Winter 2020 was bleak. COVID had us all in lockdown, grinding through sleepless nights. Out of this chaos, Pompeo found a way to channel the insomnia and isolation into something raw and powerful. Thus, the BADFEELING project was born—a solo grindcore/powerviolence venture of 18 songs with 17 different singers that brings together some of the fiercest voices from across the globe, emerging from grindcore, powerviolence and thrashcore scenes of Italy, France, UK, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Belgium, Slovenia, and USA.
Pompeo started with a simple idea
To use those sleepless nights to crank out new tracks. Originally intended for a future band, these tracks morphed into a solo project as the number of songs grew.
Recording at home was new territory for Pompeo, but with a little help from Fabio, his trusty drummer and sound engineer, he navigated the technical hurdles. With the songs ready, Pompeo reached out to friends and fellow musicians from around the world. The deal was straightforward: he’d send them a track, and they’d lay down their vocals however they wanted, no questions asked.
Each track features a unique vocalist, adding a distinct flavor to the raw, unfiltered grind. Here’s the brutal lineup:
– Cubed Prison (Vocals: Graham – ENDLESS SWARM)
– Love Essential (Vocals: Kiras – WILL COPE, FARSAS)
– No Sleep, Bad Dreams, Endorphines (Vocals: Totò – ANF, NEGATIVE PATH, CAVERNICULAR)
– Antipolicedrugunit (Vocals: Ondřej – TRIGGER, ONANIZER)
– Show No Mercy (Vocals: Fabio – RAKE OFF)
– I Have to Feel Something (Vocals: Attila – CRIPPLED FOX)
– Campari! Borghetti! (Vocals: Sima – MOOOM)
– Nuclear Shred Sesh (Vocals: Stijn – REPROACH, RAW PEACE)
– Rage Against Me (Vocals: Marcella – MORTAIO, GUFONERO, EGOTISMO)
– Illusions (Vocals: Boco – EXTREME SMOKE 57)
– Edgy (Vocals: Chiara – L.UL.U.)
– Selfslaughtering (Vocals: Daniel – TIBIA, ONRYO)
– Procrastination (Vocals: Pibe – WHORESNATION, CIVILIAN THROWER)
– Black Iceberg (Vocals: Gabri – TERROR FIRMER, CANCER SPREADING, SHRIEKING DEMONS)
– Test Me! (Vocals: Adam – MORTIFY, DISROTTED, SICK/TIRED, DILUTION)
– Modern Life Warfare (Vocals: Mirco – DOUBLE ME, ANTISEXY)
– Contrazione (Vocals: Dadde – CxIxBx, CRUSHED UP, TUTTO ROTTO)
– The Arm’s Dance (Instrumental, Sax: Giorgio – SHRIEKING DEMONS, BOTTOMLESS, HAEMOPHAGUS)
Pompeo is no stranger to the grindcore scene.
As the guitarist for PLAGUE BOMB, VERANO’S DOGS, and TASTE THE FLOOR, he’s been a stalwart of the Roman underground for years. He’s also been instrumental in organizing the GO! Fest, a grindcore extravaganza that’s hosted over 130 bands across 11 editions.
Although Bad Feeling Records, his old label, has been dormant, this new project marks a fierce return to form.
The album’s visual identity is just as intense as its sound, thanks to Roberto Toderico. Known for his extreme music artwork, Toderico’s cover for this album is a visual trip that perfectly complements the sonic chaos within. Steve from Jungle Noise Records also deserves a shoutout for believing in this project from day one.
Now, let’s dive into the minds behind the music and explore what drove Pompeo and his collaborators to create this explosive album.
Pompeo, what sparked the initial idea for “No sleep, bad dreams, endorphines” during those sleepless nights of lockdown? How did this personal experience translate into the musical expression of the album?
(Pompeo) – Hi! When I started writing this album, the intention was to have material ready for a new band as soon as circumstances allowed. We were at the beginning of the Covid lockdown, and my life continued much like the previous months. However, like many others, I had the feeling of living through a historic moment. Even though I still went to work regularly, I struggled to sleep at night. That’s when I wrote all 18 of these pieces and other songs that ended up on other upcoming albums (hopefully) soon. As the hours passed while playing, the idea grew in me that if the world wanted us isolated at that moment, we could prove the opposite. So, I began reaching out to the first people who later sang on this album. I must thank them because the enthusiasm of those who said yes convinced me to move forward and not dismiss this idea as the delusion of a crazy megalomaniac.
How did you approach adding your personal touch to the tracks Pompeo sent over? Was there a particular mindset or inspiration you tapped into for your performance?
(Graham) – To give it the Endless Swarm treatment we had to use both Alex and myself doing our back and forth caveman vocals and our mixture of different tempos. The mindset we had with this one was to not overthink anything and to have fun over the amazing song Pompeo wrote. The inspiration for myself, like everything I do is Lack Of Interest (the greatest band of all time).
(Boco) – Nothing special, to be honest. I did this before and sang songs here and there for my friends music, so this is just my natural feeling to ”help” or to be more precise, is a honour for me when someone asking me to do so. So yes, Pompeo is my friend and i felt really happy to help him out with this album. Cheers, mate!
(Stijn) – I wrote lyrics about skating a nuclear wasteland and set a date to record it at my friend’s Vanni his attic studio. The day of recording the weather was great, so I went out skating first, and on my bike ride from the skatepark to the studio I was listening to Youth Of Today’s Break Down the Walls for vocal delivery influence.
I had a great skate session, was amped up that, by Pompeo’s song and Youth of Today, the sun was shining and Vanni was on high energy too, perfect vibe to record and we did a take or two and that’s it. For me, it really captured the energy of that specific day.
(Kiras) – I thought with so many grindcore legends involved in making this record, I can’t possibly impress anyone with just my usual screaming and the album will be full of screaming anyway, so it might have been more interesting to add some melody to it to make the album more dynamic, plus the track Pompeo gave me was kind of slow and melodic so some “clean” singing felt natural. I wanted to record different layers to make the sound more rich and I believe it will make a nice interlude.
(Dadde) – Hi! Thank you so much for the space! Pompeo’s request to participate in this work made me extremely happy and this spilled over into the creation of the piece, I wanted to put in different types of vocals because the mood was very positive and I wanted to have fun (the vocals on the piece “contrazione” I did all of them except for the part where it repeats “tutto uguale” for which a dear friend, Paoletto, who also took care of recording the whole thing, gave me a hand). I didn’t think of any particular vocals as inspiration, I used the first ideas that came to my mind, but it is clear that some of my musical influences can be heard (Italian hcpunk and powerviolence above all).
(Marcella) – Actually, it was all very fluid and spontaneous: I listened to the song a few times, wrote the lyrics off the cuff as I was inspired by the music, and then I went downstairs to the practise room to record it.
Attila (CxFx) – Honestly i did not think too much about it. Since Pompeo showed me the song he wrote for me, i just knew how i wanna handle my vocal on it. I even told him that i immediately thought of two vocal styles. The whole recording did not lasted longer than 10 minutes, 2 takes and that was it.
(Mirco) – It’s was preatty easy because when Pompeo sent the track I immediately thought about how I had to sing. It looked like he he was thinking about my vocals before he wrote the song haha. the most spontaneous way.
(Totò) – Actually i did nothing :) Pompeo asked me to be part of this record and he wrote the songs and the lyrics also.
Pompeo, could you describe the learning curve involved in home recording for this project? What were some unexpected challenges you faced, and how did you overcome them?
(Pompeo) – Before this record I had no experience at all about home recording, even if I had spent many days in different studios in the last years. I have to say thanks to Fabio, who’s been for years my drummer and my favourite sound guy, who gave me an audio card and showed me how to make a midi drum and then record the rest of the instruments on Reaper.
Actually, I didn’t find big challenges because I didn’t learn much about how to change the sound and improve it, but I guess I’ll need to learn something about it in the next future. A really funny episode is about the first version of “Contrazione”, the drumming was so fast and full of fills that it seemed it was played by an octopus. After that I realized that less is more really fits also when you make drums.
This project gave you complete freedom over the lyrics and your singing style. How did this freedom influence your creative process compared to other collaborations or solo works?
(Graham) – When writing the lyrics I used a conversation me and Pompeo had had about COVID and insomnia as a loose brief. I thought about the idea of being trapped in a cube and losing your mind, imagining that the cube was slowly shrinking over time and you could watch your bones splinter and breaking before turning your body to mush. Ironically my personal experience with COVID didn’t feel like this, I just read a lot of books!
(Boco) – Once again i didn’t felt any special. I just did things the way i always do. Personally i don’t think it made me any special influence somehow, is just the way i usually do my vocal parts. Always. But thanks for asking.
(Stijn) – It was great, Pompeo sent an awesome song and let us all do what we wanted with it. It was also just one song to record, so I didn’t had to mind my voice like when you record a full LP.
That gave me the freedom to go crazy, push hard and go over the top here and there with my vocals which was a lot of fun to do.
(Kiras) – I really appreciated the freedom given! It is much more honest when you are trusted and can shout out some things that are important for you specifically and not just something that “needs” to be said. My main inspiration was to be considered along with such talented people from all around the world, truly humbling.
(Dadde) – I have never recorded anything solo, I have always sung mostly in hcpunk bands where I used different types of vocals depending on the project, sometimes along the lines of the classic Italian 80s band, sometimes more toward “Infestian” drifts or simply screamed depending on the mood of the moment. Certainly the freedom to interpret the piece left to me by Pompeo immediately pushed me to sing in Italian (my native language) and, as I said, to use all the types of “screams” I could think of. I wanted to make a little mix; it was a lot of fun!
(Marcella) – Pompeo, I think, chose the track based on who was singing it, and, in my case, it was certainly true: it is a track that is definitely suited to my vocal range. We are all used to being free and creative within our own bands, so this made me feel completely at ease. I often engage in collaborations, but it happened that I got precise directions on how to sing on someone else’s piece. Here, however, I appreciated with total freedom which I perceived as an attitude of complete trust on Pompeo’s part”.
Attila (CxFx) – Well, looking back and thinking how it went down with the lyrics, i can say that thoughts were just coming out of me, I didn’t really care about the wording, i simply wrote down how i felt and what was i thinking at the moment. Looking at the lyrics now, well… looks like i wasn’t in the right mindset ha ha ha…. But at the same time, everyone can take the text as their own, we’ve all been in hard times. This can be thought of in general.
After I was done with it i just realized the nickname of Pompeo as „Badfilingo”, as „bad feeling” … so i wrote him about this, and said i titled the lyrics „I have to feel something”… The he replied „shit, I didn’t realize it yet!!” I think it’s a good match ha ha ha. Plus, i used the same style as i sing in Crippled Fox, i did not think to change anything at all… why would I?
(Mirco) – In some other collaborations I was asked to sing some parts of an existent lyric. It’s easy but a bit impersonal. This one was a good opportunity to share with a good friend our way of expressing together and it was great.
(Totò) – Regarding the lyrics we choose a topic toghether then Pompeo sent me both music and lyrics, regarding the singing style i had total freedom so i went to record the song then i sent it to Pompeo.
The process is more or less the same when i record with my band ANF because we don’t live in the same city so usually we record the music before then we write the lyrics and record the voices later.
Pompeo, the title “No sleep, bad dreams, endorphines” is quite evocative. Can you elaborate on how this title reflects the overarching theme of the album?
(Pompeo) – The title simply reflects my inability to sleep, which persisted for several months. During that time, I experienced nightmares that worsened with the loss of a friend to whom this album is dedicated.
However, a sense of well-being emerged when I learned to make peace with unresolved issues that had been weighing on my mind. Musically, this album also served as therapy for me: I’ve always disliked when someone altered what I had written in my previous bands.
So, telling all these singers, ‘Here’s your song, do as you wish,’ was challenging—almost like letting go of a child to allow them to grow without your assistance.
The album involves many artists you’ve had past connections with. Can you share how these relationships have evolved over the years and influenced the collaborative nature of this project?
(Pompeo) – This response would require entire days of storytelling; each individual relationship has its own unique story. For years, I’ve been performing with my bands and organizing the Go! Fest with friends. Most of these connections have blossomed through these activities. Some singers, like Attila, Totò, Mirco, or Daniel, have been friends for over a decade, while others are more recent acquaintances. One thing is certain: this album made me truly realize how many talented friends I have, and it left me with a thousand feelings of guilt because some were left out. In fact, I’ve been contemplating creating a sort of volume two for this project lately.
What are your thoughts on this sick graphical representation of the album? How do you feel it complements the music?
(Pompeo) – Thank you for asking me this question because it allows me to pay proper tribute to Roberto Toderico, who, besides being a close friend, is one of the most brilliant artists I’ve ever had the chance to meet.
The album cover was created, in line with the spirit of the record, during a sleepless night. From the very first moment I saw it, I thought it was the most beautiful graphic work among all those featured on the albums I’ve played on. Roberto never works randomly; before drawing, he listens to the album exhaustively, reads the lyrics, and fully immerses himself in it. The result, in this case, is one of the most mind-bending designs a human mind could ever conceive.
If you had to describe your track in just a couple of words, what would they be?
(Graham) – Really fucking hard.
(Boco) – Lots of noise again hahaha (like, it never happen before heh).
(Stijn) – The title says it all: “Nuclear Shred Sesh”
(Kiras) – Rob Zombie visiting GO! Fest as a fan.
(Dadde) – The need to be different in a coercive context.
(Marcella) – Full of Rage :-)
Attila (CxFx) – I’d say it is a hard work to find my (our our) inner peace, which is the most important thing, and deal much less with the world around and its people….focus on myself to get better and better. Musically, straight up thrash/punk/crossover… i know exactly why Pompeo choose this song for me :)
(Mirco) – A wave that you can hear coming and it sweeps everything away when it arrives.
(Totò) – In my opinion this track is one of the best tracks of the whole record, so I am really happy that Pompeo choose this song for me.
Let us know what’s happening with your main bands and projects. What are your plans for this year? Any new releases we should be on the lookout for? Please, take this opportunity to give us an update.
(Graham) – We (Endless Swarm) released our 2nd LP ‘Manifested Forms’ last year through To Live A Lie Records and Coxinha Records. This year the plan is to continue to tour and promote that record with Japan and the USA already booked. Writing for a new release has also begun!
(Boco) – We are going on mini tour at the end of April (in the time you read this is already over), but only for 3 gigs (in Italy, Switzerland and Holland).
The main point of this trip is to stop for few days in Amsterdam to make new recordings (8 tracks in total) in our old friend’s studio. We still have no idea what to do with this recordings but there were some talking in a band that we should search for some other band to split the LP or something. Not sure about that yet, is still open. Then of course do some gigs here and there and just continue on with our band’s process. Until now we work out perfectly well and it gives me a good vibe and motivation.
(Stijn) – With Raw Peace we are currently writing our 3th LP, it’s rad to see how the new songs are getting shaped with each rehearsal. Next to that, we play as much cool shows as we can and we have some other excited ones lined up the coming months.
Reproach is still going on too, only playing a handful of shows each year, but every time it’s still great fun with friends and fellow maniacs that come out to rage with us.
(Kiras) – We are writing a new full length album with WILL COPE and getting ready to play in Obscene Extreme. I also have a new grindcore band KAUKOLĖ and we plan to debut this summer when CIVILIAN THROWER will visit Vilnius, demo to follow shortly after.
(Dadde) – At the moment unfortunately I only have one project that is struggling to develop because there are no drummers available in my town (I live in a town in northern Sardinia where building a “scene” is not super easy).
The project is a concept against work, it doesn’t have a name yet but we hope to release a tape soon, musically it can be defined fast and aggressive Italian style hcpunk.
(Marcella) – With the Gufonero (sludge-noise duo), we don’t have any new releases planned, but we are still touring Europe with our latest album ‘Ipnagogico’.
We also released a book + CD discography. With Mortaio (fast-core), we are writing some new tracks, following the album released in 2022; With End of a Season (post-hardcore), we have a new album to record and, after the Covid break, we are starting up with the tour dates again.
Attila (CxFx) – With Crippled Fox we had several tours and way too many shows since the pandemic was over in 2022-2023.
But even during the pandemic Hungary wasn’t that strict as in other countries, so occasionally we could play live gigs. We were working non-stop on albums and singles, did not stop the band, we got our own practice place so weekly we’ve met up and worked on music.
In this year we gonna record two different split 7” Ep, one with Charlie Tangos from Scotland, and the other one is with Lickspit from Czech Rep. 8-8 songs from each band. Both of them are great and friend of ours.
We won’t play live shows until September, we canceled them in January due to health and personal reasons, we will see what’ll happen after summer. Besides CxFx i am playing in a black metal band called, HAJNALPÍR which i enjoy a lot. This band was formed by one of my ex-bandmate Imre (aka Daddy Fox) and i joined him in late summer of 2022. Recorded the second album last year and currently working on a 4 song Lp.
(Mirco) – Antisexy are about to release a new EP in few weeks and we have to repress our first album asap.
Double Me are releasing a split with AFTERPILL (CAN) and EDDIExMURPHY (IT).
At the same time we are writing new tracks for 3 more splits.
I can say both bands are a little bit busy.
(Totò) – With ANF we are doing a small tour with our friends from Swiss Gsturm, we have also planned a couple of gigs for this year; we are also writing new songs for 2 splits. With Negative Path we are recording in these days the songs for a split with our friends Mexoff and we have a couple of gigs planned as well.
Could you share more about your local metal and hardcore scenes? Are there any new projects heating up your local scene? Which local bands would you like to shout out or recommend from this platform?
(Graham) – Hell yeah, Coffin Mulch rule, Gendo Ikari are the best and some newer faces like C.H.O.U. and Wreaking Joy are ripping it up. Glasgow Hardcore is also stronger than ever and there’s a new band from the east coast called Righteous Mob I’ve heard are about to release the toughest LP.
(Boco) – Well, Nova Gorica is small city and since i remember there were always cool bands here (compare to the smallness). In fact is really interesting to see as most of the people who hanging out in the streets, every body plays in some band or is active in some other way, could it be musical or artist/ whatever project. The ”scene” here was always active. That doesn’t mean something big is happening, but here are really lots of people who plays music.
As I think now i guess here is like 20 active bands, not necessary only metal or punk music but other genres too. Which i think is OK. The only thing i miss is that the younger generation should take the things more seriously and keep our heritage alive. Of course there are some new kids who create new bands and stuff and i must confess that i don’t really know so much what’s going on around. Somehow, as i grew older (I’m 51 now) i concentrate more in our own band than in other bands like used to do before.
Not that i lost interest or such thing, but as years passes by you becoming more aware of your own shit. That doesn’t mean i will stop to help the new bands (if only i can) is just something natural i put my band on a first place. But i wish much ”success” to every new band coming out and i am always interested to see them playing live and enjoying in what they do or better – how they represent them selves. That’s it. Salutes to everyone involved into this project.
(Stijn) – We have been spoiled in Belgium and the Netherlands for a while now. So many bands and shows going on, it’s hard to keep up. Lots of bands putting out killer releases and really putting in the work. I’ll probably forget some, but there goes: Hetze, Travolta, Abusive Forms, Haemers, Burning Kross, Crucified, Vaag, Instructor, The Breed, Hard Headed, Azijnpisser, Graf, On Fire, Traumatizer, M.U.G, Wrong Man, Mindwar, Molar, Verpest, Bones, Smokebomb, Rot Stewart, Drudge, Dögmën, Pressure Pact, Colère, Detax, Freddie & The Vangrails, Days of Desolation, Sicko, Kill Test, …
(Kiras) – DEPRIVACIJA, DEGRA, MANACLES, ERDVE, VALKOS, STRANGULIATORIUS, DEATH IN TAIGA, CRYPTS OF DESPAIR, ATTAKTIX
(Dadde) – As far as metal is concerned, the island is always quite active, at the moment the first bands that come to mind are Unholy Impurity (black metal), Engraver (thrash metal with death and black metal influences https://engraver.bandcamp.com/), 1782 (doom) and The Wrestlers (16-year-olds who play like crazy a very shooty thrash metal).
As for the Punk scene, and what revolves around it, at the moment I would say Raigeki (hcpunk/screamo), and Vilma active since 2014 (emopunk) but fortunately there are a lot of bands that are getting busy right now but haven’t recorded anything yet. We are in turmoil xD.
(Marcella) – I live in Italy near to Trento, in the north-east. Some new bands to follow: Sproloquio, Ekbom, Kalte Sterne, Culto del Cargo, La Sequoia, Astio. All the bands are very different, but also all very interesting.
Attila (CxFx) – Now, this is a difficult task for me as i am not much involved with the scene anymore. I do know from band mates and friends that there are so many bands around, new ones that i cannot even follow up. Most of the time the same 10 guys doing 7 different bands… if you know what i mean. There are great bands out there, some of them even got international fame too. Bands like xEscalatex, or TOUCH doing things really professionnaly, the grindcore/punk band JACK is stronger than ever, playing many shows…one band that i really enjoyed listening is a raw black metal formation called PELLENGÉR…i just love it.
CONCRETE a reformed thrash metal act is simply amazing…. PAKS 3 is a cool old school early 80’s style punk/hardcore, and i have to mention HARAMIA a great fastcore band….older bands there are still around and playing, P.F.A. a fast hardcore, RIVERS RUN DRY is an excellent melodic d-beat, or something like that….
You know our local scene got very diverse, meaning, there are no boundaries anymore, from straight up old school punk/hardcore, through grindcore, fastcore, power metal, thrash, black metal, d-beat, all kinds of different genre represents themselves. You can go to a gig and 4-5 bands are playing in 4-5 different styles.
(Mirco) – In my town (Padova, IT) some collectives are booking shows in 2/3 venues and this makes me happy because you can see a lot of people taking care of the local scene. IT’s pretty hard for me to mention someone, I don’t want to miss someone else so you’d better look for “padova hardcore” or “italian hardcore” on your browser and surely you’ll find a lot of great stuff!
(Totò) – I have to say that it is quite active, recently new youg people have joined it so there is more partecipation at the shows and there are new bands and not with all the same members. I recommend Eraser, Spasticus, Tosse, Conceal and Descuncumeddatus.
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