Afraid of Destiny

Vitam Nihil Est and a one-person beginning

Afraid of Destiny was founded in Italy in 2012 as a project strongly rooted in depressive suicidal black metal.

Adimere founded the project in 2012 after an earlier ambient/black-metal experiment called Vitam Nihil Est, under which one demo had appeared. In a 2015 interview he described discovering depressive black metal through a friend who introduced him to Trist; Austere, Woods of Desolation, Through the Pain, Heretoir and Gris were named alongside post-rock and shoegaze. These statements locate an influence network without reducing later albums to imitation.

Tears of Solitude and the move toward a band

The early catalogue established the introspective and depressive basis from which the group later expanded.

Tears of Solitude appeared through Rigorism Production after the label contacted Adimere on Facebook. The early one-person project later became a performing band when long-standing acquaintances R.F. Sinister and M.S. joined: one wanted a depressive group that played live, the other wanted to return to the stage, while Adimere had always wanted his compositions performed. A 2017 interview presents the transition as organic rather than a formal relaunch.

Agony and the search for an identity

With the move toward live performance, the musicians describe a transition toward atmospheric and depressive black metal rather than abandoning the earlier identity. Francesco Chissalès also connects the band to Nocturnal Nightmare.

The band has described S.I.G.H.S. as a movement away from a narrowly defined depressive-black-metal frame toward atmospheric and post-black-metal composition. Some material reworked ideas associated with Tears of Solitude, while interludes were conceived as chapters rather than padding. The record’s dedication to Venice offers a geographic and emotional frame, but the personal meaning of that dedication should come from the musicians themselves.

The production history itself records growing patience. The first demo was written and recorded in one week; the music for Agony required more than a year, and voices and lyrics extended the process to roughly two and a half or three years. In 2017 the members still considered a recognisable sound unfinished, but viewed improved recording and stronger emotional communication as real progress. Each release was intended to differ rather than repeat one formula.

S.I.G.H.S., Venice and the European tour

Talheim-linked milestones are S.I.G.H.S. (TR020CD, 2019) and Contra Omnes (TR084CD, 2023). The two records document development across four years rather than interchangeable editions of the same work.

Contra Omnes was written and produced between 2019 and 2021 and recorded from January to April 2022. Its Bandcamp credits preserve the production chain and identify Requiem as a dedication to Ángel Cobos Martínez. These dates make the album a document of work spanning the pandemic period rather than a spontaneous post-pandemic statement. Any account of motive beyond the published dedication remains an open question.

S.I.G.H.S. reworked compositions originally made for Tears of Solitude, rearranging them into three broad chapters separated by purposeful interludes. Sounds recorded around the Venetian lagoon entered Malinconica Venezia, and the city shaped artwork, lyrics and concept. A ten-date European tour in March 2019 included shows in Germany, France, Poland and Austria. Dan Jackson played bass, Thomas Major performed the Shells solo, and members appeared during Psychonaut 4’s Vienna set.

Contra Omnes and Talheim Records

Both releases are assigned to Talheim Records in the CMS. Earlier recordings must retain their original label or independent attribution.

Contra Omnes was written and produced across 2019 to 2022 and released on 24 March 2023. Its seven-track, roughly fifty-three-minute form continued the move toward atmospheric and post-black-metal breadth already described around S.I.G.H.S. The Talheim relationship belongs to this release phase.

Performance beyond DSBM convention

A 2024 first-person statement by the founder describes the project as active and its writing as mood-dependent. Current membership and subsequent plans still need formal band approval.

Why the band chose to perform this music live

Afraid of Destiny rejected the idea that depressive black metal should remain off stage. In 2019 the members argued that communication mattered more than genre convention and that audience response showed the message could survive live performance. The European tour turned that claim into practice and introduced temporary collaborators without erasing the core group. The chronicle reports the members’ accounts of self-harm and suicidal thought only where they used them to challenge accusations of insincerity; it does not reproduce graphic detail or present suffering as proof of authenticity.