songs came out quite quickly and naturally. There was the intention to do something different from Heimdall, also because it would not have made sense to propose the same style… At the same time, however, there are some epic Heimdall-style elements and it is normal because in both cases I am the composer. In general, I wanted to play something powerful and with a big impact, maintaining that melodic sense that has always characterized what I write.
I produced the album in my studio and I have to say that the production and mixing job was surely more complex…I wanted the album to sound modern and powerful and I hope to have done well ha ha.
How did you hook up with Sound Pollution Productions?
FC: When I finished the production of the album I simply sent the master to some labels…I got some positive replies from 4 labels and Vicisolum/Sound Pollution soon showed great enthusiasm about the songs, so for u, it was natural to sign with them. Then, the fact that Sound Pollution is the main metal distributor in Sweden was a great plus for us.
Now will there be any possible live shows?
FC: About live activity, actually there are no real plans, hhowever er it would be a beautiful thing to play around with these songs. Howe, ver it’s something that we are considering, maybe with another singer because Ralf is busy…we’ll see.
Will there be another release or is it too early to talk about that now?
FC: It’s too early yes….Composing, playing, and producing an album like this, practically alone, takes a lot of time, and I wanna see how the album will be received by people. However, the enthusiasm for making a new album is there and also several ideas for new songs.
Best description of the band’s music?
FC: I think, if you listen to all the songs, that ‘Scream’ is a mix of classic heavy metal with power and symphonic elements and with some guitar riffs practically comparable to thrash metal.
Where can people pick up the release who want to buy it?
FC: Of course, you can already preorder the album in many stores online or directly on the label site following this address:
https://vicisolumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/scream
Plug any social media sites you have.
FC: Yes of course…for the moment you can follow the band above all on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube:
https://www.facebook.com/dieformysins
www.instagram.com/dieformysins_official
http://www.youtube.com/@dieformysins
Fabio, horns up for doing this interview and best of luck with both bands going forward, any last words to wrap this interview up?
FC: Thanks again for this interview and the beautiful review…I’m very glad that you like our songs. I put a lot of effort into it and I think that you can hear all our passion for this style of music, so give it a try! I hope that ‘Scream’ will be appreciated and loved by metalheads all over the world.
