On August 28, 2026, Hesperia will release Picenum, the band's new album through Hammerheart Records. Following Fra Li Monti Sibillini, the one-man project dedicated to the history and identity of ancient Italy expands its vision to embrace the entire Picenum region, exploring its ancient fortresses, the folklore of the Marche, and the legendary account of the Apennine Sibyl written by the knight Antoine de La Sale.

We had the honor of listening to the album in advance, and we took the opportunity to talk with Hesperia about the journey behind this new chapter—from the concept of "True Marchigian Black Metal" to the first hints about the band's tenth studio album.

Hesperia has existed since 1997. What drove you, nearly thirty years ago, to create a one-man project so radically focused on Italic history and identity, at a time when much of the Italian black metal scene was looking elsewhere?

Hail to you Julien and to BLACKZine. Right from the start, I have always been fascinated by the history, culture, and identity of our country. I was also deeply struck by how Bathory, from Blood Fire Death onwards, depicted their history and antiquity. However, as much as I appreciated Northern European culture, I didn't feel it was mine: to me, their approach to music was a lesson in learning how to speak about what is closest to me. I would find it disingenuous on my part to deal with Viking Metal or a culture I didn't grow up in; on the contrary, I found it extremely natural and fulfilling to address the themes of classical Italian history and mythology.

In the same way, I was very fascinated by early Satyricon, especially Dark Medieval Times: I loved the concept of telling the story of an era (in that case, the Middle Ages) applied to Black Metal in such an evocative and atmospheric way.

Before Hesperia, you played in Sulphuria under the moniker Ritus Tenebrarum. In what way did that experience influence (or, on the contrary, push you to distance yourself from) the vision you later developed with Hesperia?

The founder of Sulphuria was the vocalist (and at the time guitarist-vocalist) Adram. I joined the line-up in the early days, when we recorded our first rehearsal, Funeral Nation. Listening to Norwegian bands singing in their native language, I talked to the others about using Italian and Latin, which led to the next two demos having Latin titles, and even Caelum Sanguineum (the second demo, from '95) being sung entirely in Italian and partly in Latin. After that, I wanted to expand on the cultural discourse I mentioned earlier, so I left Sulphuria to focus on my own project: HESPERIA.

You have traversed various historical eras across your albums: from the tetralogy on the Aeneid and the pre-Roman world, to the volumes on Rome, up to the Middle Ages and now the dark Renaissance of the Marche region. Is there a common thread running through all of this, or does each cycle represent a different phase of your research?

You hit the nail right on the head: there is indeed a common thread. Hesperia is a concept one-man band, a thematic project aimed at celebrating our peninsula in its most genuine, yet darkest, cultural facets. Darkness and epicness are the two compositional tracks on which I move to traverse the Italic eras, one after another from the origins.

I started with the tetralogy of albums on the Aeneid, the supreme sacred Roman and Italic poem; then came the duology on ROME (the volume of the Eagle and that of the Wolf), then the Middle Ages, and now Picenum, which sits between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. I will continue along this path.

You have always defined your music as "Hesperian Metal" or "Metallum Italicum". What exactly does this label mean to you, and how does it differ from "generic" black metal or other Italian regional scenes?

Let's say those labels act as a sort of container for a rather flexible genre that varies from album to album, adapting to the concept, but with one constant: it is metal deeply rooted in my culture of origin, therefore Italic. The other constant is that Hesperia is fundamentally black metal—in its own way, but it is. Exception made for the extreme experiment of CAESAR [ROMA Vol. I], which could be defined as a sort of identity-focused blackened epic metal/rock, the rest fits within the canons of black metal with various types of atmospheres. Probably the last two albums are the ones that echo and come closest to my 1990s black metal influences.

You worked independently for decades. How was the transition to Hammerheart Records and the international attention that Fra Li Monti Sibillini brought? Has it changed anything in the way you work or conceive the project?

Right from the beginning, I have always collaborated with labels for the production of my albums. There was Il Male Productions along with other Italian labels (like Old Italia and ATC, who collaborated on the second release), then the Dutch label Blazing Production, three albums for the Greek label Sleaszy Rider, and at the time of Roma Vol. II, the Japanese label Hidden Marly and the Dutch Doc Records for the vinyl edition.

However, with Hammerheart Records there was a massive leap in quality, previously almost unimaginable for a visceral and niche project like Hesperia. Hammerheart is a label with widespread, capillary distribution (relying also on Napalm Records and other major networks); so on a promotional level, the difference was striking. This means a much larger global audience—bringing the project to the attention of far more people—along with significantly greater coverage from specialized press and distributors. All of this can only benefit a work like this.

I continued to work with total artistic freedom, but this push gave me a great incentive to complete the successor to Fra Li Monti Sibillini. That boost had a powerful impact on my inspiration and songwriting, turning the composition into a true torrent. Today, listening back to Picenum, I am extremely satisfied and even wonder where certain riffs or musical sequences came from, one after another.

Undoubtedly, the strong inspiration of the theme took hold of me during the writing process, almost like a possession by the spirit of the Sibillini mountains, the Sibyl, and the ancient glory of these ancestral Picene lands.

Picenum is presented as the natural continuation of Fra Li Monti Sibillini. In what way does this album expand upon and at the same time close the circle with the previous record? What did you still feel was incomplete after Fra Li Monti Sibillini?

Fra Li Monti Sibillini could have been self-contained, and as it was originally conceived, it was. But once completed, I didn't want it to end. The Sibillini mountains were and are too important to me as a cradle of personal growth and cultural identity for everything to end in a single album. The initial idea was a sequel, a "Return to the Sibillini Mountains"; however, a mere sequel felt too cliché to me, and at the same time, I wanted to expand on legends, folklore, and history to include other places outside the Sibillini that are very important and interesting to me. So I decided to dedicate the album to the MARCHE, my native region (reserving the title "Ritorno fra li Monti Sibillini" only for the third part of the record).

So what was left to say about the Sibillini? On the previous album, I had covered all the main legends and mythologies of the magical side—the darker side of the Sibillini, where Mount Vettore with Lake Pilato and Mount Sibilla with the (now ruined) Cave of the Sibyl are located. The central story revolved around the knight Guerrin Meschino, taken from the medieval chivalric novel by Andrea da Barberino. As often happens in this genre, the story stems from earlier oral folk traditions.

However, I had not yet spoken about the other cornerstone of Sibillini culture: the travelogue (a sort of geographical novel) by the knight Antoine de La Sale, Le Paradis de la Reine Sibylle. A real knight (not a fable or an invention) who explored the Sibillini to seek traces of the mystery of the famous Apennine Sibyl and her (at the time) world-renowned subterranean realm. The French knight wrote a report for Duchess Agnes of Bourbon. Antoine de La Sale had already been taken into account for the medieval map of the Sibillini he created, which was featured in Fra Li Monti Sibillini.

Creating music based on a real travel account was much harder, but certainly deeply fascinating.

The title recalls the ancient name of most of the Marche region. Why did you want to shift your focus from the narrower area of the Sibillini Mountains to the entire region? What does this geographical and historical expansion represent for you?

As I mentioned earlier, I decided to dedicate the album to the Marche, my native land, and title it Picenum, after the ancient name of the region in Roman times. This name did not denote the exact boundaries of present-day Marche, but rather the territory inhabited by the ancient Italic tribe of the Piceni: essentially from the area of Ancona down to Ascoli Piceno and the northern part of modern-day Abruzzo, obviously including my native city and province, Picene Macerata.

There were themes that, while going beyond the immediate Sibillini territory, were fundamental to me both historically and in terms of folklore and legends—stories I grew up with. Without a doubt, the Sibillini remain the heart of the Piceno region, its genius loci, but I wanted to broaden my horizon and create an album dedicated to the most authentic and ancient roots of my region. Today, the Marche comprises two sub-regions with slightly different cultural backgrounds: the Piceno area (which roughly corresponds to the ancient Regio V Picenum) and the Montefeltro area, which carries stronger influences from the ancient Senone Gauls (of Celtic origin). Having been born in Macerata, my heritage is distinctly Picene.

The album is divided into three distinct parts: dark history, folklore, and the return to the Sibillini. How did you structure this three-part division, and why did you choose not to make it explicit in the track titles?

The three-part division is explicitly shown in the artwork of the physical formats. The back of the CD directly indicates the division into three parts, referring to the inside booklet for the detailed track titles; on the back of the vinyl, both the three-part structure and the full track listing are present. For digital and online promotion, we chose to use a simple numbered tracklist for practical reasons related to streaming platforms, reviews, and immediate playback.

Picenum is conceived as a sort of "focused" encyclopedic volume of the Piceno region. Obviously, creating a generic encyclopedia of the entire Marche region would have been cliché, if not impossible. The choice fell on what is closest to me, the elements that shaped my growth, the darkest places and memories, as well as the legends and history that left an indelible mark on me. It is my personal way of paying homage to my region and describing it through my own vision.

The three-part division came naturally: the first part is more historical or tied to legends connected to history and certain strongholds; the second is dedicated to figures from Marche folklore (la sdrega, lu lupu mannà, and li mazzamurelli, to whom an interlude is dedicated right after lu lupu mannà)...

In the first part, you deal with very local historical figures and legends (the Da Varano family and the Cursed League of 1375, the Rocca di Pitino, the Roccaccia and its necromancer lord). How much historical research did you conduct, and how much space did you leave for legend and your personal vision?

The first track is dedicated to the powerful Da Varano lordships, who were of fundamental importance in the Macerata area (they ruled Camerino and neighboring territories).

Next is a piece about the Rocca di Pitino, with its adjacent desecrated church and cemetery, closing this section with the track dedicated to the ruins of the Roccaccia.

The historical research behind Hesperia is always very intense: I constantly compare different sources, even when dealing with legends. Very often, folk myths conceal a real historical foundation, as in the case of the Roccaccia: in reality, he was likely not an actual necromancer, but a cruel local warlord (probably remembered as Grimaldo di Aureliano) who put surrounding lands to fire and sword, plundering them and kidnapping people for ransom. In oral tradition, he was later demonized, turning him into the fantastical figure of a necromancer who tortured young people to perform dark and demonic rituals.

When facing conflicting sources, I choose to tell the version I find most fascinating, or I incorporate both sources (as in the climax of "Il Sentiero delle Fate, Atto II").

In the second part, typically Marche folklore entities appear, such as lu lupu mannà, the Mazzamurello, and the Sdrega. You also included the voice of your grandmother (R.I.P.). What significance did including her voice hold for you, and how much Marche dialect did you decide to use compared to the previous record?

My grandmother used to casually tell folklore stories that would definitely make the skin crawl—both for me as a child and for other adult relatives: real folk horror stories.

Including my grandmother's voice was a way to present the direct source, stamping and immortalizing it on a physical medium. In a sense, it is the same process performed by authors of the past (such as the aforementioned Andrea da Barberino) when they wrote down works born from narratives previously passed down solely by word of mouth.

With the tools available today, the listener can have direct contact with the living voice of the source—much like the difference between painting and photography. The choice of one medium over another depends on the objective, and in this case, Hesperia's objective was the authentic rendering of the original source.

Folk wisdom is an immense cultural heritage at risk of being lost, and it is our duty to preserve it and pass it down in the best possible way. The dialect itself is an invaluable wealth at risk of dissolving and diluting within cosmopolitan modernity. Unfortunately, many people are ashamed of their local speech and find it ridiculous (an attitude paradoxically quite widespread right in the Piceno area), but this is equivalent to being ashamed of one's roots, identity, and self: I find it an attitude born from a lack of awareness.

In Picenum, dialect has been used more prominently and in greater measure compared to Fra Li Monti Sibillini: the vernacular parts are concentrated mainly in the second section—the one dedicated to folklore—but they also return in the third part, the longest one, titled 'Ritorno fra li Monti Sibillini'.

The third part closes with the twelve-minute-plus suite dedicated to the knight Antoine de La Sale and the Cave of the Sibyl. Why did you choose to close the album with this real historical figure rather than a more mythological legend?

The two acts (or rather, the two tracks) titled "Il Paradiso della Regina Sibilla" are dedicated to the work of Antoine de La Sale: as I mentioned earlier, a genuine travelogue of the Sibillini written by this real historical knight.

In Act I, the knight arrives in Montemonaco, the closest village to Mount Sibilla and its cave. At the time, the place was even known as Mons Daemoniacus, precisely because it was a frequent destination for alchemists, knights, and occultists drawn to the cave: practices deemed heretical (if not openly demonic) by the Church had taken such deep root among the local population that the village received a general excommunication from the Inquisition.

De La Sale interacts with various local figures, including a priest described as afflicted by a "lunatic madness". This priest claimed to have entered the Cave of the Sibyl multiple times, reaching all the way to the legendary, constantly slamming metal gates.

In this first piece, I describe the arrival of Antoine de La Sale and the village atmosphere: I picture him inside the houses, sitting by the fire ("in good company", as the original text reads) listening to the tales of the priest and the villagers.

The most important of these stories heard by de La Sale (which we cover in the final suite) is that of a German knight who came to the cave with his squire. Having overcome the hazards and reached the subterranean realm of the Sibyl, unlike Guerrin Meschino (whom I covered on the previous album), he succumbed to lust and the temptations of the Sibyl and her handmaidens (the fairies). Tormented by guilt, once outside he asked the Pope for absolution; not receiving immediate forgiveness, he decided to return to the cave FOREVER: if he could not save his soul, he would at least achieve the preservation of his body or the fulfillment of his desires. This perfectly closes the circle regarding the story of Guerrin Meschino.

This story is extraordinarily close to the medieval German myth of Tannhäuser on Venusberg (the Mountain of Venus), which would later be set to music by Richard Wagner in the 19th century.

It should also be noted that Antoine de La Sale did not just listen to the testimonies of others: he was a knight, and as such, he didn't merely listen to heroic deeds—he performed them. Thus, he decided to be guided into the cave, though he did not venture beyond the vestibule. This account is featured exclusively on the vinyl version: between the two acts, an additional interlude was added compared to the CD, titled "Notte sul Monte Sibilla: voci dal mondo sotterraneo della Sibilla", and Act II presents a slightly different version where the final arpeggio is overlaid by the narrator's voice of de La Sale.

Stylistically, you speak of a 90s Medieval Black Metal enriched by Renaissance passages and 80s proto-black elements. Which specific bands or albums influenced you most in this direction, and how did you fuse them without them sounding like simple copy-pasting?

Undoubtedly, the most visible influences come from 90s black metal, mainly Norwegian, Polish, or Eastern European. Above all, the heaviest influence comes from early Satyricon (especially Dark Medieval Times), but also early Immortal, early Graveland, Nokturnal Mortum, Ulver, and early Carpathian Forest.

Even though the influence is strong, I still try to build my music by drawing directly from original sources, just as I do for the lyrics: I listen to and absorb authentic medieval music (and Renaissance music in the case of Picenum), studying its textures and instruments, creating custom structures, and sometimes reworking traditional original pieces played by me from scratch.

On Picenum, in addition to 90s influences, there are several touches of 80s proto-black metal (early Bathory above all).

I have always been deeply influenced by every subgenre of 80s metal and 70s prog rock, although on these last two albums it is less obvious, whereas on earlier records the effect was more pronounced.

Even regarding the composition of the black metal sections, despite the influences, I build my music based on a precise knowledge of scales and chords. So even when I want to evoke a certain atmosphere or pay homage to a particular approach, I don't try to mimic it; instead, I study it first, dissecting its compositional textures and patterns, seeking to understand what led to that composition—whether it follows patterns, scales, chords, or pure intuition. In this way, influences become a genuine part of your own style because they are fully digested and re-elaborated.

The folk/ambient interludes are no longer separate tracks, but are incorporated at the end of each track. Why did you make this choice, and how does it affect the listening experience and the overall structure of the album?

Picenum is a bit longer and more complex in its overall structure compared to its predecessor (and also more personal in style), so incorporating the interludes directly into the tracks became a necessity. If I had dedicated a separate track to each interlude, we would have had 17 or 18 tracks instead of 11—a truly daunting number that could easily confuse a listener.

In any case, the CD booklet and the 2LP insert contain all the details, including the titles of these interludes which, as you said, are embedded into the tracks and located at the end of many pieces.

These interludes were necessary to recreate the album's atmospheres and offer a fully immersive experience to the listener. This is a defining characteristic of Hesperia: taking the listener and submerging them for the entire duration of the album into an ancient era and its environments, attempting to make them relive those experiences.

Hesperia remains a one-man project. How do you handle writing, recording, and producing such a long and layered album working entirely alone? Were there moments when you felt the need for external collaborations?

It certainly isn't easy. In the past, I had session drummers (on the second and third albums), but in the end, I preferred to manage the drums on my own as well.

I often feel the need for help, because as you know, in Italy it is very difficult to play this genre or make music in general; you certainly don't do it to make a living, but out of passion. I have a day job, so Hesperia often becomes a second (unpaid) job, and that can be quite heavy. I've been doing this for almost 30 years—it requires perseverance, conviction, and consistency. You have to truly believe in it, and as you can see, many people get discouraged and give up (and they certainly can't be blamed). However, the positive side is that I reached the milestone long ago of seeing my music released without paying out of pocket, in truly gratifying formats, which is no small feat. Now with Hammerheart Records, the greatest satisfaction also lies in seeing my music well promoted and distributed, which adds immense value.

In the press release, you define this work as "True Marchigian Black Metal". What does this label mean to you, and how do you distance yourself from (or align with) other Italian regional scenes of historical/folkloric black metal?

"True Marchigian" is not a parody of "True Norwegian", but a genuine statement of intent.

The term "Marchigian" possesses a precise cultural dignity: it encompasses an entire regional culture, a dialect, and an ancestral history originating from Picene roots, making it an extremely visceral and identity-driven concept.

Abroad, the Marche region is not as famous as Tuscany or Sicily, so in common usage an English term like "Tuscan" or "Sicilian" is not widely used to indicate belonging. However, the term "Marchigian" is currently used in the international art world to define prominent painting schools, such as those of the Gothic and Renaissance periods: people speak of the "Marchigian School", referring to masters of the caliber of Raphael and Gentile da Fabriano.

Regarding other Italian regional scenes, there is no desire either for alignment or detachment. I am simply carrying my project forward with the greatest possible coherence: by sinking my roots into medieval and Renaissance themes, I deemed it necessary to open this regional chapter, as it was the most fitting for the material treated.

After closing this circle with the Sibillini Mountains and Picenum, do you already have in mind where Hesperia will go in the future, or do you feel this regional phase has reached a natural end?

The regional phase ends for now with these two albums; for the next one, I will return to a national scale (after all, Hesperia is the name used by the ancient Greeks to indicate our peninsula and the Western lands: to the west, where they saw the Sun die). That said, I might feel the need in the future to return to my home region of Marche to address specific eras and themes.

The next album (my tenth) has been in the works since last year: the central theme, title, and working track titles are already set; currently, the intro and two songs have been completed and recorded.

The only things I can preview are that the themes will focus more on darkness rather than epicness. I will continue my exploration of Italic eras with an approach and subjects that may initially seem unusual for Hesperia, but upon closer inspection will fit the concept and intentions of the project perfectly. This future work is by far the one requiring the greatest amount of study: both in terms of historical narrative (a single overarching storyline connecting the songs), research into sources, musical study, and instrumentation—complete with external historical consultations.

There will be dark folklore figures I have never covered before, real and documented historical characters, the plague, the Inquisition, and much, much more.

Now the stage is all yours—send a message to your fans and to those of BLACKZine!

Hesperia is an in-depth musical-cultural project and not always of immediate impact. Even when dealing with classic themes like snow, forests, witches, or legends, Hesperia does not do so with the widespread (and always appreciable) fantasy approach, but by digging into real history, documents, and the authentic folklore of our territory. If you seek the genuine darkness of real historical facts rather than fantasy-occult content, you will find exactly what you are looking for here. The goal is not merely to have you listen to music, but to submerge you and transport you back in time and into darkness.

Thank you for the interview, and greetings to you all.