Doomed Confessionary: Bruno Bassi (Slowtorch)

Photo by Teo Groppo

Bolzano, Italy based heavy rockers Slowtorch formed in 2005, with their current line-up dating back to 2012: Matteo Meloni (vocals), Bruno Bassi (guitars), Karl Sandner (bass) and Fabio Sforza (drums).

The band have consistently delivered their signature barrage of straightforward, driving riffs, pounding drums, throbbing bass lines and roaring vocals on stages across Europe. Think Clutch meets Black Sabbath meets Corrosion Of Conformity.

Slowtorch have shared the stage with Orange Goblin, Mondo Generator, Karma To Burn, Fatso Jetson and Volbeat, among many others.

Can you say a few words about your band?
First of all, thanks for having us! Slowtorch are a stoner metal 4-piece from South Tyrol in the Italian Alps. We’ve been around since 2005 and played a fair few shows across Europe, mainly in Italy, the UK, Austria, Germany. Our latest album, »The Machine Has Failed«, was released via Electric Valley Records in April 2022.
FFO: Black Sabbath, Orange Goblin, Clutch, Corrosion Of Conformity.

What was the biggest challenge for the band last year?
Same as every year… the biggest challenge is always finding a balance between music, family and day job that works for all four of us.

What can you be most proud of lately?
Getting booked to play Bear Stone 2024 in Croatia was definitely a highlight. Our bass player Skan and I went there for our holidays last year and loved everything about the festival… we’re excited to go with the band now, and it’ll be our first time to ever play Croatia!

What was your biggest regret?
No regrets! I wish we’d played live more but then again, we did what we could.

What was the best concert/tour last year and why?
We had a fantastic time at Club wakuum in Graz, Austria, in March 2023… great club and loads of cool people both in front of the stage and behind the scenes!

What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
No huge surprises as we’re fairly familiar with the scene now but standards are exceptionally high, which is fantastic. We saw Green Lung supporting Clutch a while ago and they’ve certainly shot up the charts lately… hopefully we’ll catch them again when they play the big festival stages this year!

What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Anaal Nathrakh, Green Lung, New Model Army.

Photo by Tanja Telser

Can you say something more about the music scene in Bolzano / South Tyrol?
There’s no shortage of good bands from all sorts of genres, from death metal to core, doom, rock, all the way to electro and pop, and it’s great to see a fair few of them are playing abroad, too. We used to have a lot of great little festivals but lots of those have disappeared thanks to bureaucracy and costs I suppose, but there’s a good few still hanging on and doing a great job. Also we’ve noticed there’s a handful of new faces willing to put on gigs and help create a scene, so that’s good. We could definitely do with a few more small and mid-sized venues that regularly put on bands… we’d love to see more music more often.

Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
We have shows in Italy and Austria lined up for the first half of 2024 and we’re playing the awesome Bear Stone Festival in Croatia in July. There’s more in the works for late summer and autumn.

What are your plans for the future as a band?
We’re busy writing songs for our new album, so that’s what we’re focussing on at the moment. Also, our first full-length album, »Serpente«, is 10 years old in 2024 and we wanted to do something special for that. Other than that, we just want to play as much as possible, get to know more people and get more people to know us!

How can people best support your band?
Follow us on our socials, come to our shows, bang your head, buy and share our music if you like what you hear – we promise it’ll be fun!

Do you have any message for your listeners?
Massive thanks to each and every one of you! We’re working on new material and might try out a few new songs live here and there, so keep your eyes peeled for shows near you. We’ll see you out there!

Links:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube

Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well