Dear Fabio hi. Thanks for the interview. I have heard of some good news. You have a new contract with Dragonheart Records. How have you concluded at this agreement?

Oh, in a very simple way: Dragonheart rec. contacted me first by e-mail and proposed me a deal and subsequently by phone, to define the details. The label is enthusiastic about having the band under its wings and it's a great honour for us too.

What were the main reasons of your departing form Northwind Records camp?

Oh, no problem with Northwind Rec, but Dragonheart makes better promotion and distribution. This label is a division of the most important distributor of CD's in Italy (Audioglobe) and they work very well.

Anyway, even now your new company is an Italian one. Is this a conscious decision or it just happened?

Oh no, It's just happened. My initial objective was to find a German label, but we've accepted the good Dragonheart offer.

So after this new contract, I assume that you are preparing for a new record, right? Do you have an outline of this forthcoming release?

Yes, we will start the recording of the new album on April 2004 (yes, one month left!) and it will be released on September/October of the same year. It will contain eight/nine songs, plus a cover (It's secret for now...) The style is a something between "Sad Symphony" and "Witchunter Tales" albums.

I have seen that you played in Summer Breeze festival, a well-known open festival. What are your impressions from this experience?

The experience? Veery good especially at Headbager Open Air and Summer Breeze festivals. At Headbagers Open Air the audience was veeery good, all people "selected", just true "good-metal lover" and the response was great. The Summer Breeze was a big festival, and you know, it's a great chance to spread the Thunderstorm music to big, vast audience.

After this, and having played in small clubs and live halls, what do you prefer, an open festival or a small club?

My preference… Mmmmm…a small-medium club is the best, but a small festival, like Headbanger Open Air is great too. Thunderstorm is not a band for big festivals that take place under the light of sun, but these events are the best way to spread our music to the masses.

You have toured to your neighbor countries as well, so I want to ask you if you are open to a suggestion for a live appearance in Greece.

Oh yes, after the new album a mini-tour in Greece will be a great thing to do. If someone wants to organize something he can contact me by e-mail. You know, contacting directly the band is the best and fastest way.

Your latest CD "Witchunter tales" received some deifying reviews. Are you satisfied with the response from the audience? I mean, did it go in the sales section as well as it did on the reviews section?

The response about Witchunter Tales album was very very good, especially in Germany. On most important European magazines we took very very high rates and that's a great thing for a doom-metal band! About the sales…. yes, not bad for a band with a not trendy genre, but we could sell lot of copies with a better distribution…

This CD may have raised the expectations for the forthcoming CD. Are you prepared for a more anticipated new CD?

We're at the 90% of composition with our new album and we're satisfied of this work. The new CD sounds similar to "Witchunter Tales" style, or better, it's its evolution. This CD will be the definitive style of Thunderstorm sound.

Have you finalized your line-up? In the past you had some problems with the line up, right?

Yes, we had lot of problems with the line-up, especially with the drummer. But now the formation is fixed, with Attilio Coldani, the new drummer and a three elements formation (during Witchunter Tales album the band had a second guitaist on the band)

Your influences include many bands from the epic/doom metal, but how about some hidden influences, stuff that we can't trace so easy? What other bands influence you?

Our influences? Yes, Black Sabbath (of course!) Candlemass, St.Vitus Trouble and many many more…But classic metal too, like early Judas Priest, Manilla Road, Metal Church etc, etc. However the band has just metal influences, no more different genres.

Are there any other covers that you want to include in your future releases, as you did with "Electric funeral"?

Yes, of course, the next album will contain a cover of…. Oh, I can't tell you which song and which band we chosen; it's a secret for now …eheheh!!!

You are also promoting your band through the Internet. Have you seen any impact on the band's reputation and "recognizability" after having established your site?

Yes, The net is a great way to promote the band, no doubt. With our website we can spread our music and keep our fans constantly updated about every Thunderstorm news. But the classic paper magazine is a good way too; the net can't delete this classic promotion method!

What other means of promotion do you employ? Is there any merchandize available?

Merchandising is the first way to promote the band, surely. We have a lot of different merchandise, T-shirts, long sleeves sweart shirts, buttons and guitar picks-too. All old and new stuff will be available on the new shop-page of our website.

How do you judge the Italian doom metal scene and what are the share and the place of the scene in the total production of Italian metal?

In Italy the Italian doom-scene is veeery small and underground. There're good bands but they last for one or two demos and after that they die. But I can't forget Doomsword with their classic epic-doom! Of course, they're our friends of course and every time we meet them we compete who drinks more beers…ehehe! About the entire Italian scene…mmmm…I have a very little relationship with Italian scene, I can't tell you a judgement…

What's you opinion for the current state in doom metal scene? Are you satisfied with the situation and the quality of releases?

The current state on Doom metal is good now; the scene is full of good bands, like Mirror of Deception, Well of Souls, Reverend Bizarre and many more bands. The quality of release is high and I'm sure that in future will be always higher and higher!

That's all from me Fabio. Thank you very much for the time you spared to talk to us. You are free to add anything you think valuable.

Oh, thanks to you for spreading the Thunderstorm name in your country! And to end the interview, I tell to everyone…. DOOM OR BE DOOMED!