Axeblade’s rise has been fast, focused and fuelled entirely by passion. Formed in the aftermath of the pandemic by musicians scattered across Lombardy, Piedmont and the Aosta Valley, the band has carved out its place in the Italian heavy and speed metal scene through determination, tight songwriting and a commitment to the stage above all else. Their self‑titled debut, released through Witches Brew Records in 2025, captures the raw energy that first brought them together, but it’s in the rehearsal room and under stage lights that Axeblade truly reveal their identity. With momentum building and their name appearing on more festival bills, the band stands at a moment where everything feels possible. This interview explores their origins, their influences and the spirit driving Axeblade forward.

Interview

TheNwothm: For anyone discovering you for the first time, how would you introduce Axeblade in your own words and how would you describe the energy you bring as a band

A.B: Hello and thanks for the interview. So Axeblade is a heavy metal band I created in 2021, just after the pandemic years. I wanted to start a new pure heavy metal band after my experience with Ruler. I contacted Paola as singer and Luca as guitarist and we started playing together. We had some problems finding a permanent drummer, until we met Marco Wallace. He was perfect for us and in 2024 we recorded our first album Axeblade. We signed a deal with Witches Brew records and our album was released in april 2025. Then in summer 2025 Roberto Guerra joined us in the band as second axe and this made our sound stronger and more compact. We played several concerts – playing live is fundamental for us. You can do the best studio album, but in my opinion, the real exam for a band is playing on stage. As musicians and metalheads, we couldn’t live without this emotion.

TheNwothm: Your home bases span Lombardy, Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. How did musicians from three very different northern Italian regions end up forming a heavy and speed metal band together?

A.B: We’ve known each other for years as metal festival goers. For example, Paola and I have been friends for many years and when I was looking for a singer, I immediately thought of her. The same with Luca. He was looking for someone to play with and I contacted him. We live in different regions but, believe me, sometimes it’s really difficult to find good musicians near home. Roberto Marco and I live quite close, and rehearsals take place in Turin, our headquarters. In 2026 the distance is not a problem, the most important thing is the attitude and the desire to play Heavy Metal.

Luca: At the time I was looking for a band and, in my area, I couldn’t find anyone that shared passion for old school heavy metal and I saw a post on Facebook from Paolo that was looking for people to form a new band. So, I joined him and Paola to make this happen. 

Paola: We share the same passion, so it came out naturally! Where there’s a will, there’s a way. 

TheNwothm: What is the story behind choosing the name Axeblade and what made it feel like the right identity for the music you wanted to create?

Paolo: We all thought it was a really good name for an heavy metal band and many bands from the 80’s had words like Sword, Axe, Blade in their name and we just wanted to follow this tradition. I think yes, our name can represent our music and our style.

A.B: Paolo had the right name for us, and it turned out that there was no other Axeblade band.

TheNwothm: Northern Italy has its own mix of industrial cities, mountain landscapes and regional traditions. Which parts of your surroundings have shaped your writing or attitude as a band?

Luca: For example, I live in the northern part of Italy, Aosta Valley is at the border with France and Switzerland and there aren’t big cities or big industries, only mountains, cold and very few people. These elements have shaped my writing. In this landscape you have a lot of time for thinking, relaxing and write music in the most comfortable way. I spend my free time listening to music and there I find inspiration. Music sometimes comes from a book or from a feeling and the quiet at my place helps the entire process

Paola: Turin has a tradition of metal music (not specifically heavy metal, though) which might be traced back to the underground social culture and the foundry sound itself, just like the mighty Birmingham. 

TheNwothm: Looking back to when you were growing up did you always want to be a musician? And what bands and artists inspired you to become one?

Paolo: Yes! When I was 13 I discovered heavy metal and my dream was to play it. I saw Manowar the first time when I was 16 in 1994 and at the end of the concert, I told myself: “ Paolo, this will be your life!”. Then my parents gave me my first bass just to learn and I started my dream.  As a bass player my principal influence is Steve Harris… I love his style and his technique, how he stays on stage…I’d lying if I told you I don’t take inspiration from him. Another bass players I really like are Geezer Butler, Joey Vera, Timi Hansen (rip) Rudy Sarzo and Bob Daisley. 

Luca: I started to listen to heavy metal at the age of 8 because of my mother that was a Kiss fan and my uncle who was a thrash metal fan and since then I wanted to play guitar. I started to play at the age of 11 and my very first band came a couple of year after. I wanted to be a musician but in Italy it’s so hard to become someone. It’s easier in other countries. My main inspiration are Iron Maiden, King Diamond and Kiss above all. I was impressed by Ace Frehley’s playing and I guess all started with him. Over the year I started to include some Us metal and Nwobhm elements in my music. Basically, all the 80s classic metal scene is my influence with some of 70s rock and progressive. 

Paola: I love the energy of live music, as a fan more than anything else, love the atmosphere of metal concerts, it nurtures my soul. I guess it’s like walking on the foreshore, you end up floating and swimming. I’m devoted to King Diamond, Rob Halford, RJDio, Warrell Dane, Eric Adams – they give me goosebumps

Wallace: It just happened, I started playing, the stage was on fire, and I liked it. My heart is for Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Motörhead above all

TheNwothm: So let’s jump into the music! I want you to think back to around 2021, when it all really began. In those early days, were you mainly jamming out to covers, or had you already started putting together a few original songs to get things moving?

Paolo: We wanted to play original songs in order to record an album and play concerts. We didn’t begin with covers, we put our musical ideas soon. We also play some covers in our live shows like Evil of Mercyful Fate or Thundersteel of Riot, but just to have fun with our fans.

Meggi: We didn’t start with covers. I remember that at our first rehearsal I came up with a song (it was Hellraiser) that I wrote for Axeblade when Paolo hired me. At the time we had Hellraiser and Screamin Demons in Your Head in its embryonal form. Later we included a couple of covers for our live shows. We started with Judas Priest’s Jawbreaker and Manowar’s Metal Daze. I always wanted to play original songs instead of covers, so we started with originals since the beginning.

Wallace: I joined Axeblade in 2024, back in 2021 I was at the last chapter of my experience of the HM band “Heavy Generation”, with Ivan Giannini, who, right afterwards, joined Vision Divine

Paola: The tracks in Axeblade are sorted in order of composition. We started playing live with five songs and recorded the album when we reached number eight. It came out naturally, the music was literally happening before us

TheNwothm: Considering your debut album came out last year did you have a focus mostly on playing shows to begin with or was putting together a record a labour of love?

Paolo: We started playing some concerts in North Italy but our goal was to record an album as soon as possible to let us known better. When we were ready with the songs, we entered Studio to record our first album.

Luca: At the beginning we focused on playing live shows. I think that live performance is the most important thing. For example, it happened that I listened to a record from a band that I discovered to suck at live performance. We wanted to be real, to be compact at live shows. We wanted so badly to make a record but in the first two years we had issues with drummers. We changed 4 of them before our final one. Only in 2024 we started to put together all the songs for a debut album. Now we’re working on a second one that we are planning to release in summer/autumn 2026. 

Wallace: we’ve got plenty of love to spread, that’s why we’re already working on our next killer album!

Paola: live performance is our dimension, we’re eager to play, and we’re also in a very creative moment, and some new songs are coming to life. I feel blessed for the energy that runs in this band. Can’t wait for the second chapter.