Nat:   The piano intro to "To The Future" makes me think you like classical elements in heavy music?

Dario:   Well, I like classical music very much, and so does our keyboard player; but everyone in the band likes to listen to classical composers now and then. Adding some classical elements, in my opinion helps to make the music a bit more interesting, if you manage to give it sense (putting it anywhere in songs, if it doesn't fit, would ruin the song itself!).

Nat:   Albeit having a somewhat epic touch and a lot of keyboard sounds, your style appears to be more raw and heavy than other bands hailing from Italy.

Dario:   Yes it is. I think this new album especially claims that Drakkar goes his way, and don't care about trends, or about being categorized under one name. We like to make music - that's it. To do a second "Gemini" album would have been so easy for us... But we wouldn't sell our will to make always new things and to evolve as a band for anything!

Nat:   Is it difficult to attract attention with this different style in a scene, which is - from our point of view - dominated by the epic-symphonic-power-foo-bar metal?

Dario:   Well, in Italy a lot of people seem to like what we do; I think that we can reach both the "italian metal lovers" audience, thanks to great amount of melody of our songs, and those who prefer a more aggressive, raw kind of metal. Or we could disappoint both! But so far so good, the new album is doing really great here in terms of sellings and reviews.

Nat:   Why do you employ so much keyboard sounds? This was the main point to be criticised I found on your album "Razorblade God".

Dario:   Well, we got a keyboard player and don't wanna chain his hands. He's free to play with us, and we all like the way he playes the keys and the sounds he uses. I think our music would be a lot less interesting without Corrado's keyboards. Especially the decision to use the hammond organ mixed with thrashy riffs is great and very personal, at least in the band's opinion.

Nat:   Will you follow the path to more heaviness and more raw metal songs in the future or are your preferences in the area of 'easy' power metal?

Dario:   It's not a matter of making it easy or something. I just love to listen and to create good melodies - but in the same time I wanna bang my head and play heavy, heavy, heavy guitars! That's it. I still don't know what I will be doing in the future, we'll see as soon as we start making new songs. We really write songs in a very spontaneous way.

Nat:   What is that Chinese (?) song on "Razorblade God" about? Why do you have such an extraordinary song on your album?

Dario:   It's just an homage to the great and fascinating culture of Ancient China. The song is about a fictional character, a warrior representing the wisdom and power of the ancient China. As I already told, it is all in all a homage to that wonderful country.

Nat:   Are you fans of "The Lord of the Rings" (what's about "Galadriel's Song")?

Dario:   Yes we are, at least me and Chris (drums) are! Lord Of The Rings is my favourite book, a real masterpiece. I wrote Galadriel's song some years ago to homage JRR Tolkien's great opus, but never recorded it because I was missing the right arrangement. This time, luckily, I've found an arrangement that satisfied me and decided to record that song. Everyone seems to like it very much...

Nat:   What does music mean for you personally?

Dario:   Music is a way to express myself as an artist. I tried painting when I was a kid, but it just wasn't my thing. Then I started acting, writing (books, novels, stories) and composing music. I give up acting, 'cause I decided that writing and playing were coming out better, and still these are my favourite ways to express what I have inside. I feel like an artist, more than anything.

Nat:   Do you have plans for the future of Drakkar?

Dario:   To play, play and play again, as much as we can, wherever we can! But you know.. It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock'n'roll...

Nat:   Thanks for the interview and good luck for your future!

Dario:   Thanks to you and sorry 4 the awful delay in answering!