(Today we follow up yesterday’s NCS premiere of Malauriu’s new album The Third Nail with this interview by Comrade Aleks of bandmembers Schizoid and RM.)
Malauriu (“Bad Omen”) was formed in Sicily in 2013. The band’s lineup has changed several times, fitting its anarchic black metal image. Today, all of Malauriu’s members have relocated to the UK, and the only remaining original member is guitarist, bassist, and keyboardist Schizoid. Having recorded two full-length albums, five EPs, and participated in nearly ten splits, Malauriu have prepared their third major effort, aptly titled The Third Nail.
The album’s cover, which depicts a unique scene from a Sicilian religious festival, is undoubtedly a highlight, but for a more complete picture, check out the tracklist, which includes a cover of GG Allin’s “Abuse Myself, I Wanna Die,” featuring the growl of the monstrous Mentors’ founder Dr. Heathen Scum. This unbridled ode to self-destruction is delivered with a distinctive, unbridled punk drive and extreme vocals, and its lyrical content, as well as its destructive delivery, generally matches the spirit of the album. Fueled by nihilism and prickly malice, the blackened “Death Celebration,” “The Curse of All Flesh,” and “Empowerment Rites”, or the slower, dense, textured “Purple Ceremony” grant everything you may expect from the songs with such names.
In order to reveal some details behind The Third Nail’s production, we organized this interview with Schizoid himself and the band’s vocalist RM.
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Hi Malauriu! How are you? What’s new in the band’s camp?
RM Following last year’s release of the 7” split w/ SinOath under Doomentia, we focused on completing the recordings for the upcoming album, The Third Nail. Additionally, with a full line-up now based in London, UK, we are looking for shows to take the album to the stage. There’s a lot of excitement, and we’re looking forward to seeing how the public receives our latest effort.
It’s good to hear that you stay in touch with the Italian scene, and SinOath are cool! But did you already have some connections with the UK underground? How did you manage to “relocate” Malauriu there with you?
RM We’re all UK-based. I moved here almost twenty years ago. Our current drummer, Fuckthenuns, is also Italian and moved here many years ago as well. Schizoid relocated not too long ago. Our new bass player, Remains, is primarily Irish and moved back here about ten years ago. I don’t think it was really an issue tho. We just found ourselves in the same place and we made it happen.
I did join Malauriu as vocalist when we recorded our split with Lykten, back in 2022/2023. At the time I recorded my vocals in the UK, whilst Schizoid had taken care of everything else in Italy. We had been talking about it at the time, and then things just worked out with him moving here and me already knowing Fuckthenuns. He used to play in a local band back home, the almighty Infernal Goat. It was just too perfect to be true.
You have a new album, and it’s a big event for any band; how much effort and time did you put into it? Did you manage to have any fun in the process?
RM It was loads of fun, but required a lot of effort and dedication as well! The recording took almost two years, as Schizoid was relocating to the UK and we had to record between two countries using session musicians. Needless to say, the process took quite some time because of logistics. The tracks sounded promising from the early stages, and once we had the vocals sorted, we really wanted a professional to work on the final aspects of the production. We ended up working with the infamous Necromorbus Studios in Sweden, and that was a blast. Listening to the album after it was finished was an absolute revelation.
The Third Nail has a very distinctive artwork; who’s its author and how did you make it? And what kind of idea did you put in it?
Schizoid Initially, I had commissioned the artwork from a well-known Italian painter, and we received back an excellent cover that we will certainly use in the future. However, I was deeply struck by a documentary about Easter in Sicily. The Sicilian scenes that reenact the Crucifixion are truly dark: hooded figures mock the participants, priests walk in procession, and effigies of Christ are raised onto the cross. It is a perfect scene where the sacred and the profane merge into a grotesque spectacle that fully embodies our music.
Bull’s eye! Grotesque! So that’s how it works with the music – creepy and grotesque? Didn’t you think to use costumes like that for your live shows?
RM We’ve been talking about it but we would not. The music has got such a vibe that really doesn’t need costumes to make the band more scary. A lot of bands, nowadays, focus more on image than content. We just want to go in the opposite direction. We are who we are, no masks, costumes, or makeup needed as far as I’m concerned.
I didn’t have a chance to read the songs lyrics, but its titles suggest that you’re into kind of traditional devil-worshiping stuff. So what are your songs about indeed?
RM On the surface, there’s a bit of acid Satanism, a lot of classic Venom vibes, shameless sexual references, and a pinch of anti-Christian sentiment. If you dig a little deeper, there are double meanings in everything, referring to the way flesh and blood are part of the church’s ritualistic and unspoken magic. Bear in mind, the whole visual concept revolves around the folk celebration of Easter in Sicily, so the lyrics are both condemning and laughing at the way Christian depravity has contaminated such a “holy celebration”.
How serious are you regarding your lyrics? Is it something you care a lot about?
RM In truth, Italians are a truly devoted people, especially considering the influence of the Vatican on the country’s culture. There’s a lot of tradition and devotion, but at the same time, the whole thing has shifted toward a weird, cult-like conception of the church, Christ, the saints, and overall iconography. Just as you might observe that level of obsession in the Italian observance of the sacraments, particularly regarding the events leading to Calvary, you can also see the contradictions in Christian behaviour.
We’ve been part of that culture, and it’s natural to observe how believers are, for the most part, a bunch of hypocrites and a truly laughable lot even within your own family.
The album’s lyrics explore these aspects from multiple viewpoints: the duality of good and evil in ‘Empowerment Rights’; the weakness of the flesh and the ‘resurrection joke’ in ‘Death Celebration’; the damnation of Christian souls and the church in ‘Hell Mouth’; the perversion and abuse in ‘Satanic Witch’; the sexual deviation of Christians in ‘The Curse of All Flesh’; the unholy aspects of funeral ceremonies in ‘Purple Ceremony’; and, once more, the hidden depravity of the clergy in ‘Monotheistic Filth’.
As I said, it might all sound like standard satanic lyrics on the surface, but you can perceive the whole thing from a completely different perspective if you truly listen to the vocals.
So, yes, that’s something I wanted to ask… Italy has its own traditions based in both relatively modern culture and in old superstitions. So there’s plenty of Italy in your songs, right?
RM A lot! Somehow, the stars aligned, and the core line-up w/ Schizoid, me, and Fuckthenuns got together. We’re all islanders from Italy, coming from Sardinia and Sicily, and traditions are an important part of the local culture.
As said, Christianity played an important role in our formation and repulsion. You don’t simply observe certain things, but you live them, quite often, from a very young age, through imposed dogma. The sacraments, the celebrations, it all has a mystical and necro-magical power. From eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ, to rejecting evil but at the same time embracing the rape of a virgin, to corporal mutilation and cultist prayers in the sinister worshiping of saints and the cross.
You see colourful folk costumes during the Easter period but behind that there’s a lot of blood and blind adherence to perversion principles. I’m not surprised by the number of pedo-priests hidden by the Vatican and serving mass considering the kind of filth the church promotes and allows.
In the interview we did with Schizoid four (!) years ago, you mentioned that Italian and Sicilian-dialect lyrics may appear again in Malauriu songs. Did you write anything like that for The Third Nail?
Schizoid Great memory, my friend! This album contains a lot of Sicilian elements: the cover artwork, references in the lyrics, and musicians from our infernal island.
As for the lyrics, we didn’t integrate any dialect this time so as not to force it. We did experiment with it in our previous release, Scuru, which features a spoken section at the end in Sicilian dialect, even though the rest of the lyrics were in English. The music on that release simply suited the dialect better.
I don’t know when yet, but we will release a three-track EP entirely sung in Sicilian.
You had quite honoured guests on this album, can you tell more about them?
Schizoid When we finished recording the GG Allin cover here in the UK, in its demo version for the album pre-production, we weren’t 100% sure about the result. So, I reached out to two musicians I deeply respect, who have greatly influenced my musical journey; two people whom I now also consider friends, after meeting them in person over the years.
I shared the stage years ago with Dr. Heathen Scum of the legendary Mentors, and we spent time together around Palermo. I treasure wonderful memories with a character who is the very essence of punk.
With Diego of Mystifier, we had already collaborated remotely years ago during COVID; he is a masterful interpreter for any kind of vocals, and we later got to meet in person here in London during Mystifier’s latest tour. The result of this collaboration was an extremely cool and sick cover.
I truly feel lucky to work with musicians of whom I was first a fan as a kid. To quote GG Allin: ‘Real Rock n’ Roll Underground!’
How did you manage to find Remains and persuade him to join Malauriu? How many gigs do you already have in your list?
RM When Schizoid relocated to the UK, we decided to establish a new local line-up. I reached out to an old acquaintance, Fuckthenuns, whom I’ve known for nearly twenty-five years, and got him involved. A few months later, we trialed a bass player recommended by a friend in Mourning Soul, but it didn’t work out. In the meantime, Remains contacted us and joined shortly after the first bassist left.
We’ve found a strong alignment among us, sharing common ground on both our musical vision and the band’s concept. We have a gig booked for May and are looking for more, although it’s certainly not easy in the post-Brexit, post-Covid UK, but we’re not giving up.
What are your ambitions towards promotion of Malauriu? How far do you plan to go with the band?
Schizoid We have poured countless hours, blood, and sweat into this album, resulting in a professional work that remains rooted in a strong underground ethic, both musically and aesthetically. We are definitely aiming higher than in the past, which is why we collaborated with one of the top Italian agencies to promote the record.
Our goal now is to reach a broader international audience and perform on professional stages across Europe and beyond, while strictly avoiding the ‘hipster metal’ festival circuit.
Roger! Thanks for the interview gents! Did we skip something important? Don’t you want to add a few more words for our readers?
RM I’d like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to show up and showcasing the band and our music! I hope we’ll have the opportunity to catch up with some of your readers on the road in the near future. Last but not least, a massive thank-you to all the people out there that have been supporting the band this far. We owe you!
https://adirondackblackmass.bandcamp.com/album/the-third-nail
https://malauriu.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/malauriu/
https://www.facebook.com/malauriuofficial