HEXTAR
- Metal Militia
- Aug 19, 2025
- 7 min read
// In a world where European power metal releases value theatrics over songwriting, few bands who worship the old masters seem to crop up these days. While they may be a dying breed of sorts, they’re surviving with help from Italy’s own HEXTAR. Playing a bombastic blend of power metal and heavy metal, HEXTAR combine fantasy with emotion, telling tales of triumph and victory. Having released one of my favorite albums of 2024, I spoke with the band about their past, their present, and their future. //
Hey, guys! Would you mind introducing yourselves and explain your roles in HEXTAR?
↪ Marco: Hi, I’m the lead guitarist and co-founder (with Emiliano) of the band. Apart from shredding the fretboard, I also wrote most of what you heard until now between the EP and the album – not the lyrics though, that ain’t my job.
Amedeo: Hi, drummer here! I promise not to play drums while guitarists talk about their new pedals ;)
Emiliano: Hi! I’m the storyteller and the man behind the bass. I mainly handle the lyrics and, more generally, oversee everything related to the concepts and aesthetic of our band Additionally, I like to throw a few wrenches in Marco’s works during the songwriting process.
Niccolò: Hi there, I’m the “other” guitarist and the last member to join. I mostly follow the madness of Marco’s works, however in future releases you’ll hear me too because I have a very different approach on the guitar and I hope you’ll like it!
Back in 2020, you guys started releasing singles and eventually, your self-titled EP. Now in 2024, you’ve released “Doomsayer,” one of my favorite albums of the year! How has your music evolved since 2020, and do you think you’ve found your own sound?
↪ Marco: In the early days of HEXTAR we surely went for a more classic approach to the sound; we always had in mind to ape on HELLOWEEN and BLIND GUARDIAN a bit, but on the EP I think we ended up sounding more like early NWOBHM bands. We actually achieved our stylistic goal with the 2021 single “Keep Our Flame Alive,” and “Doomsayer” in general was a follow-up on that with more room to express other influences – because let’s not kid ourselves – we aren’t doing anything new, we know it and we like it; let’s think of it as our spin on things that already exist. With that said, a resemblance of our sound is actually forming but I think our next release(s) will truly show if we got there.
Emiliano, you took up vocal duties on top of playing bass when Edoardo Loreggian left HEXTAR. Do you enjoy filling both roles?
↪ Emiliano: It’s a tough job, but hey, someone’s gotta do it! Joking aside, it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park at first. In my previous projects, I’ve often found myself juggling both roles, but the vocal style required for our genre turned out to be a bigger challenge than I expected, though definitely a rewarding one! There’s still a lot of work to be done, but I’m really happy with where this new project has taken my passion for singing.
I often find power metal bands write a lot of introspective lyrics, focusing on emotion and fantasy as opposed to the standard metal fanfare of spikes and leather. One of my favorite lines is “When hope is lost forever no one will understand / So stay away from me, to love is to die” from “Nothing Is Eternal.” What are some of your favorite lyrics you’ve written?
↪ Emiliano: First of all, I’m really touched that a song with such emotional weight has managed to resonate with someone else. My favorite lyric from “Doomsayer” is the title track, as I put a lot of work into the concept behind it. But since I started writing for HEXTAR, my favorite lines are those I wrote for the song “Keep Our Flame Alive”: “Ancient rhymes of worlds that we let burn said there is no freedom without heroes' blood.” I'm really proud of this lyric because it perfectly expresses what I want HEXTAR to represent for others as well.
Speaking of lyrics, “Hour of Glory,” references Elessar from “The Lord of the Rings.” I know one of your biggest influences is BLIND GUARDIAN, who also often write songs based on Tolkien’s work. Was this song particularly inspired by BLIND GUARDIAN, or was it just a cool theme for a song?
↪ Marco: I wrote the song, musically speaking, and then Emiliano wrote the lyrics so I’m gonna leave the word to him.
Emiliano: To say I’m a fan of “The Lord of the Rings” would be an understatement. I’ve definitely drawn inspiration from timeless masterpieces like “Nightfall in Middle-Earth,” but my main goal was to write about something that’s a huge passion of mine. In general, I’m a big fan of fantasy literature and authors like Moorcock, Howard, Sapkowski, Martin, and, of course, at the top of the list, Tolkien. And yes, in case you were wondering, I’m a Dungeon Master, and I have the Witch-king of Angmar’s sword in my living room.
Before “Doomsayer,” HEXTAR operated with Marco Scattolin as its only guitarist. How did Niccolò Giacometti come into the band? Is he strictly a rhythm guitarist or does he play leads as well?
↪ Marco: Niccolò came in pretty late in the process; we had always been looking for another guitarist to add to the formation and we met each other when “Doomsayer” was already done and on its way to be released. He will be taking duties both in the rhythmic and lead department.
How has your experience working with Dying Victims been? Will HEXTAR ever play one of their sponsored festivals?
↪ Marco: The experience has been pretty smooth; the release of the album got handled really well and – for how small of a band we are as of now – we couldn’t have asked for a better deal, which is to say it was not a bad one. Hopefully one day we will be able to play at one of DVP’s festivals, but we also understand that there are many other bands that are waiting for the same opportunity and might have been waiting for longer, only time will tell.
I recently noticed that Andrea Feltrin’s credits on the Metal Archives say he left HEXTAR after the recording of “Doomsayer.” Does HEXTAR have another drummer lined up already? What does this mean for HEXTAR performing live?
↪ Marco: Andrea left way back in the summer of 2021 after recording the drums for the album. Around February of the following year we found a replacement in Amedeo Paolini and he has been with us ever since, we already played live with him.
In relation to Andrea, both he and Emiliano were in the black/thrash band APOCALYPTIC RAIDS, which bore its name from HELLHAMMER How has the transition from a project like that to a band like HEXTAR been?
↪ Emiliano: In my youth, I played in a large number of projects spanning a wide range of genres. What crazy times. Power metal has always been a passion of mine, but I never managed to find all the right members to form a band and, when the opportunity came, I didn’t let it slip by. I'm happy with my entire musical journey, but now I've found the genre that suits me best. Now I just have to fulfill my dream of making dungeon synth.
Given that HEXTAR is Italian, do you have any particular favorite local bands, either past or present? I enjoy both VULTURES VENGEANCE (Rome) and WOTAN (Milan) quite a bit.
↪ Marco: Honestly I’m kind of a traitor, I never gave much weight to what we have to offer, but I guess that my taste in Metal always made me gravitate towards what lies up North from where we live. Of course I enjoy bands like early RHAPSODY (before the ‘of Fire’) and DEATH SS.
Emiliano: The same goes for me, I’m really into Power and Heavy Metal from Central and Northern Europe as well as 70’s Prog Rock.
Amedeo: I grew up with bread and power metal: RHAPSODY OF FIRE, STRATOVARIUS, TWILIGHT FORCE, and SYMPHONY X. For a few years I have been listening and playing more and more extreme metal stuff, but in the depths of my heart there will always be these bands from the Italian underground: BATTLE RAM, THY MAJESTIE, & SLEAZER.
Niccolò: Like Marco, I never gave such importance to Italian bands, but I listen to a couple of them like ELVENKING or PFM (PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI).
What does the future hold for HEXTAR now that your first album has come out? If you end up touring outside Italy, where would you like to go?
↪ Marco: Surely more music, personally what I enjoy the most about being in a band is producing and publishing music – “Doomsayer” would have been out way sooner if some wrenches weren’t put in the cogs of the machine and by now there would be even more HEXTAR music out in the wild. As for touring, we would like to start from neighbouring countries like Slovenia, then Austria and Germany where this renaissance of traditional Metal is going strong, but due to some personal life/work/study commitments we unfortunately can’t really make plans now – things might change soon.
Thanks for entertaining my questions! Any final words?
↪ We wanna thank all those that supported us until now, as well as those that will read our poor words of wisdom hereby written, if you end up listening to our music we hope you’ll enjoy it and if you don’t…that’s fine just don’t be too mean about it please.
Interviewed: December of 2024
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