Why Ufomammut Is Breaking Out From Pop-Dominated Italy

Even though The Music is subjected to the world's worst ever phone line and vocalist/bassist Urlo's thick Italian accent, there's no doubting how excited the venerable trio are to be visiting our shores.

"We've always been fans of Monolord but have never played with them so that's going to be great," says Urlo about his upcoming Swedish tour mates. "And of course coming to Australia for the first time in our band's history is amazing. Fans there have wanted us to come for a long time, and I love Australian bands like Buffalo - to finally get down there is a dream come true for this band."

Ufomammut have not only been around since 1999 they've also managed to keep the same line-up - no mean feat in an age where band members come and go with great regularity. How have the trio done it?

"We've always got on very well because this band is a democracy. We decide on what we want to do together and where we want our music to go."

"Well, we're just too old to fight with each other I think," laughs Urlo. "We've always got on very well because this band is a democracy. We decide on what we want to do together and where we want our music to go. For example, we decide on set lists together. When we come to Australia we're going to focus on our last album - Ecate - and of course play some of the older stuff on top of it because many people in Australia would not have had the chance to hear these songs before."

Italy's metal scene has always been small by European standards. While the country does boast some very diverse acts - Rhapsody, Death SS and Lacuna Coil all come to mind - the scene remains dwarfed by their northern cousins in Germany, France and Scandinavia. The Music wonders whether Italy's staunch Catholicism has hindered the local scene's development?

"No I don't think it's really an issue," says Urlo. "I mean - sure the Vatican is in Italy, and the country has a reputation for being religious. But really I think Italy is the same as many other countries where people go to church on Sundays but don't [let] religion run their everyday lives. I think the bigger problem for metal in Italy is that pop music and dance music is very strong."

"The commercial styles of music rule everything here - you hear it from every car window, from houses as you pass. But of course that doesn't really matter in the end. The underground scene here is very strong and there are many diverse metal bands in Italy that don't sound like each other. I mean compare Ufomammut to say Rhapsody - we are completely different to them."

"I'm not complaining about metal being pretty underground in Italy - that's the way it is. The scene we do have is very creative and has a lot of talented people in it who are really dedicated to what they do. I'll always take that over having a larger scene just for the sake of it."