-- A talk with Cristiano Filippini (Metal To Infinity original) --
18/08/2021
Stijn Daneels
Originally published on Metal To Infinity on January 13, 2021. Questionnaire by Officer
Nice.
Hello, Here
Rico, aka as officer Nice from the Metal To Infinity webzine. How are you guys?
First of all a Happy New Year! I have some questions for you, hope you’d like them.
Officer Nice: I suppose for most of the readers this band – or should we call it a project – is unknown. So please, introduce us to the members and the history of the band.
Cristiano F.: Hi Rico, first of all
thank you to give me the chance to get this interview. I’d say that Cristiano
Filippini’s Flames Of Heaven is not a project but a band, in the modern
way…with a main composer and producer but with the other members totally
involved in it.
I am a
symphonic composer who composed a lot of epic symphonic music for the theaters
but with a heavy metal heart. Since I was sixteen years old I have been using
composing hard rock and metal music and it was my goal to create a great heavy
metal band. Was not easy to find the right bandmates and members. Marco
Pastorino (Temperance), the singer, contacted me after my first solo album of
symphonic epic music…but I needed a lot of time to find the other members. But
once I found Michele Vioni, who was a teacher near my city, one of the best
guitar heroes in the world (he is the most viewed guitarist in the world on
Youtube), it was easy to contact Giorgio Terenziani (Arthemis), the bassist and
Paolo Caridi (Geoff Tate’s Sweet Oblivion, David Ellefson), the drummer because
they were bandmates in Killing Touch. I’ve found some of the best player in
Italy and Europe for sure.
Officer Nice: It is obvious, while you’re listening to this album, some experienced musicians are at work here. So, what other bands are/were you in and are you guys schooled? If so, please tell us more about it.
Officer Nice: It is obvious, while you’re listening to this album, some experienced musicians are at work here. So, what other bands are/were you in and are you guys schooled? If so, please tell us more about it.
Cristiano F.: Yes, well this is my
first professional heavy metal band. Michele Vioni collaborated also with Blaze
Bayley and Edu Falaschi. Marco Pastorino is the main composer and one of the
singers of Temperance, and the vocalist also of Virtual Simmetry. Giorgio
Terenziani is the bassist of Arthemis and a very known teacher in Italy. Paolo
Caridi is one of the best session drummer nowadays in Italy and recorder with a
lot of very important names like Geoff Tate’s Sweet Oblivion and David Ellefson
from Megadeth.
Officer Nice: What can you tell us, musical wise, about the band? Please tell our readers what they can expect with this record.
Cristiano F.: My goal was to create
a bridge and a mix between power epic metal from the ‘90 and Hard Rock/AOR from
the eighties. Using also a real orchestra and real piano for the most epic and
romantic moments. I liked also using a lot of synthesizer to create that
Synthwave ’80 atmosphear. This is our style. With a modern, clear, powerful but
warm production.
Officer Nice: What were the sources of inspiration, in Metal and eventually besides Metal?
Cristiano F.: My influences? Iron
Maiden, Helloween, Stratovarius, Avantasia, Europe, Edguy, Nightwish and
Rhapsody (Of Fire) for the European Side. Virgin Steele, Savatage, Survivor for
the U.S. Style. Also all the pop and rock music from the eighties and a lot of
soundtracks from epic movies.
Officer Nice: What can you tell us about the writing process and the time in studio? All worked out as planned?
Cristiano F.: I composed all the
songs and produced everything. Of course I took care of all arrangements,
orchestrations etc. About the lyrics Marco helped me with some ideas. I
composed also the rhythm guitars and half of a guitar solos. Vioni composed the
virtuoso guitar solos and improved mine. I wrote also the guidelines for the
drums and bass. After that we started to record….in 5 or six different studios.
It took 2 years….we had problems with the previous piano player and artwork
(with the previous artists, so we changed one year ago and we ask Stan W.
Decker to do the cover and the artworks) wasting a bit of time and money. After
that I went to Finland to mix and master with Matias Kupiainen and Mika
Jussila. We did three different mixes and mastering and the last one is the
version of “The Force Within” that you can listen to.