Iryna, in your own country Ukraine you’re a well-known singer. You have your solo project Eria and you are also the singer of symphonic metal band Mysterya. Do you still live in Kiev?
IRYNA: “Hello and thank you a lot for this interview! Since in Kiev there is a situation you know well, I left a few months ago and now I live in Bulgaria. Nevertheless, I often move to sing in a Rock Opera with the orchestra. We are in Kiev these days.”When Davide Scuteri, keyboardist of Ravenword and many other bands, started LAY OF THE AUTUMN early 2024, you were not part of the band yet and they released an instrumental single “Si sta come d’autunno sugli alberi le foglie”. What did you think when you heard it for the first time?
IRYNA: “Davide explained me the project some year before, therefore I actually listened to all the tracks when they were just a draft. I immediately liked all of them. About the instrumental single, I thought they were excellent musicians, and that the project was professional.”

Davide, you started LAY OF THE AUTUMN with Rockshots Records and were joined by two Ravenword mates, bassist Cesare Ferrari and drummer Michele Olmi, and also former Ravenword guitarist Davide Lovecchio. But where did you find Iryna?
DAVIDE: “Yeah, my bandmates are the best choice I could wish for, I have been collaborating with them for several years and several albums, they are excellent musicians and dear friends. I met Iryna during a trip to Kiev in 2020. I went there hoping to meet someone special to me. I already knew Mysterya through the web, so I decided to write them on Facebook, asking them to drink a coffee together during my stay in Kiev, have some small talks. It was Ivan who answered me, the guitarist of the band and Iryna‘s husband, and he said: “hey, we will play live those days, you are invited”. So I went to their live concert and I remember being so impressed by Iryna‘s voice. It was like a pearl of light in the darkness. After that, I started to musically court her, until she agreed and our collaboration began. It’s a nice story after all. 🙂 I am just sorry about what happens there in Ukraine, Iryna did a great job in those conditions. It would be another story to tell…”The band name LAY OF THE AUTUMN comes from an Insomnium song that is on their album “Across The Dark” (2009). What attracted you so much in this title to use it as a band name?
DAVIDE: “First of all, I have to say that I am a very big fan of Insomnium, they are one of the few bands that I still follow in the metal scene. Their songs are true masterpieces, and Niilo Sevänen‘s growl voice is still one of my favorites: melancholic and powerful at the same time. “Lay Of The Autumn” on “Across The Dark” is one of my favorite songs, and its meaning perfectly explains the concept that I had in mind for a long time: autumn as a symbol of melancholy that suddenly comes into our lives.”

The second single, “Flowing Tears”, with you on lead vocals, was released on August 30th. When you joined LAY OF THE AUTUMN, did they already have all the songs for a debut album ready and were they just waiting for you to record the vocals?
IRYNA: “Yes, when I accepted the role of singer in LAY OF THE AUTMN, the lyrics were already written. I arranged my parts to make them sound even better.”

Before the debut album comes out, LAY OF THE AUTUMN released one more single on September 25th, “After All This Time? Always”. The lyrics are based on a conversation between Dumbledore and Snape in the Harry Potter movie “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2”. Can you explain it in more details?
DAVIDE: “Well, the lyrics of the song describes that scene of the movie, where Harry gets the Professor Snape’s tear at the end of “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2”. He watches the life of his nemesis, until he discovers the truth: Professor Snape had actually always been in love with his mother, and he sacrificed himself to protect him. When Dumbledore asks: “After all this time?”, Snape answers: “Always”. This title, as well as its meaning, symbolizes a sacrifice of eternal love. I’ve chosen this title because it perfectly symbolizes the meaning of love to me.”The debut album is titled “Of Love And Sorrow”. Davide explained the title as follows: “Because we are made by happiness and sadness, good and evil, black and white, darkness and light… Our message is the acceptance of ‘sorrow’ as an important part of our life, in the same way we accept ‘love’.” Do you want to add something to this?
IRYNA: “I think Davide has already explained at his best the message of this project. It’s an interesting vision of life, you should read the lyrics of all the songs in order to understand it as well.”I never want to give away everything about a new release and just discuss some outstanding tracks on the album. Your piano intro “When It Rains” is one of them, but with “Flowing Tears” you really make a mark: a bombastic sound with a fantastic orchestration, heavy guitar riffs, a fast guitar solo and Iryna’s voice that is absolutely killing it. In short: everything that a symphonic power metal fan likes!
DAVIDE: “What can I say? I really appreciate your words, thank you, I am always happy when my efforts arrive to someone else. 🙂 Of course “When It Rains” is connected to “Flowing Tears”. I also really like this single although I suppose my favorite one is the following track “Lost In Your Eyes”, which has been released as a single on October 15th, a few days before the entire album. The meaning of “Flowing Tears” is to perceive the rain as if it was tears: “Outside the window the sky is crying”. I really like those songs that keep a powerful base with a melancholic mood. Insomnium and Eternal Tears Of Sorrow are masters in this. About Iryna‘s voice, I absolutely agree with you!”

“Of Love And Sorrow” has two, sort of, rock ballads: “After All This Time? Always” and “Love You To Death”. Which one is your personal favourite?
IRYNA: “Although I really loved to record my voice on “After All This Time? Always”, “Love You To Death” is my favorite, I guess. However, both the songs are really sweet and evocative.”Another track I like a lot is “Undergo Deconstruction”, because it has straightforward guitar riffs, a quite simple structure and Iryna’s high pitch vocals are excellent. Besides, it also has a nice break and a very good guitar and keyboards solo in it. What are the lyrics about?
DAVIDE: “Those lyrics came out from some reflections on the perception that we human beings have of ourselves. We feel the need to build, to do, to move forward, always. I’m talking about wealth, career, but also about having other people next to us, friends, love ones, someone or something capable of demonstrating our value. It’s the society in which we grow up that teaches us this way of perceiving reality: we must grow, otherwise we are nothing. And of course we suffer when we fail to achieve these goals, or worse, when we achieved them then something happens that takes them away from us. We could also say: “when the lay of the autumn comes…” In some ways, it’s as if we add pieces to our body, like an android, to feel better than we actually are. But the truth is that those pieces are not us, we can lose them and what remains? Ourselves, our soul.”“Of Love And Sorrow”, the title track, also is high on my list of songs on the album that I really love, basically for the same reasons as “Undergo Deconstruction”. However, the whole album has a great diversity that many symphonic and power metalheads will like. Is that what you were trying to accomplish?
DAVIDE: “I’m actually just a symphonic power metal fan, like a million others. I also like orchestral cinematic music, so I always try to blend them together, giving my best in my work. I just compose music the way I would like to hear it as a symphonic power metal fan and how it comes to me, taking a lot of inspiration from giants like Sonata Arctica, Stratovarius and Nightwish. I also have to say that without my bandmates, all of them, I wouldn’t achieve this result. Also thank to my label Rockshots Records which trusted in me once again, and to Ettore Rigotti who did a great job by mixing and mastering each track on the album.”

Davide is not only the founder and leader of LAY OF THE AUTUMN, but also the only composer. Will he let you write lyrics for the next album, you think?
IRYNA: “Davide actually asked me to write the lyrics, but I was busy in that period of time, and also the war didn’t help… I hope that the war in my country will stop very soon, in order for us to take our life back. And if this project will have a follow, I will be glad to write also the lyrics.” ■