Interview With Into The Mist…By Tzina Dovve (DJ Lady Davinia)…

Into The Mist… A goth rock band comes to life over a decade ago on the Italian underground scene… Based in Rome this trio has risen from the grave after some years of silence with a dynamic comeback of new tunes and videos… Into The Mist tell their tale of their early beginnings, new album and future plans… An in-depth interview on what these gothsters are all about… Into The Mist…By Tzina Dovve (DJ Lady Davinia)…

Tzina: Welcome to Absolution… Into The Mist are a band that emerged on the contemporary goth/dark alternative scene around a decade ago… When and how exactly did this band come to life and who are the current members?

Into The Mist: We’re very glad to be here, Absolution. Into The Mist came to life in 2013 from the ashes of Holylore, our first project that started in 1992. We were young back then, but we felt that our roots entered the ground searching for water. After all these years, Into The Mist has grown and become stronger. Even though the world has changed, music has changed and the water is getting contaminated, Into The Mist has kept its mood and identity. The band members are the same, a solid brotherhood that has remained unchanged throughout the years: MassAnder: vocals, SaintAngel: drums & bass and LilAngel: guitars.

Tzina: The name ‘Into The Mist’ brings something very atmospheric and mysterious to one’s mind… What is the story behind the band’s name? Why this name in particular? Does it have some sort of symbolic meaning to you? Can you elaborate…

Into The Mist: ‘Into The Mist’ synthesizes, evokes and symbolizes an inner dimension between sorrow and joy, darkness and light and anxiety and peace. You don’t know what you’ll find into the mist. You don’t know how to go in and how to come out. Not every light has its shadows and not every image has a shape. We all live on the edge of the abyss. It takes a while to fall and an eternity to learn the light. ‘Into the Mist’ is a concept we firmly believe in. Life is a perennial contrast between darkness and light. The mist is just a middle way. You don’t know what’s inside and what’s next.

Tzina: Your songs are quite catchy with an element of oldschool goth and a twist of modern goth… Who is the main songwriter in the band? How is an Into The Mist creation brought to life and where do you derive your inspiration from to write such melodies… What are your main musical influences?

Into The Mist: All our songs are written involving the instincts and feelings of each member of the band. The first impulse and the first spark comes from SaintAngel, a multi-instrumentalist artist, whose inspiration lays the foundation of intense work, that of creation where everyone builds and shares. Music and lyrics are connected together where three words become ten, a sequence of thoughts turn to music and something weird just happens; we hear ourselves, we feel ourselves and someone else can feel what we feel too. Our musical influences are Fields of the Nephilim, Sisters of Mercy, Depeche Mode, The Mission UK, Ultravox, The Cure, The Smiths, U2 and Placebo just to name a few.

Tzina: As I understand you released your fourth full length album with the title ‘Phalena’ in August 2024 after six years from your previous releases… What makes this album different from your other albums? What is ‘Phalena’ all about and how has it been received by fans and music press so far?

Into The Mist: Four to six years of silence from our previous release doesn’t mean we stopped living ‘Into The Mist’. We kept on writing lyrics and creating music, waiting for the right time to set songs free. We wanted something that could describe the night and its nightmares, a dimension of introspective solitude where to discover our path. We found it and it’s called ‘Phalena’, a path in the darkness where we try to comprehend our shadows and live our nightmares. Phalena is rather different from our previous productions. We left out our electronic drumset to use acoustic drums and limited electronic patterns/synths in order to obtain a real and direct sound faithful to our real feelings. To our great joy ‘Phalena’ is receiving much recognition and appreciation by our long term fans and so many new other listeners who have approached us so far. Sincerely we didn’t expect all this positive feedback and all these good reviews by magazines, radio and the people of today’s music market.

Tzina: How happy are you as musicians with the outcome of ‘Phalena’? Why such a long silence of six years for Into The Mist to release some new music? Can you elaborate…

Into The Mist: ‘Phalena’ is a part of us, it’s so personal and introspective that it needed years to be released. Certain things, certain feelings and certain dimensions need time to grow until they’re ready to be shared. Obviously, we’re very happy with the reactions people give us and other solid motivations to go on and create more music.

Tzina: You have also released some music videos on YouTube over the years with your most recent ‘Lilith Comes At Night’ (December 2024)… How important are videos and the visual side to you as musicians? Do you believe the visual side is as fundamental as the music to a band?

Into The Mist: ‘Lilith Comes At Night’ is our 10th official videoclip. We also released ‘Compendium’, a live session with fragments of Into The Mist’s history of pearls and darkness, all in a one hour movie divided into 14 video clips. The visual side is very important for an artist. A musician/band that meets the eyes and the heart of people needs to communicate and every available means is blessed. Of course, it’s very hard to represent yourself visually what even words cannot explain. The human mood is misty and complicated and often words and images are too frail in comparison.

Tzina: Do Into The Mist have any plans for any live shows in the near future? Any particular cities you would like to visit?

Into The Mist: We are currently working on a couple more video productions and on the distribution of ‘Phalena’ with all the trimmings. From the end of the year to the beginning of 2026, we plan to organize a series of dates in Italy and abroad (Greece and France) where we have been invited and where we have a good following. We have many fans in South America so hopefully someone will invite us to go there too… Let’s see…

Tzina: The music industry has changed dramatically over the years and we are now living in a digital streaming era (like it or not)… What are your views on this new music world and how do you see the goth scene as part of this industry?

Into The Mist: We live between two different worlds musically. We don’t want to remember how much better it was in the eighties and nineties. Nowadays the world has changed, as you said, ‘dramatically’. Now they call music something that nobody is playing as there are no instruments and even the vocals are often something voiceless which is generated by computer programming. If there aren’t musicians and if there aren’t any singers, how can we think about a future where someone wants to create good music and someone else wants to buy it? Such a situation breaks the wings of all creativity. The Goth scene, just as other genuine or contaminated genres of music, are destined to suffer and to fight against this global regression. Into The Mist will always resist!

Tzina: What is the goth/underground scene like in your home country? Do you think it differs from the rest of the world? Can you elaborate…

Into The Mist: Italy, just like the rest of the world, lives this global musical change. Amongst these dramatic changes in the world, including musical ones, we like to discover and listen to the hidden talents of the musical ‘peripheries’ of the world, who seem to appreciate and still be attached to their musical roots from a few decades ago.

Tzina: Thankyou for your time… Anything else you would like to share with your fans? What can they expect from Into The Mist in the near future?

Into The Mist: We’re just working in our studio for our next production called ‘23 Daughters OF 23 Mothers’. It’s a very ambitious project and we don’t want to tell you more at the moment. We just say that it’s a project we believe firmly that will surprise our fans and all lovers of this kind of music, as it’s already surprising us. Thank you so much. Best regards, Into The Mist.