After four and a half years of abscence, Italian progsters Eldritch return with their new album ”Gaia’s Legacy”, a concept album about global warming. Vocalist Terence Holler gives us all the details we’d like to know and talks about various interesting stuff in a very good mood.

First of all, welcome back, it’s been almost four and a half years since ”Blackenday” and it’s the biggest gap between albums in the bands history. Can you tell us what the band was doing all this time?

Well, after “The Blackenday” we played around the world for some fests like Italy’s Gods of Metal, Sweden Rock, Progpower Scandinavia and many other shows. After only 1 year we recorded the double live album, plus bonus DVD “Livequake” and then toured Europe as supporters for greek gods Firewind. We also played several headlining shows in our home country Italy. This means that we played for 2 entire years and in the end we decided to take a little break. Some of us had family issues and private problems, so it took us a little longer to sit down and start writing the new album. That’s why it took us a bit longer than usual!!

The new album ”Gaia’s Legacy” is released and we’d like to know some basic details, production issues, how long it took to be completed, what’s the response around the world so far and if you’re satisfied with it.

Eugene with the help of Marco Ribecai worked on the production, helped by Goran Finnberg that then did the final mastering in Sweden. We started the recordings on November 2010 and ended up in February 2011. The release date was September 27 worldwide on Scarlet Records and the results so far are wonderful! A lot of people were waiting our come back to more progressive music.

This time I think Eldritch brought back the old stuff with the ’00s sound combined. It is very nice to listen to songs reminding me of ”Headquake” with the sound of ”Neighbourhell” let’s say. How did you come to this sound once again? Was it pre-decisioned?

Oh yeah, of course! We decided to mix our past with our present and this is our future!! There are thousands of fans of us around the globe that liked our first era, thousands that liked our second chapter from the 00’s, so now this is what we’re gonna give to our fans for the 10’s! We never liked to remain on the same style for too long. Hope it doesn’t cause any disappointement to our fans.

The album is a concept about global warming and we’d like a few details about the lyrics. On the other hand, do you think that such incidents will tend to overgrow as the years pass by? Is Earth really in such a danger?

It took me almost 2 years of studies about the climate changes. It was a long job, but I think in the end the result is quite good. I know it was a risk for us to talk about something so delicate and important but we felt it was the right moment! The climate changes deriving from global warming are in our eyes every day… Hurricanes, tornados, rain showers, floods, drought strikes, desert growing etc.  The more time goes by, the more things get dangerous. It seems most of the population doesn’t care, but it’s better to sharp up and start doing something. The 11 songs of the album talk all about the same concept.

This is the first album for three of your members, guitarist Rudj Ginnaneschi, keyboardist Gabriele Caselli and drummer Rafahell Dridge, who’s been with you much more but it’s the first time he’s recording with you for a full length. How much did they help in the creation of the album and how did you get to meet them and put them in the Eldritch machine?

Raffahell recorded the Livequake album and he’s in the band for almost 5 years. Rudj is in the band since 2 years ago and Gabriele 1 year. these guys gave really a great help to Eugene and me in the songwriting process. Gabriele wrote the music for “Thirst in our hands” and rudj wrote some spare riffs around the album. Raffahell is a human drum machine! He arranged and created some great drum skills along the whole work. This is the best line up we’d ever have! It was easy to meet them, they were Eldritch fans since the beginning, since they were teens! Eldritch is a great family now, we all have a good impact in the band’s economy of music.

As the years pass by, your performance becomes somehow more theatrical. We’d like to know which were your influences when you started liking this music and if there are some new singers you should suggest people on listening.

Oh thank you! I’m getting old, so I probably am more mature now. I’m still able to hit high pitch notes but I find that stupid in our music. I like “living” the lyrics, that’s why my singing sounds theatrical. Regarding new singers, I don’t like almost any of the them, they lack in personality. The best remain Ray Alder, Mike Patton, Geoff Tate, David Coverdale, Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson, Russell Allen and… me!! Ha ha, just kidding! Of course there are many others, but these guys have something special.

Eugene does once more a tremendous work on the album. He always sounds as if he’s never out of ideas. Can you tell us what were the band’s listenings during the creation of the album and if they have reflected on the final result?

Eugene is a mastermind of writing original riffs! This guy has a lot of creativity and this thing started 20 years ago. He wrote the 90% of all Eldritch music from 1991 to now and he is still writing!! I think he’s underrated! He’s one of Europe’s best players and awesome songwriters…. His ideas are always different than the rest of metal players. The band members listen to so many different genres of music… pop, rock, classical, jazz, blues, thrash, prog, every kind of influence is well accepted. that’s why we don’t sound like anybody else. I mean, we are not clones!

”Blackenday” was a bitter album and I know you were through a lot of negative stuff those days. ”Gaia’s Legacy” is a more serious album but it’s also sounding more hopeful. Has the mood changed so much or is it just my idea?

Well, regarding me, I’m always a depressed and negative mooded guy! I know it’s probably boring, but it’s the truth. The others are more or less happy… this mixture of attitudes and feelings gave this touch for “Gaia’s legacy”. It’s a more positive album, but still unhappy! All our 8 albums have this kind of sad introspective mood. Sometimes we’re more angry, sometimes we’re less angry, but we never really used major chords like some power metal bands do, it gives music that kind of happy taste, that we don’t like at all!

We would like to know the plans for Eldritch for the year of 2012 at first, if there’s going to be some touring and which countries it will include. What do you remember from your visit in Greece when you played with Firewind?

To be honest some promoters are working on some touring, but nothing really fits us!  The economy situation is really bad and we can’t lose money. So I guess there won’t be any tour. We would like to come back to Greece for at least a show. We’ll see if any club and promoter is interested. The first time we came there was awesome! Our Greek fans are the loudest in the world! We got many and many fans in Greece and we’d like to come back, seriously. You guys rock and your girls are so… can’t say it… We wanna come back!

You did a great video for ”Everything’s Burning”, which is one of the best tracks in the album. Can you give us a few details where it was shot, who was the director and how long the whole thing took you?

We just shot the second video for the album and it’s for the song Deviation.. The Everything’s Burning video was shot on June in one entire day at the Skrotosound tv studios in Pisa by the director Alessandro Mazza Artigiani, with the help of Fabrizio Asma Bondi. It was shot in blue screen. All the flames and the backround are computer works from Fabrizio. It was a low budget thing (of course) but the result is fine. In the new video, that should be out in February, there’s an actress, Juliet Boom, and the video has a different atmosphere, plus the actress is awesome! The Skrotosound team is great. They could do a professional job with an extremely low budget.

The Italian scene seemed to have a great outburst about 15 years ago. What is your opinion for Italy’s metal scene at the current moment? Has music industry changed so much the last years in your opinion?

The current moment is not as good at it was 15 years ago. I mean, Lacuna Coil, Rhapsody, Eldritch, Domine, Labyrinth and others, all come the the 90’s. The new bands are good, but the music industry went down and down… It’s nearly impossible to have the success the above mentioned bands had! The record sales are really bad for everybody, the money crisis around the world, plus the internet free downloading and sharing did the rest. It’s all over. Only some “old” bands resist…

12) The year of 2011 was one of the best for the whole metal scene with great albums being released. Do you have any that made a click on you and you would recommend the fans to listen to it? Except Eldritch’s album of course.

Uhm, I only like The Arch/Matheos album. I know I might sound outta the world, but this was the only album that I’d recommend to the listeners.

How important was the change on the band’s sound from ”Reverse” and on? The sound became much heavier and thrashier and far more technical. Will you go on with the sound of ”Gaia’s Legacy” on the future or will you continue in the more agressive style of the ’00s?

I think we’ll go on with the “Gaia’s Legacy” sound but a bit more heavier and crunchy!! We love being aggressive on stage. After a show we feel better and more relaxed! I think our thrashy side will be more present, we grew up listening to Coroner, Annihilator, Pantera etc. etc. So of course it remains impressed in our songwriting.

Which bands would you like to share the stage with and it hasn’t happened so far? Which would be the dream line up in a possible Eldritch fest?

Let me see… What would you think about a fest with Symphony X, Fates Warning, Queensryche, Annihilator and us? We played with Symphony X and Annihilator (Gods of Metal 2007 and Sweden rock 2007) but our dreams remains Queensryche and Fates Warning.

Thank you very much for your time in answering these questions. We’d like you to give a wish for the year of 2012 and add everything we didn’t ask you. Happy New Year!

Thanks to you man! A big hug to all our listeners in your country, we’d hope to be there again soon. I would like to tell the readers to just give a chance to “Gaia’s legacy”. It’s a great album of progressive metal but with thrashier riffing and a unique style. Just do it!

Interview by: Aggelos “Redneck” Katsouras.

After almost ten years, Iced Earth returned to Greece for their own headline shows. It’s been too long and the two gigs on 2007 in Rockwave Festival and 2008 in Rock’em All Festival were not enough for their die-hard fans. Metalpaths had the honour and luck to meet their undoubted leader Jon Schaffer before the show in Thessaloniki and had a great conversation in a very friendly mood. Listen to Jon speaking about the renewed Iced Earth, his new frontman Stu Block, the difficulties he went over and why ”Dystopia” is the album that puts them back strongly into the game. He’s also trying to wake people up by telling them about the bank system and conspiracy theories driven by it. Take a look at his expressions while talking and you’ll realize more than meets the eye.

* You can also listen to the audio format of the interview HERE.

Hello everybody, this is Metalpaths and we have the honour to host Jon Schaffer from Iced Earth with us. Welcome home I dare say.

(Smiling) It’s good to be here man.

Because you know that we love you very much and we feel you like homemates.

Yeah, I feel that way when we come here, it’s my favourite place to come man, for sure. The food, the people, the audience obviously, it’s amazing.

It’s needless to say the love that Greek fans have for Iced Earth but we should point out firstly that it’s the first full show you do after February of 2002, it’s been almost ten years and we just can’t get enough of you. So we’d like to have a feeling of how the last two days in Athens were.

That was amazing, I mean the first night was difficult for me because they had an air conditioning, like there was air from outside blowing right on the side of my stage, it was freezing cold and I was really pissed off because my hands were like ice and I was trying to play ”When The Night Falls” with hands like ice, so I was pretty… I was yelling between the songs to the promoter to turn the shit off because you know, it’s a heavy metal show, you’re gonna be hot and sweaty and fucking that’s the way it works. But the fans were great. In after about an hour we had that figured out. But last night, it was great because it started off… there was no problems and us getting out there, the sound was great. So I think last night show was better out of the two but it’s always amazing playing in Athens.

Despite being very professional in your life, how much motive does it give you to play in a place that you know that people love you no matter what you have done all these years, no matter the difficulties the band had. I mean you’ve done the whole tour but Athens is the only city that had two nights and Greece had three nights out of it. It’s a small country but with a big response. Does this make you feel any better or any more relaxed when playing?

Oh, it’s… I just love it man, there is a connection, I don’t know what it is ’cause I never actually understood why certain countries around the world really gravitate and understand. The Greeks understand Iced Earth better than anybody. Better than any other fan base. I don’t know why, I don’t understand, there is just like a… some kind of a connection there and it’s always an honour and a pleasure to come and play for fans with that passion. For me being a guy I’ve been dedicated to this thing for 27 years now, whenever I have moments like last night it makes all the years of work worth it, just in that moment.

I had the luck to be the first time in the airport, when you came with Nevermore, if you remember us moving the bus like crazy ones, I had the luck listen to you saying ”I dub you the metal capital of the world”, it all started back 14 years ago, when you were younger than I am now and I had the luck to meet you in all the great places, it was Randall’s last live show here, you had this t-shirt, it was November ‘97, so throughout all the difficulties the fans have stayed loyal, at least here. But how about the rest of the world?

Well, Iced Earth is fortunate, we have a very loyal fan base. I mean, there was an article about the fans with the most loyal fan base and we were on the top five, with the case of Iron Maiden and stuff, and I mean we don’t sell the amount of albums that they sell but our fans are really dedicated, they’re really into it. You know, like I said man, through the changes that’s going on and a difficult period where I was really disconnected from the band in the last ten years, I think it’s amazing we’ve been able to hold the success that we have, but I think Iced Earth now has the chance to go further than it ever has before. We’ve got a great line-up of guys, the chemistry is great, we’re like brothers man, we just laugh all the time, we have a great time. And Stu is an amazing positive force of energy for the band, he’s always in a good mood, he’s always hungry, he just loves the band, he loves being here, he loves to be a part of this and he makes me laugh. So we get a lot of fun.

Taking for granted our partnership since I first met you, I must thank you as a fan first for taking Stu Block in the band, because I’m also a big Into Eternity fan, I knew before he comes in the band that he’s a big Iced Earth fan and I can tell you without this sounding insulting, that he’s taking the band a step further, despite of course the great compositions, I mean it feels to me that the band can go to where things stopped in ‘98 to 2001 and start from this point.

I think you’re right!

But we’d like to know how the two of you got to meet and what made you -because I know that you’re a very demanding person in what you ask from the band members- when did it feel right for you to take him in the band? What prerequisities should he have to be in the band?

Well, it was brilliant from the very… First of all, Century Media C.E.O. told me about Stu and I watched the videos and I really liked the look that he had in his eyes, that’s the thing. I didn’t really know about his voice, because he was singing in a very different style of music, but he did have a very wide range. And usually, when somebody has a range like that and if they’re willing to be produced, then I can pretty much pull all kinds of things out of them that maybe they don’t even know they have. I’ve been doing this a long time so… But from that point I just had to give him in for an audition and get him behind a microphone in my studio.One of the things that I told him is I wanted to see if we have chemistry, if we can write together. And the first song we wrote was ”End Of Innocence” and I knew within about 30 minutes that he was the guy, I can just tell I can feel it. We’re very close, there’s a great chemistry, it’s a very very positive thing. So that’s the process, basically I needed to know does he have a mid range of his voice that we can expand? Would he let me produce him? Would he let me work with him and get the best out of him? That was a big deal ’cause some guys they think they know everything and if you can’t get the best out of them, they’re not getting it, the way it works, there’s no chance from that point and on. So, you know, it was obvious he was thrilled with the things I was pointing out of him and he’s like ”Man, nobody has ever talked to me this way before” and I’m like ”Cool, you’re listening to me”. And Matt did too, Matt was that way as well, and the similarities between Stu and Matt were that Matt studied drama when he was in high school and Stu did too, so they understand the emotional dynamics that need to have in Iced Earth music, like a song like ”Watching Over Me” or ”End Of Innocence” where there’s stirring or like ”Melancholy”…

There must be some expressionism you mean…

Yeah, you have to really overdo it and it’s the way you announciate the words, and the timing and all that stuff, and he was very receptive to allow me to produce him. We did very detailed demos of the new songs and then Jim Morris came into it and laid it to the process. That was another level of education for Stu, and opening up his voice and it just works great, I think with the kind of energy that Stu brings to the stage which is fun for everybody, the band included, besides that, the biggest thing is I’m back you know. Because without the spirit behind them, being there, it’s not gonna work. And for about the last ten years I’ve had pretty difficult times, the last two albums were very difficult because I lost three of my family members in the writing process…

It sounded a little bitter.

Yeah, and I mean ”Crucible…” really suffered because right around then was my sister passed away and I was just like ”I can’t believe this”.

I can tell that two things show very much, one is that you have left your influence on Stu’s vocals, because I think that if you had let him loose, he wouldn’t know where to stop, in Into Eternity he does stuff like raising his voice beyond the unlimited and the second thing is that seeing you also now talking to me it seems that you are very relaxed and this shows on the compositions of ”Dystopia”. It reminds me of the first times I was listening to Iced Earth, back in ‘94-’95 where everything sounded in order, that doesn’t mean that after 2000 things were not in order, but something seemed to concern you in your mind, but now you seem very loose. It’s a great thing.

One thing is I was really getting… caught up… what a lot of musicians do is when their career goes on is trying to beat the last thing and you tend to overdo it. I think you’re trying to come up with the best compositions ever and you start experimenting with all these different layers and doing the real shit, I mean the reason you start to be getting with, it happens to a lot of us. The longer you do this you feel like you wanna challenge yourself more, but after what I had what I call my awakening was really having the level of understanding that I do about what my government is up to, and how corrupted and criminal it really is and what’s happening, it was devastating for me but it made me completely come alive and reprioritize and put everything in focus. So my whole, everything has changed, I look at the world with completely different eye, I actually appreciate Iced Earth now. And back then it was just a burden to me, you know, so much fucking work and all the time dealing with all this bullshit, I didn’t really appreciate how far I actually came to since I left home when I was a teenager. It really made this shit happen, against all odds. So, my perspective has changed completely and most of it, when Sons Of Liberty came out of my awakening process, it was a way for me to really release a lot of shit that’s going on inside and that made Iced Earth come alive again. So, it all started about three years ago, just really, even when I knew Matt was leaving, I knew we’re gonna be fine. Because I know I’m the driving force of the band, if I’m not doing well, the band isn’t gonna do well. The guys know that, they understand. They look to me for their leadership, I mean I’m not some tyrant or screaming at people all the time.

It would be naive to say such a thing because everyone knows you’ve been doing that since 1984. So the next question is after almost thirty years, I know that your dream having talked to you many times was make Iced Earth an arena band. How much of the things you’d like to achieve have been achieved and how many dreams more are there unfulfilled, because I can see you right now with the spark in your eyes having still the motive, I mean being after forty years old, not many people have this fire inside as you, but I can see that you want to do more things. Is there something you’d think would be the highest peak in Iced Earth’s career and you’d like to achieve it through the years?

Well, I don’t know that breaching arena stuff is ever gonna happen, the music industry is changing so much and it’s just a different world. If the band would have started, if our first album was out in 1979 or 1980 it would be a different story I think. But now, it doesn’t matter actually, I don’t even care about that, I mean that would be cool but honestly man, I love playing these 1500-2000 clubs where people are close, like last night in Athens, that’s perfect man, that’s power and I think we can actually achieve way more now, simply because like I said I was pretty unrealistic a long time ago about where the band should go and my priorities weren’t right. My priorities are right now, and it makes a big difference.

I know that you’re very perfectionist sometimes but I can tell you that about 80 or 90% of the fans like ”Dystopia” very much. Would you change something now that you live with the album, you have toured with it, would you change anything in the compositions, in the production, in the duration or something, because most fans see it like a new ressurection.

I don’t think so actually, I don’t think I would change anything, it’s great the way it is, I don’t think I would change anything, I mean it’s a great album man and it’s definitely strong, I achieved straightly what I wanted to achieve with this album and I told Jim Morris from early on when I was in the early writing process, I said ”Dude, this is going to be completely different thing, we’ll strip it back”, fucking punchy and tight and that makes clean up the guitars and recording the drums and bass and a certain way the whole thing feels. And he wan on board with this, he knew what I was after, so it just feels right, it’s a new beginning and another string of great records. I mean, I can see us doing such a cool writing chemistry again and it’s just in terms of like the lyric and vocal melody type of thing, now I’ve got a guy who actually is great in coming up with hooks for vocal melodies, when that was always on my shoulders, 90% of them was, it’s a big deal, so now I have two of us, coming with the big chorus part, that’s killer. It makes it fun for me and it makes it more relaxing for me that I don’t have all the weight on my shoulders ’cause I know the importance of it. I mean I don’t give a shit how great the fucking guitar players are and the singers and the drummers, whatever. If the songs aren’t there, it doesn’t matter. That’s all there is to it. So I know the importance of the song writing and how crucial that is to making the whole thing happen. It’s great to have a guy like Stu to help with the vocal part.

I’d like to point out two specific songs if you don’t mind, one is ”Tragedy And Triumph”, we’ve always known that the last song on an Iced Earth album would let’s say look in the future, but this is a great sample of what the band can do in the future. It shows like it’s a step for you to do better things in the future, it’s a little different…

Totally different!

…than the typical last Iced Earth songs, which were kind of more epic, more angry sometimes. This is a song of hope to me.

Yes it is, it’s exactly what is is!

It combines tragedy and triumph as a title but the last result that comes to the fan’s mind is that ”Well, if this is the album they’ve done with the new singer, the next is going to kick ass”. That’s what they think. And the other one is ”Anthem”, which I think when you made ”When The Eagle Cries”, it’s like this eagle doesn’t cry any more.

Right!

This is the song that makes things better in the fans’ minds, so what’s your opinion about these two? Because they are two of the stand out tracks of the album.

Yeah, it’s to me two of the hopeful songs on this album, because we’re singing about some pretty heavy shit, and some real stuff, even though it might be disguised ”it’s about this movie or that movie”, you know there is a lot of parallels to the real world, whether it’s in the ”Something Wicked” story or whether it’s in ”Dark City” or ”Equilibrium” or wherever, or the other tracks based on movies. There is a lot of real stuff happening now that is dystopian. That to me was important for us, to put some positive things that will help people lift a bit and ”Tragedy And Triumph” was very different, I don’t even know where it came from.

It’s a simple thing, where it comes always the last 25 years.

Maybe, yeah maybe…

Like you said before, times are changing and what you feel it was different, maybe it was something hopeful in you.

Yeah, I think there is… I see potential, my goal is to make people to get inspired enough to turn off their televisions and start learning about what’s happening, we gotta all understand the bank system. We have to learn about that shit, because it is absolutely enslaving the human population, and it’s one bunch of criminal mafia pieces of shit. The people have to understand it because the only way a conspiracy like this can work, is if it exists in the shadows. We shine a light on it, it’s over. All of this stuff and the suffering your country is going through now is because of this criminal banks and the criminal governments they control. It’s happening all over the world, it’s just happening in different levels, the United States is really close to collapse as well. I don’t know what it’s gonna take to get the people motivated to do something, but the first thing is we have to educate ourselves and we have to stop listening to the propaganda. And in the States it’s more, the propaganda is unbelievable, I couldn’t really believe it was happening, once I really woke up I realised what was going on I was like ”I can’t believe this is happening in my country, I can’t believe I was fooled like this”. I’m a guy believing in the family fathers, the idea of individual liberty and freedom and property rights and this kind of stuff, and we get tolled all the time to those values that are still there and they count, but the rights on our constitution has been completely destroyed by this criminal fucking regime. And it’s been going on for over a hundred years, and it’s a system that’s been around for thousands of years, we gotta learn man, we gotta learn from history, I’ve got a song on the next Sons Of Liberty album called ”Molon Lave” it’s inspired by Leonidas.

That’s a shirt, right?

A Sons Of Liberty? Yeah, I have it on the back of one of our shirts, I actually bought one with the Spartan thing.

I can guarantee you to make you feel better that no matter what collapses, the love of Iced Earth in Greece will remain. You don’t have to worry about that at least.

Yeah, I know man but I’m worried about the people. I know I’ve done enough research and this is really bad. What’s coming is the world has never seen a depression like the one that’s coming around the corner because once the currency system collapses and it’s all based on Freud, so it actually needs to collapse, what happens typically in times of collapse is tyrants arise and people die. And that’s the slippery sloth that I… that’s why to me it’s the most important thing to try and make people learn, start talking, you gotta read the book ”The Creature From Jeckyll Island”, get that book and you’ll be able to expose the whole fucking central bank system.

But what if the people have a motive like Iced Earth for example to make them feel better and forget sometimes and then they can build a new basis on their minds for not forgetting? Not only Iced Earth, many bands, but talking particularly about Iced Earth, in a country that they are very beloved, I can tell you that despite this crisis and everything, we had two nights, yesterday and the day before yesterday in Athens and one today that will be sold out in such difficult times and I think this comes to you and what you say is proved by this. I mean, we’re still here, no matter what the problems are and you are inspiring people, not only in Greece but worldwide. It’s not only you but many people.

Yeah, look, there’s a lot of good people that are coming together and they’re starting to work together to try and turn things around, I just hope that the American people have the backbone to realize how much they’ve been deceived and to hopefully instead of being in the engine of tyranny, be in the engine of liberty and try to turn things around for the rest of the world, because so much is happening in Washington D.C., in the city of London, Wall Street. That’s where the crimes are and it’s just up to the people have become complescent and destructive and they’re too worried about fucking football games and television and dude, this is serious shit that’s going on, I mean serious. When you start reading the writings of these guys, the conspirators themselves, they’ve openly written books about what they’re doing and what they’re gonna do and nobody pays attention to them. I have, I have read it and dude, it’s bad, I’m telling you.

To make things a little loose, you once told me you think about moving there, in Greece. You might have said that as a joke but would you think about spending some time on vacation here?

Oh, absolutely I would love to man, the problem is I hardly get to take vacation, it’s been actually the first step of my awakening to actually take vacation and get out on an island to Central America.

You can always do it here though, it’s a nice place for the mind to relax.

Yeah, you’ve got very beautiful islands and stuff, maybe that will happen some day but right now, there is a lot of work to do, I won’t be taking vacation for a year and a half, so…

So, is there a schedule for a tour for which we don’t know how long it lasts so far, but are there any new ideas though we are in a very early ”Dystopia” situation?

Not yet, there’s always riffs and stuff, but I don’t get in song writing mood until I’m focused on that specifically, it’s just a different thing man, it’s a completely different frame of mind when you’re on tour, I know some bands write on tour but that’s just not really the way I work, coming up with a riff or lyrics, that’s just not really writing, those are parts, the writing is like make it shape, happen, put it into arrangement, getting every single detail over it, that’s a different step and it gets a lot of concentration and I usually get into a different part of my mind and soul when I’m in the writing process, it’s very different than being here and talking to the fans, it’s a completely different part of me, I really wanna get through this and then the band’s only gonna take a month off, once the world tour ends, and then we’re gonna be back in writing process and it will go quick as I want to work together and as inspired as I am, I don’t see it being very long.

So, last but not least, we’d like to thank you very much for honouring us with your presence…

Thank you too!

Thank you for this interview and you can add anything you’d like to be asked and we didn’t happen to ask you.

No, I think we covered a lot of stuff man, I just always love coming here, your people have an amazing spirit, and I really appreciate everything. Thank you very much!

God bless you always in what you always do and let’s hope you won’t do any ten years to come again.

No, definitely not brother, no way!

Thank you very much!

Interview by: Aggelos “Redneck” Katsouras.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end some time. Cathedral have always been a band that never cared about commercial success and they always did their own thing. In this last interview with them, Lee Dorrian (Vocals) and Garry ”Gaz” Jennings (Guitars) talk about why they disband, they make a flashback into more than two decades of existence, they remember good and bad times and in the end, they tell us not to feel sad but enjoy what they left behind. Observe the last words of the two mainmen behind the group, with a little spicy stuff hidden inside these lines. Their last album entitled ”The Last Spire” will be released somewhere in 2012. Until then, enjoy!

So, welcome to Greece once again. First of all I have to tell you that we don’t know if we must be happy for having you, or feeling bad for disbanding. But after 20 years, I can tell that we’ve had a lot of fun with your creations and this is the point I must tell you that even fans not liking the band, or not being very fond of Cathedral, have had always something good to say. So, we’d like to start with how you two met, because you were in totally different bands, you (Lee) were playing with Napalm Death and you (Gaz) were playing with Acid Reign. So, how did this love for bands like Black Sabbath, Trouble, Pentagram get joined by you?

Lee: We were into it, that’s what brought us together eventually. But Dan Lilker from Nuclear Assault knew Gaz, Acid Reign toured with Nuclear Assault. And Dan said ”oh, you should meet this guy from Acid Reign called Gaz, ’cause he’s really into Sabbath and Trouble and all others”. ‘Cause Dan was into that kind of stuff, not many of the people were into it.

He was into…let’s say everything!

Lee: (Smiles) Yeah, not many people were into those kind of bands, I mean I knew a few people. So, after saying I should meet Gaz a few times, this time was… in Leicester I think it was, around March in ‘88 I think, I met Gaz backstage and went talking about doing bands and stuff, we started a good chat, a good conversation and then came nothing more of it. And then Grief, our bass player, the original bass player was doing a fanzine called MDBO and he saw the copy of a Candlemass gig, Grief was doing a projection…

Gaz: I basically met Grief outside, in a fowyer, walked past and saw his fanzine which was dedicated to doom metal which in 1988 was pretty much unheard off and talked about bands being on the underground, because doom metal was way underground. That kind freaked me out, because all these bands I’ve heard off, I know off, or others I hadn’t heard,I had some of them and some of them I’ve never had and I wanted to learn through his fanzine. So about six months down the line we mentioned maybe getting a band together, him and Lee were getting a band together, which of course is kind weird because previously we had talked about that kind of stuff. And we said ”yeah, give it a shot, shall we get on”. God knows what we’re gonna do, how we’re going to sound like, if it was going to be any good…

Lee: I think it’s basically an idea that came out being extremely drunk one night, in the cold light of daze so I said ”Let’s do a band together” but the reality was that the next day I was wondering ”How are we going to find members if we want to play that kind of stuff”, then we rememberd Gaz and Grief were in the lair of it, and they found me up, so we got together and had a jam with the original drummer of Sacrilege, Andy Baker, was in the group as a player.

Gaz: It was bizzare the first rehearsals, ’cause we didn’t know what… we knew what we wanted to do, but it was strange getting there, ’cause when you meet first time, me with different personalities, you don’t know what each others like… strange ones, but 20-21 years later down the line we’re still here doing it…

Lee: Not for much longer (laughs)…

Gaz: (laughs) Yeah, not for much longer, but we’re still here at least.

It’s very nice to see you both smiling, while remembering these because it feels like nothing was in vain after all, I mean you really had your good moments. If you weigh things, were the good moments more than the bad ones?

Lee: The thing is there’s been a lot of shit going, I think there’s only so far you can go before things kind of deteriorate, but we feel quite happy of how we were and how we are unless two records we did we’re really pleased with. I think… we’re not teenagers any more, and once we still feel quite good about what we do…

You ain’t middle-aged either, though…

Lee: Yeah, but if we go on too much longer, it could end dragging on, we wanted to go while we’ve still got something left.

While there’s still some spark on you…

Lee: Yeah, otherwise… several bands are carrying on for the sake of it, making records for the shake of it, every record we do, we’re 100% into it, we don’t wanna be in a situation where we’re done with the times we give 100% into it, so…

So, are you satisfied with ”The Guessing Game” as it is the last album? It was the daring one let’s say, as it is a double album, you never did that before, it’s about 85 minutes of music and if we accept the fact that each album reflects somehow of the mood on the current moment of its creation, what was the mood while doing it? It seems like you’re diving back to the ’70s roots of your listenings.

Gaz: No, we’re listening to all kinds of stuff, the style basically it was different…

Lee: We didn’t know if we were going to do an album because after ”The Garden…” (note: Of Unearthly Delights) because me and Gaz… there’s a five year gap between these two albums, we usually had a two year gap between our albums…

This was the biggest gap in your career ever, having already signed with Nuclear Blast, the people thought you were going to be a little more active…

Both: (laughing) the opposite!

You tended to have many oppositions, talking about you (Lee) were in the fastest band ever, in Napalm Death and you joined the slowest one, you also did a very happy album which was ”Caravan Beyond Redemption” and then dive into your roots and doing ”Endtyme”, so Cathedral were the night and the day together.

Lee: I mean, being in a band, I’ve always put it the way you listen to records, you go through phases and things you want more, just because you’re not in the public, people would see it as weird, the way you would listen to something very folky, it could be something pop then it could be something like ultra doom. I mean, we’ve just got wide taste in music and that moment in time when we do a record is what we feel in the most.

I can tell that, because on the one hand we have songs like ”Melancholy Emperor” and on the other hand we have songs like ”Caleidoscope Of Desire” or ”Blue Light”. I mean, this shows how open minded the band was and one of the facts why it was praised by all fans of music.

Lee: But it was also one of the reasons you get condemned, because people don’t understand it, people like things simply explained. They like things put in a box without questioning… So, as much as a lot of people love what we do, a lot of people don’t because they just don’t get it.
That’s what happened with one of the bands you love, Celtic Frost…

Lee: (laughs) Though we never got that far…

You lived it better when they made ”Into The Pandemonium” and it was getting 0% on Kerrang! and such stuff…

Gaz: Well, that’s extreme…

Lee: Not ”Into The Pandemonium” but ”Cold Lake”…

Gaz: ”Cold Lake”, yeah…

So, after many line-ups, we even had your replacer in Acid Reign in the band, Adam Lehan, then many musicians passes and then you had Leo (Smee) and Brian (Dixon) to join the band, a line up that lasted for 17 years almost, with a gap of… in about 2004. And how much do you believe this steady line-up helped the band develop its sound?

Gaz: I don’t know how the sound developed for me, it’s quite random, our sound is… It’s not like it’s… Well, if you listen to our first album (”Forest Of Equilibrium”) you’d never imagine we’d sound the way we do today. So, I mean we’re very individualists as characters. Leo is not in the band any more.

I know…

Lee: We all have individual tastes and somehow turns into opposition to each other. And soundwise it has a dynamic I suppose.

Gaz: I wouldn’t say that… It’s no disrespect for Leo and Brian, I don’t think we’ve had major development in the band because basically the stuff me and Lee were writing is depending on the phases we were going through, we’re listening to different styles, ’cause Brian basically… he would call for ideas but the basic stuff was written by me and Lee, pretty much we’ve been listening to a certain style of music and that’s where we wanted to go at that point. Leo had some good ideas, but his ideas were kind of crazy ideas, no row, he was… well, he was quite focuses on where to go, which is good because he opened new things for us to do. I still think that basic stuff from the day one to now is myself and Lee literally and so goes musically too.

Lee: I think we dig deeper in our music, we’re obsessed with that kind of thing where… Brian is in a lot underground stuff from a totally different angle. He’s into American rock-star ’70s thing, Gaz is into more classical heavy metal from the ’80s as long as late ’60s-early 70s rock and prog stuff, and punk… I think me and Gaz share very similar tastes ’cause we like to go diverse…

And all these get combined in the end…

Lee: Yeah, of course, and that’s why people can’t understand what we do a lot of times… I think in years to come, in 20 years time, people will look and maybe piece together what we did easier. ‘Cause people think we want to be something, we want to try something we’re not. We’re just doing what we do. We’re not trying to sound like a ’70s band, we’re not trying to sound like this or sound like that. Yes, we have our influences in a way but we’re not getting deliberate, we’re not trying to sound like a band from ‘72 for example.

From my point of view I’ve always been thinking that things were simple and you were always to the point on what you wanted to make. Next question is how did Scott Carlsson join the band, from the legendary Repulsion, back in the day?

Gaz: Yes, Scott came in ‘92…no, it was ‘94…

Did you find some things in common again?

Gaz: He’s a friend, being in the band once in the past, he knew what the band was about…we don’t even know what the band is about! He shares the same enthusiasm for life, underground movies and underground music, in the same kind of enthusiastic way.

Is he going to be on the last album you make?

Both: Yes!

Are there any plans or a title?

Gaz: ”The Last Spire”, it’s gonna be called ”The Last Spire”.

Lee: From ”Cathedral Spires”

Gaz: That’s the last album we do and probably we stick with it, we have some basic ideas of what we want to do.

Lee: After we do the last gig on London, that’s what we need to sit down and say.

I was going to ask about that, when the last gig will be and if you’re going to make something special about it. A special set maybe or a DVD after that.

Gaz: Hopefully we could do a DVD, we tried to do a dvd on the anniversary gig last year, but for some strange reason we were left to believe it was going to be far expensive footage, you can’t make a dvd with three cameras.

Lee: It’s coming out as a live album.

Gaz: For the last gig we’re hopefully gonna get it filmed.

Lee: We do have a few things in mind. One guest appearance in particular…

Gaz: If it works out, but it should be good, it should be interesting.

The things have changed a lot since you started the band, in which terms did the band remain the same in its ideas and how much different did it get about being open minded or widen its horizons through the years.

Gaz: They were widened as soon as we did the first album.

Lee: The concept stayed the same.

Gaz: Open mindedness was after the first album. We just embraced all the crazy ’70s and ’60s stuff and taking them all in enough. I think that’s basically just what we did and got open minded later.

Lee: The first album was just the starting point really.

Gaz: We weren’t focused on the first album.

Lee: In my sense is weird but… is as soon as you do something and then you stop and you try to copy what you do, it gets boring, so you try to do something else, you can stay to your roots but also expand it, ’cause I think if we just carried on doing ”The Forest Of Equilibrium” over and over again, it would be lying to ourselves, because we’ve been in bands… Napalm, one of the reasons I left the band is because it started being repetitive.

Yes, I’ve heard that you were kind of sick with the whole scene and you just wanted to do your own thing.

Lee: I think when we did the first album, lots of bands started playing ultra slow, that’s the same thing with Napalm, a lot of bands started playing ultra fast and it got kind of boring.

I was lucky to see you guested by them at Hellfest 2009 though, it was a great moment.

Lee: That was good for me !

I think a very crucial point was the change from ”The Forest Of Equilibrium” to ”The Ethereal Mirror” because first of all, the music became let’s say a little more groovy and up-tempo. This was because of you (Gaz). And second we had a big change in your vocal style (Lee). I’d like to ask you how much did you adapt to it, because the first album is let’s say so nihilistic, everything turns to zero in the end, you can’t find some happiness. ”Reaching Happiness, Touching Pain” as you say. On the second album we have you singing normally, quite big change and not anyone can do it, so how were you feeling after that?

Lee: I think we had the ”Soul Sacrifice” EP in the middle, because if you get ”Forest…” to ”Ethereal Mirror” then it’s a big change. But if you get the first album to ”Soul Sacrifice” EP, you see the thing was starting to change a bit, songs were getting a bit more groovy and the vocal style slightly different to the album.

I would be praising the concept of ”Cosmic Funeral” let’s say because it showed where the band would go.

Lee: That’s on ”Statik Majik”, after ”The Ethereal Mirro”.

Yes, and ”Statik Majik” was the development of what followed in ”The Carnival Bizzare” where I belive it’s the peak of the band concerning let’s say creativity, will to do what you wanted to do from the beginning, things going like you want, you also had Tony Iommi, I think it was one of the happiest moments in your lives ever, he said it was an honour for him, he said that when ”Forbidden” (the last Black Sabbath album) war released in ‘96, he was asked about it and he said ”the guys were very kind to ask me and of course I would do it”.

Lee: The thing is after ”Ethereal Mirror” things started taking a nice start, after this American tour things were very shitty, we lost Day In Columbia, we had two years or more of just doing anything ready, so when we got the line-up together matching and had the songs ready for ”The Carnival Bizzare”, we just were very excited to get to the studio and I think it shows, there’s a good energy on this record.

This good mood shows also on ”Caravan Beyond Redemption”. I think let’s say it’s the happy album, not happy I mean lousy but it pours of positive energy. And the big question is what the mood was when you did ”Endtyme” because it sounds like you’re ok with what you do but you did a dive into the roots again.

Lee: To me, I didn’t like the fact we were becoming safe-sounding. And I think on ”Caravan Beyond Redemption”, it’s been good to become unpredictable to that point but we almost started to be unpredictably predictable, or predictably unpredictable if that’s what was, ’cause people knew to expect something crazy, something unusual that’s gonna happen, it was a point where it became normal for us to do weird stuff, so i think by doing ”Endtyme” is just…annihilate all that’s happened, before we got too far onto this realm of…safety! That was the whole idea.

We made a special tribute about the band, and I was refering to that fact, because I’ve always been thinking that ”The VIIth Coming” didn’t get the recognition it should because of the impact that ”Endtyme” had to the fans. I think maybe even today, 10 years later they haven’t got over it, I think it was the big surprise at the right timing. It kind of shocked the world back then and it brought many fans towards you that weren’t into more happy stuff.

Lee: We drove many fans away as well with ”Endtyme”.

Gaz: I think ”The VIIth Coming” was probably the one album we’ve done which is kind of like… I think every band does an album which is… a lost album and an album that doesn’t work and I think ”VIIth Coming” was ours, it’s a strange one, it was scratching out for a new direction.

Lee: The thing with ”Endtyme” was I was so insisting, on a definite focus how it was going to be. By the time we’ve done it, I was like ”Well, we’ve done it”. When we came to do the next one, there was not such a definite idea how it should sound like. So it went to become more random again.

Is it real that…there’s a rumor about not having Dave Patchett (the band’s illustrator) on this cover (the one of ”Endtyme”) because the company didn’t have the budget to pay him, but I know that his cover is in the Japanese edition.

Lee: The Japanese paid for it. They paid for it to be in Japan.

So, was this a reason to leave Earache after that, let’s say?

Lee: There’s many reasons.

Gaz: There’s a lot of reasons. Mostly negative things, there’s many reasons for leaving.

Lee: It was good to get out.

Gaz: We had to get away from it. And once we got away, our relationship with the label guys was bad, because we were doing this day to day, but there were some good guys there.

So you did this album (”The VIIth Coming”) with Dream Catcher which was a one-off situation, then you signed with Nuclear Blast and suddenly let’s say the world falls down of our feet because you say you are disbanding. How would you like to be remembered? It’s over, we’ve had you in our lives but we feel a little sad.

Lee: Don’t get sad about it, the thing is we’ve had what we did in our lives, taking for granted we had a demo 22 years before, and we’re sitting now talking about what we did then and now, it’s quite an achievement. So, there’s no reason to be depressed, just enjoy what we left behind and try to enjoy the legacy of our music I suppose. That’s what we’re gonna do, ’cause it’s not we formed the band just like 2 years ago, it’s a long time, we’re not teenagers any more, so we just did what we could do, and we tried not to get too predictable. It’s been half of our actual life in this band, the biggest part of our lives.

So, are you going to do anything musically after that? You did one album with Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine, called ”Rampton” in 2002 and you had promised me off the record that you would do something like Napalm Death in the future, I don’t know if that still exists.

Lee: We’re gonna make a band with Scott Carlsson and Nicke Andersson (ex-Entombed, Hellacopters). We were gonna do like a Discharge style band but it never happened.

Gaz: I don’t know what we’re gonna do musically, if it’s gonna be the two of us, it won’t be like Cathedral.

Lee: We’ll just have a break, when the band’s over because it’s not a rush into it really. Cathedral is definitely over, we’ll never be back. Unless we get a 10 million pound deal in Madison Square Garden (laughs) when we’re 80 years old or something, but that’s not gonna happen, so…

We’d like to wish you good luck in the future, I personally want to thank you for what you have offered us and I wish that many bands in the future will be like you in the open mindedness and the focusing of your movements.

Both: Thank you too, it’s been a pleasure.

Interview by: Aggelos “Redneck” Katsouras.

One of the best debut efforts in the whole metal scene the last years is the “Axiom” EP by the Greek force Dephosphorus. Actually we deal with seven songs of pure metal havoc! The vocalist and lyricist Panos talks about the EP and what’s to come in the near future.

First of all congratulations for your first effort. We’d like to have a short bio of the band, starting from the point where your former bands reached the end.

Back in the summer of 2008 me and Thanos felt with certainty that our participation to our previous band STRAIGHTHATE has reached an end. We formed DEPHOSPHORUS almost immediately and started to compose and make demos with programmed drums. One year later, we felt that we needed a real drummer in order for our music to take the shape and reach the intensity that we had in mind. That’s how we recruited Nikos, whose main band INJEKTING KHAOS was on hiatus after they have recorded their second record (overdue but should be released within the next few months). From 2009 until the summer of 2010 (with a long break in between because of an injury that Nikos has suffered to his arm) we have composed 10 songs. 7 of them were recorded, mixed and mastered in this same summer. This is the “Axiom” mini-LP session as you know it. As soon as “Axiom” was ready we did not took a break but instead speeded up the composition process in order to record our debut full-length album “Night Sky Transform” the next fall. Indeed we had a hard deadline because Thanos was joining the army in November. It was proven to be the best decision we have took until now (and I have to credit Thanos for pushing us in this direction), because eventually Thanos not only joined the army for his mandatory military service, but he was forced to do it abroad – in Cyprus. “Axiom” was released on vinyl format by 7 Degrees Records (www.myspace.com/7degreesrecords) as a 12” gatefold MLP. It is a beautiful fucker thanks to the artwork with which the visionaries from Viral Graphics have graced it. It is also available on digital format as free download. We have yet to receive an interesting offer for a release on Compact Death format.

Things brought it that way so Dephosphorus is your new baby. This first EP is called ”Axiom”. Is this title a statement that the band is confident for what is about to acomplish in the future?

No, it wasn’t chosen for this reason. “Axiom” was an appropriate title because it is a scientific term and our concept has a very important scientific dimension. We hail science and reason as the two poles according to which mankind should organize and evolve. I also chose it because it is a greek word and we are proud of our heritage. The modern greek language is based on ancient greek, which is much more than a language: it has been originally constructed as a scientific and philosophical tool. Ask whoever linguist and/or scientist you want, the ancient greek language is to this day one of mankind’s most impressive accomplisments.

The material has been recorded over a year ago but still sounds very fresh. How long did the writing and recording process last? Would you change anything in the songs or are you completely satisfied?

We are glad you like it man! A common denominator to most people’s comments about “Axiom” is that indeed it sounds fresh. This is largely due to the fact we did not lose any time: as soon as our first bunch of material composed together as a trio was ready, we headed to the studio. This also applies to our full-length album and makes the material sound very vivid. We have composed the songs that constitute “Axiom” over a few months. I cannot tell you exactly how much because as I have mentionned earlier, we took a break because of a physical injury that our drummer Nikos has endured. But overall it wasn’t much, given the fact that it’s the first time that all three of us have played together. As a matter of fact, we clicked very well together straight from the beginning. I guess this is why our material sounds so instinctive: there is clearly a chemistry between us three and we have an insanely good time playing together. The recording of “Axiom” lasted 10 hours. We were well rehearsed therefore it only took a couple of takes for the tracking of each song. We wouldn’t want to change anything to “Axiom”’s songs. They are representative of the first period of our band. We are proud of them and we will take a real pleasure performing them live. Considering “Axiom” as a whole, we are extremely satisfied with the release and the only thing we would change is the recording. There have been some grave sound engineering mistakes because we have trusted the wrong person for the task. Because of that our comrade Panos Alexiadis (from Lunar Miasma, Utter Hoarse, ex-Heavensore) has had a tough job doing the mix. We have learned from our mistakes though; our debut album has been tracked under different, optimal conditions!

Dephosphorus create an exocosmic atmosphere while listening to them. It makes the listener dive deep inside each song and get connected to it very much. Did that come naturally or was it done in purpose?

Dephosphorus is and will be all about instinctive music with a cosmic concept. All planning as far as the music goes is done by the songwriter and guitarist of the band, Thanos. He writes music according to the realms that his inspiration takes him to. What I can say for sure is our overall purpose and cosmic motivation are always in his mind. Technically speaking, the atmosphere of “Axiom” has taken its final form after the actual recording. Indeed, at the time when we hit the studio we did not know if there would be bass recorded or not. During the mix, Thanos and Panos Alexiadis had the idea of filling the absence of bass with electronics. Panos being a specialist as far as otherworldly soundscapes are concerned, he completed the songs with a classy, cosmic touch.

I find the lyrics rather great and fitting perfectly to the whole concept and atmosphere mentioned above. Where do you get inspiration from? Books? Everyday life issues? Would you like to analyse them a bit?

Let me point out that the lyrics of “Axiom” are not fully representative of our whole concept. The lyrics of “Axiom” describe sagas and incidents of the Dephosphorus mythos. You must wait until our debut album in order to get a clear understanding of the overall purpose of our concept and in order to comprehend the connection with more local, planetary realities. With the exception of the track “Dephosphorus”, which summarizes our concept, this first set of lyrics is deliberately abstract. They are meant to give hints to whoever reads them of the majestic, vast, dynamic environment where our concept takes place. I would not want to give detailed explanations in order to let your imagination do the work! I’ve been inspired for a lot of “Axiom”’s lyrics by the works of Iain M.Banks. He is currently my favorite author and one of the most imaginative minds alive today. If you read novels like “Matter” and “The Alchemist”, you’ll understand a lot more. There is also a couple of direct quotes of his writings, including a line that shook me when I first read it: “Whoever heard of a mortal body, having an immortal soul?”. Major influences are also the latest findings and scienific papers about cosmology, astronomy and astrobiology.

We would like to have some of your listenings during the creation of the EP, as it brings in mind many great bands, I even thought of Voivod while listening to it. My point is that even by combining much stuff inside your music, in the end it sounds unique and that’s what makes ”Axiom” special.

I am pleased that you fancy our concoction of all things fast, heavy and intense! Voivod is a band that we appreciate and respect. I was also able to witness their outstanding craft live during last spring’s Roadburn festival. They do not constitute a direct influence though. As far as the influences of our music go, I will answer instead of Thanos, our songwriter. Here is a (not exhaustive) list of the bands he loves and that inspire them: Helmet, Breach, Neurosis, Nirvana, Immolation, everything by Herr Wrest (Leviathan, Lurker Of Chalice…), Ken Mode, Engineer, Anodyne, Knut, Swarm Of The Lotus, Slayer, Arkangel, Skitsystem, Discordance Axis, Unsane, Jesus Lizard, Swans, Earth…

The vocals are really great, when would it be possible for the crowd to see you lose control in stage? Are there any plans for touring in the near future?

We count to perform live next year, hopefully with a couple of spring/summer festival appearances in Europe and good shows in Athens and Thessaloniki too. Interested parties, get in touch! If you want to see us live in your city, spread the word about Dephosphorus and ask your local promoter to contact us.

As far as I know, there’s going to be a full length album called ”Night Sky Transform”. What is going to sound like? Close to ”Axiom” or pretty different? Do you have a plan about releasing it soon?

”Night Sky Transform” has a different atmosphere and sound than “Axiom” but it’s not either a drastic departure from the Astrogrind style that we have introduced. It’s more intense, more challenging in terms of structure of the songs and of our performance. It is also infused with more varied influences, some that you don’t hear in “Axiom”. Having recorded it under excellent conditions, with our friend Miltos Schimatariotis (also responsible for “Axiom”’s mastering) at his compound at Northside Studio (www.northside.gr), we were relaxed enough in order to experiment on quite a few instances. We definitely have some surprises for you! We feel that ”Night Sky Transform” is our masterpiece. We do not want to rush its release. After all, “Axiom” is still hot and people still talk about it… We want to find the appropriate label who will provide the promotion and distribution that material of this magnitude deserves. 7 Degrees Records might carry the vinyl once again though… As of now the arwork is ready, we are about to print booklets and send over promo-CDR’s to select labels. “Uncharted” & “Cold Omen”, the first two excerpts of the album are streaming now at http://dephosphorus.bandcamp.com ! Check them out.

lso, Ryan Lipynsky from my beloved Unearthly Trance has helped you during these new recordings. How did you get in touch? What is your opinion about the music of the band?

I’ve been in touch with Ryan for many years. Me and Thanos are fans of his works since the early days of the first U.T. 7”EP’s. We are also huge Thralldom & The Howling Wind fans. We totally appreciate the immersive, occult and organic nature of all those bands. Personally, Thralldom’s “Black Sun Resistance” has had a major impact on me in terms of lyrics and concept, which is something that you will realize when you will read the lyrics of “The Astral Putsch” and a couple of other tracks from our forthcoming debut album. When I heard the music and read the lyrics, it was a major fucking revelation! Extreme metal had just become more crucial and offensive towards the status quo. Ryan responded immediately to our request, wrote lryics that fit perfectly to our concept and tracked vocals and guitar solo at this compound in Brooklyn, NY. All hails!

Tell us some things about how 7 Degrees records signed the band and what is their philosophy as a company. Are you satisfied by their promotion so far?

I am about to answer this question after spending a few days of bitter communication between my other band Amnis Nihili (www.amnisnihili.com) and our bigger, professional label, with both parties blaming each other, etc. If I had Simon from 7 Degrees Records here in Athens right now, I would give him a big hug, pay him dinner, then go chill at the beach with beers and smokes! We have with him a grass roots, old school underground relationship. No bullshit contracts. Just mutual respect, honnesty and sheer comradeship. 7 Degrees Records is a record label specializing in hardcore/grind vinyl and it is about to grow. Their philosophy is to produce high quality releases, without sparing the cost, focused in putting the band’s music into a fucking pedestal in order for the scene to absorb their craft under the proper conditions. That’s what they did for “Axiom”. It was a MLP, costing the same to manufacture as a full-length LP but sold at a lower price. Yet they did the extra mile and went for the more expensive gatefold cover (heavier, thus more expensive to ship), including an insert too. They did send quite a few promo copies to blogs, webzines and magazines. As you already know, labels these days are reluctant to send physical promo CD’s. They prefer to make promos available online, so a small underground label that sends a few dozens of promo vinyls all over the world, well that’s something that we appreciate very fucking much. Simon we love you! Check 7 Degrees Records online www.myspace.com/7degreesrecords (they should get a proper site online soon) and ask for their mailorder catalog at 7degreesrecords@gmx.net. They have a lot of outstanding releases, including the latest MÖRSER album (gods!) and Simon’s own band, grind powerhouse KEITZER!

I can’t help but praising you for the outstanding cover of ”Axiom”. Especially the tower on the inlay of the gatefold vinyl is totally amazing. Are you going to have a co-operation with Viral Graphics on ”Night Sky Transform” also?

Don’t praise us my friend, praise Viral Graphics! The inlay tower is a personal favorite, the kind of design that you want to do a tattoo with… That’s why we did a t-shirt of it (buy it!). It is safe to say that Dephosphorus and Viral Graphics are like Metallica and Pushead! They have just completed the artwork of “Night Sky Transform” and it fucking blew us away. I think it’s safe to say that with such another mind expanding inlay picture, the vinyl will get the gatefold treatment once again… Back to Viral, they are friends of ours. We grew up together, we as musicians and them as visionnaries and artists. Our collaboration has started back at the STRAIGHTHATE days, with the video-clip of “Ethnocide” and the “Cannibalistik Society” t-shirt design (still available from www.blastbeatmailmurder.com if you have a few euros to spare). We follow their evolution with excitement and awe… We have also used their services for the latest releases of the black metal bands that me and Nikos have. AMNIS NIHILI “Christological Escalation” digipack MCD (out also soon as a cross-shape 10”EP) and INJEKTING KHAOS self-titled MLP (to be out soon).

Which are the reactions of those who have listened ”Axiom” so far? How much important is for a fresh band to get recognition? Is it more than a motive for the future or does it bring extra responsibility to yourselves first?

Most people loved it, finding it exciting and fresh. It was interesting to realize that despite the hundreds (if not thousands) of new releases every year and the over-saturation that the rise of the webernet era has brought, the worldwide underground audience is still hungry for powerful, inspiring music that strays from the beaten path. It is extremely important for a new band to get some recognition and credit, because this gives back to the members energy to carry on. If nobody cares, motivation gradually diminishes to the pointing of ending the band or reaching a hibernation sort of stage when you release a demo once every few years. To answer to the last part of your question, it is both a motive and extra responsibility. People enjoy Dephosphorus’ music so we are impatient to unleash our new material upon them, as well as to perform live and prove what we are capable of. It is also extra responsibility because most bands disappoint after a super debut! They might not suck for the rest of their discography but they never reach that sort of peak.

How do you see music in general? We have reached the year 2011, things are not as they used to be. Now everything becomes easily accesible with a button push. Has it become only a product to be sold for glory’s sake, or is there still some romanticism left in your opinion?

Art and music spring from the depths of the human psyche. As long as we are not reduced to ash by a meteorite or global thermonuclear warfare, the human race will keep on making art and music. I do not like the old snob bullshit about times bygone when music was real, the sort of “they don’t make shit like that today” moronic nonsense. Maybe this does apply to american cars – not to music! Whoever claims that, either is ignorant of the current music production or is stuck in the past. Being stuck in the past is something that I can understand and respect, but I absolutely hate it when people try to scorn modern music because they still listen all day long to Bob Marley, Eric Clapton, Iron Maiden or whatever. Get real and stop being a living fucking caricature. But I digress. There are positive and negative aspects in every era, and that applies not only to music but in everything. I would like to take a trip back in time for example but I would not necessarily want to live centuries ago when life was more fragile and you would die from a mere peritonitis. The human brain has the built-in functionality of focusing on the more positive memories, forgetting the bad ones, pushing them to the depths of the subconsious. We are resilient beasts, built for survival. If we could not get rid of all the bad things that have happened to us, of all the fuck-ups that we have done, then we would be driven insane. Actually some mental illnesses are exactly that: people that cannot bear down the traumas of the past. I’m explaining all this in order to get down to the simple fact that sometimes the past is so appealing not because it was really great but because we miss our youth, our formative years, our innocence, the safety of being taken care of by our parents, not having to work, etc. Yeah I sure miss the early/mid 90’s! But not so much because I traded tapes or expected eagerly when the postman would arrive with answers from bands or packages with cd’s, but rather because I was a carefree student, a young adult choke full of blood and semen discovering life. My perception about life is such that I focus on the present. I don’t spend too much recollecting the past. We are living exciting times. We are discovering more about the universe each day. We have less delusions than past generations. Take the fucking hippies for example. They thought they would change the world by smoking weed, taking LSD and listening to psychedelic rock. Then they became either social cripples or ended up working for multinational corporations screwing up the planet. Fuck the past. This is now. I only care about living in decent health as much as possible. As long as that will happen I’m sure that I will lay my old hands on exciting, new music/art and hopefully that my vocal chords will still allow me to rock the microphone…

We’d like to thank you for the interview and wish you the best of luck in the future. I personally want you to relase the new album and get what you really deserve from press and fans. Close this conversation by adding anything you’d like or you weren’t asked about.

Dephosphorus is pretty much a D.I.Y. operation. We are trying to make things happen on our own and with the precious help of a dedicated group of comrades. That’s why we appreciate so much the support from Metalpaths and the occasion that you give us to speak up our minds. We are grateful but not in the usual way that bands end interviews typically thanking the journalist and the publication. Hopefully you will be proud of supporting us when “Night Sky Transform” will be out! ACHTUNG! Shameless self-advertisement follows next. Download “Axiom” for free from http://www.dephosphorus.com/download-axiom (in case you haven’t done already that is) and if you like what you hear and what you see, vote the capitalist way by ordering the MLP and/or our t-shirt either from us or from 7 Degrees Records (www.myspace.com/7degreesrecords , 7degreesrecords@gmx.net). Last but not least, don’t forget to check out the two brand new tracks from “Night Sky Transform” that are streaming right now at http://dephosphorus.bandcamp.com.

Interview by: Aggelos “Redneck” Katsouras.

First of all, congratulations about your new album. It took quite a while once again. Could you tell us what the band had been doing after the release of ”Paradise Lost” until now?

Thank you. After the release of Paradise Lost, we spent the next couple years touring for that CD, the last tour, in China, was about March of 2009. Then we started working on the new CD. It seems like a lot of time between releases because we wait until the touring cycle is finished before we start writing the the music for the next CD. We tried writing on the road, but there are a lot of distractions… we find it best when, after the touring is finished, we can give 100% of our time and effort to the new music.

The production is so amazing that it sounds like you are playing really next to our ears. We’d like to know some more about the recording process and if you’re satisfied with the final result.

We are very satisfied with the CD! We knew, we wanted the music to be a bit more relentless and aggressive, so with the recording, we kept this in mind. We do all the recording in my studio, so we also have the luxury of taking our time and experimenting with different sounds and techniques. A lot is also on the mixing end, where Jens Bogren really pulls it all together. He did a great job for us with ” Paradise Lost”, and really wanted him for the mix on “Iconoclast”. The last few CDs have been very guitar-riff driven, so a more “in your face” style mix works out great.

”Iconoclast” is a very daring album for Symphony X. This time there’s so much material that it feels the second CD shouldn’t be only on the limited edition. Were there any tracks left out from the limited edition?

To us, the Limited Edition is the REAL version. All the songs were written for the “Iconoclast” release, it just turned out to be more material that would fit on one disc, so we did a double-disc. There were no bonus tracks or anything like that, I just write until it feels like the music has said all it needs to say and the CD feels complete. We didn’t realize there was so much material until the end, when we timed in, and decided we wanted all the songs and needed to do a double-disc. The is also a single disc version which, of course, has a few songs taken off to fit on the single CD.

I also dare to say that the second CD is even heavier and I like it a little more than the first one. What surprises people more every time is the fact that you get much heavier in each album. Can it really get any heavier?

I grew up with metal, so it is in my blood and always a part of the music. It mostly depends on the theme of the CD, or what we want to express with the music. With Iconoclast, it was definitely a heavier, more aggressive and relentless type of direction. The heavier stuff always feels great live, as well.

Russel Allen sounds as if he’s going to devour the listener, ready to come out of the speaker. In what form of torture did you put him through to make him sound like that?

Haha, yeah.. Russ just finds that perfect style to match the music, again, going with the direction of each CD. This time it was the Man vs. Machine idea and the aggressive and relentless nature of the music.

In the eyes of all metal fans, whether they like Symphony X or not, you are one of the most complete guitar players of all time. You play what the middle metalhead wants to hear, combining all kinds of expression. How do you decide if there has to be more aggression, melody, rhythm in specific parts of the songs and how much difficult is this?

Not much difficulty, actually. As the songs and riffs develop, things just naturally fall into place. I really try no to think about it too much, just play from the heart, and what feels right in each particular song. Of course the heavy and fast stuff is always a lot of fun, though!

In 1994 you released an excellent solo album called ”The Dark Chapter”. Fans are wondering if there will be another solo album in the future.

Actually, I did that as a demo around 1989 or 1990. The Japanese label, at that time (1994), decided it would be cool to release it. I would love to do another solo CD and have been putting ideas aside for a while to do it. Maybe in the next year.

It’s a common secret that all people are happythat the band gets more recognition as years pass by. Most of them believe that this should have come much earlier. Do you feel justice has been given for the band after all these years of hard work? Does it also bring more responsibility to the five of you?

Sure, if it was earlier it would have been nice, but we’ve been continually growing our success more each year and with each passing CD. It is good to see our hard work paying off! Like I said, we put everything we have into each new CD and give every live performance 100%.

It would be very interesting to know the way you got into music generally and guitar specifically. Are there any new bands that you like a lot and people should check out?

I started out playing piano when I was very young, I always felt close to music. I started playing guitar when I was about 14 and listening to bands Kiss, Zeppelin and AC/DC. Then I got more into metal, bands like Sabbath, Priest and Maiden… as well as progressive bands like Rush, ELP and Frank Zappa. The biggest guitar influence, in the beginning, was Randy Rhoads on the Ozzy stuff. That’s when I really got into the whole ‘guitar playing’ aspect and that introduced me to players like Uli Jon Roth, Al Di meola, Alan Holdsworth, Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen and all the other great players.

You are visiting Greece for the first time. How much excited do you feel every time you go to a different country for the first time? Is it a motive for you to play even better? What should the fans expect from you?

It is definitely cool going to new places for the first time, and Greece will be a lot of fun. We really can’t wait and have heard so many great things about the Greek fans. We are really looking forward to the show! It’s gonna be a night for us to remember! See you all soon!

Interview by: Aggelos ”Redneck” Katsouras

Legendary Sanctuary are back and Warrel Dane talks with Metalpaths about the reunion, the upcoming shows and the new album that’s coming.

So Warrel, Sanctuary are back. How do you feel playing again with these guys after all these years? Does the chemistry still exist?

The chemistry is still there. We are having a lot of fun doing the rehearsals, playing the old songs and we are gonna play all the songs people want to hear I think. The new songs turning out great and it’s nice to be back in a room together with these guys you know, we played years ago it’s just fun and that is the best part.

Fans are so excited to see you performing around the world how much responsibilities does that brings to you and in which way are you going to correspond to these responsibilities?

Ok, I think it might be a little bit of pressure on us because we know that people have been waiting for years for us to play again. However it’s all coming out very naturally and we are already playing so well together which is just so perfect. We are really not very apprehensive on how people gonna see it because we know we are gonna put on a great show. I know that after all these years people are really excited and the thing is that we are really excited as well and what we are gonna do is to put the best metal show we can do.

Sanctuary have always being acknowledged as one of the pioneers of the US Metal after the mid 80s. In which way were you influenced back then and how did you feel for the fact that main bands have began their career because they wanted to became as glorious as Sanctuary?

(Laughing) That is just flattering to look up to us…

Well, that’s true so…

…Back then, starting out, we were listening to all kinds of music. Of course we loved Metallica, we loved Black Sabbath, we loved Iron Maiden, we loved Judas Priest but we all were in just a need to end like Kreator and Destruction and a lot of European thrash and everything back then. So I think that’s where we came from, we all listen to metal but as we grown up we started listen a lot of different kinds of music. Back when we were kids, we were all listen to metal and perhaps I guess our legacy is that we were Metalheads. It is great that, you know, that Sanctuary inspired people. That’s the things we asked for, that is just, you know, such a great compliment when people say that our band inspired them.

Well, yeah, that is true and the thing is that this stays that way after quite a lot of years.

Yes, exactly..

We have been told that Sanctuary is your number one priority now compared to Nevermore. After the tour is over will there be any plans for a new album or is it being made just to see if the fire still burns inside the band?

Hm… you know, definitely is going to be another Sanctuary for sure. Because we are working on the songs there so. And there is definitely going to be another Nevermore record as well and there would definitely be another solo record, myself as well..

That’s great to hear!

It’s all, you know, time management at this point so yeah, the focus is on Sanctuary right now and it should be, because the new songs have to be up to par with the old ones and we are taking steps to make sure that this happens. We are really rehearsing hard and writing very hard and focusing on everything to make sure that it is the best it could be right now.

We know that you and Jim were acting with Nevermore all these years what were all the other members doing all this time and how did you get in touch again?

The other guys played in some different bands but never really, you know, got a record deal or did anything with it. You know, when the break up first happened, we weren’t friends for a long time. We didn’t talk to each other and that’s when Jim and I were doing Nevermore we just kinda forgot about it. But over the years people grow up and you change. We started talking again with those guys, we’ve seen them out at parties sometimes and you know we got back to being friends again so we decided to… Fuck! You know, why not try to make some more music and why not to lead in something good… So that’s what we did.

I see… so basically is what usually friends do; they meet up again after a few years, they shoot again and do their thing actually, right?

Yeah, that was exactly what happened.

You previously said that you listen a lot of music and your taste varies a lot. Will this going to bring new elements to the music of Sanctuary or will you try to keep it as in the old days and bring back the traditional American metal sound?

Well, I can tell you this match the new songs sound like something natural that progressed from… into the mere of black. These songs are very very fucking heavy and some of them have, you know, prog elements. Some of them have thrash elements, some of them are even a little bit of doom, maybe… Slightly, but it still sounds like the old Sanctuary and you know, we are not gonna pull on Metallica and sound like a load record or something so…nobody has to worry about us changing our sound.

We can hardly wait after hearing this… So, describe us the experience of the first live show you did after the reunion and if it went just as you have planned.

Oh boy, hmm, We played the fist show in Seattle, and was in one of the most famous clubs in Seattle called the “El Corazon“. We were all really really nervous but we’ve been rehearsing very very hard. After the first half of the first song, we were totally into it and it went so well and we realized we were stupid for being nervous. You know, the crowd went nuts and afterwards some of the people there are old friends and were like; “You guys are better now than you were 20 years ago” so that was encouraging. You know we are a lot older and a lot wiser and not as drunk as we used to be (laughs)…and that is maybe the fact that we are playing so well together again..

Yeah, that might have helped a lot (Laughs)… You have been to Greece many times but your first time was with Sanctuary supporting Fates Warning. How do you feel that many fans in a country that you are very beloved, will have the chance to see the show and what can you tell to them to prepare maybe the ground for it ?

Well, you know, Nevermore has played in Greece many many many times and we just love playing there because the Greek Metalfans are some of the best in the world!

Ah, yeah, we are…! (Laughs)

Yes, because you are all crazy! And that’s a good thing. Some of our best memories from Sanctuary were, you know, coming to Greece for those two shows with Fates Warning. We had such a good time and we are still really good friends with the guys in Fates Warning and we just had a great time to those two shows. I remember, Sanctuary and Fates Warning were on a train coming from Germany and we had to drive. The train had to come all the way through to Greece and that was the most crazy surreal experience I’ve ever had. We went through Yugoslavia, and that was the time when in Yugoslavia was in a lot of tremor and the train would stop, police would come up and check our papers and oh…it was kinda scary..

Oh Gosh, yeah, it sounds scary..

Yeah, but this time we are flying and we are gonna be ok! (Laughs). Anyway, all the guys in Sanctuary do remember those shows and you know, Jim and I, we know everything that happened and with Nevermore and we are excited and the guys are so looking forward to it. Lenny and Dave are really excited to come back to Greece after so long and we are going to give the best show that we can give and I know that the Greek fans are going to be the best that they can be as well..

Tell me .. How much talent is it to use the high pitch vocals after so many years that seems locked in the attic of your mind?

Well, it wasn’t easy and I was a bit apprehensive about it at first thinking like “Oh Gosh, can I still do this?” and it just takes practice and I started practicing, doing it a lot and at first it wasn’t so good. However, a week later it got better and the week after got better cause when you do that kind of high pitch singing, you really have to be consistent and you have to be all the time to keep your voice to that place.

It surely needs practice but we can’t take out talent, someone needs to be talented as well..right?

I can only guess so.. yeah. It is still there, I guess I still have the talent.

Ok Warrel, we wish you all the best for the future and we hope you’ll stay with us as much as possible. Can you leave us with some last words for this conversation, a message maybe or something else that pops out from your mind?

Ok…To all the fans in Athens; Prepare for the metal on slaughter, the battle is still raging. Sanctuary still burns!

Interview by: Maria “Lucine Westenra” Maragou.

After three long years of waiting, the return of Septicflesh is a fact with a great album called ”The Great Mass”. Guitarist, vocalist and composer Sotiris Vayenas (Sotiris Anunnaki V) describes us how he enjoys the love of the fans, the recording process of the album and their future plans that will lead them to the true success!

You can either watch the video or read the text format of the interview below.

Good afternoon from Metalpaths TV. We have the honour to host Sotiris Vagenas from Septicflesh.

Good afternoon

Everything’s fine?

Everything’s fine!

We were talking off the record before about the big response for the new album ”The Great Mass” and we’d like initially to tell us how you see the fans’ response from your point of view.

After so many years, it’s something unbelievable even for us, so fast. Usually first comes our release and slowly starts the response of the fans. It seems that now there was a big waiting from the fans, maybe because ”Communion” was promoted very well. Generally after the reunion of the band we see the fans’ interest not only reducing but also more people is added to listening to Septicflesh and we are really very happy with what we see and we live this situation, waiting where the whole thing is going to end up.

I believe on all this counts the fact that the album is full of quality. Keeping your basic elements, you evolve each time and no matter how much you change, which you did from album to album, the middle listener, either old or new, understands that he listens to Septicflesh. We’d like you to tell us how you saw the album getting created from the beginning, if there was a certain direction and if not, if this result came out naturally.

We always start naturally, meaning that naturally equals that we express our feelings. We are open in many different genres of music and we can express ourselves in many different ways, like using different instruments. So, the choices we have when we start composing an album are always much. So, we don’t know from the beginning where the whole project is going to end up, we basically build on our best parts, meaning we put material in. Meanwhile, we have the positive that we have four musical brains, meaning me, Hristos, Spyros and Fotis, our drummer, compose songs. So, there is an exchange of ideas, lasting for a big space and I believe that this shows on the new album, the fact that we have worked the songs in large time limit. When we reach the part that some ideas are better than the rest, that’s where we put the direction. We say for example, from this five or six elements we have created until this part, we judge that the one who will show the new ‘advance’ in the new chapter of Septicflesh is this. So we build upon these ideas from a point and on. But this occurs after we have worked on the songs first.

What you say is very important, because there are many bands based in only one composer that has to do all the work. How much relieving is for each of you especially and as a sum what you stated before?

First of all, it is relieving even to know that if you get stuck to a part, which is logical -you may take the idea up to a point and get stuck- next to you is a team which will help you surpass the stucking part in the composition, we are somehow perfectionists, for example a song which we consider simply good, doesn’t satisfy us to say that it’s so good. We always want something more, to feel that our hair stand up, first of all we must feel it as listeners. This is for us the element that has what we say ‘the green light’, that it must enter the album. So, when you know… When I know that for example that I’ve got Hristos behind me, I’ve got Spyros, I’ve got Fotis, I feel less pressure psychologically to create and when you create an album like ”Communion” the expectations keep rising.

On what you just said, I’d like to tell you that in my ears personally it’s true, from the fact that ”The Great Mass” is an extreme album but it sounds more calm because it lacks the pressure compared to ”Communion”, which came after the reunion, not necessarily because you had to prove something, but to show you’re alive. How is this getting linked to the fact that you are a demanding band which this time had a demanding producer, Peter Tagtgren (Hypocrisy) and how much did all demands got in common?

Fredman was also a demanding producer, I don’t want to say Fredrik (Nordstrom) wasn’t, they are both big names in the extreme music production issues.

Are there any big things in common or big differences between them?

They are totally different characters, completely different. What I saw now in Peter is that he’s very open to the proposals of the band. When I say open, I mean even small details, he’s not the type of person that will say ‘guys, this is it’. He’s not going to tell ‘it’s like that, it’s over’. Something that was really impressive to me was that he’s working on all the songs of the album in each mix. He doesn’t take song to song to finish and then go to the next one. In our album we had ten songs, so he did a mix for ten songs. If we didn’t like it, he would do a mix for ten songs again. So you understand that the load of labor when you get to listen to ten songs and try to fix the sound linking all ten songs, it’s for me tremendous work. It means that the person doing this is really obsessed and wants to produce the best result.

He always was like that. Did this whole procedure buy some time for you?

Yes it did, though from a point and on we started feeling that we press him, how many times should he try to fix a detail? Of course the result speaks on its own, that’s what he also told us, the goal was a result to be achieved. Now, if it came out with the first or the fifth attempt it doesn’t concern us, the result is that counts.

I consider the new album easier to access, not musically but as far as production is concerned, without being less dark, it sounds more direct compared to ”Communion”.

And this is strange!

I don’t know if you believe that it’s Peter’s fault, because I believe that your playing has evolved compared to ”Communion”. There is aggression, as of course there is one of the classic parts, meaning the orchestrations, which is a necessary element of Septicflesh and all these have been put to order perfectly.

It’s what I said before, we worked the songs on big time limit, which means we kept on listening to them on and on and in the end we were trying to simplify things a bit, ”The Great Mass” is an organised chaos. We sat and said ”Where should we give priority on this part ?”, we did a very correct programming in order to emphasize per part, per song. In some parts we thought to emphasize on the orchestra, in some others we thought the rhythm element to come forth, in others the melodic part to come forth. We had taken the basic decisions and we gave Peter something that was structured correctly I believe. He didn’t have much to work on the structures, like ”Put this on, put this out”. The material was ready, he just had to give the balance to the right sound with his own ear, we wanted the orchestra to be part of the band, no the orchestra in one side and Septicflesh on the other. It sounds like a whole unit.

How much do you believe that the new album will be the guide for the future of Septicflesh? From ”Summerian Daemons” to ”Communion” there is a connection, also existing between ”Communion” and ”The Great Mass”.We see the band taking it forwards, it may be early to tell but there are so many expectations right now, like telling you before about the frenzy of the fans, and I’ll tell you something I believe and I hear from others too. While we were getting down with the fact that you release albums in two or three years time, this time we don’t want you to release an album soon, so that the new one will grow inside us. And also the fans have a complaint that the last two albums are a little short. They’d like somehow more.

In duration you mean… ”The Great Mass” is a little longer than ”Communion”. I’m in favour of the opinion where you must give priority to the point. We don’t have filler songs to just fill an album. The purpose is not to create twelve songs, our purpose is to have a united sum and I think that ”The Great Mass” is the work that sounds as a sum more than we did in the past. There are certain songs of course, but what sticks to your mind in the end is the general picture and that’s what we want to achieve. As far about the next album, we will start with the same philosophy, which always remains the same.

There’s a stable basis, in which you build…

Yes, we have our feelings, we know where to give priority, and we’ll do the same thing again, build on the strong parts which will come out. Since it’s inspiration issue, I can’t say it’s going to come to me, it’s a kind of magic that happens in certain moments.

Ain’t it great though, when all comes to you gathered? Can you put them in order then?

For sure. It’s on us if we put them on order, the primal material that comes is always raw. You have to work on it, to fix it so there comes a direction, it’s not mixed ideas. What I can say is that we feel great self confidence, seeing that we made it. Each time that we make it and see we make something more, we feel more power for the next album.

I think that comes out from your playing. The album is not easy listening, though it sounds direct as I told you before, maybe its short duration helps, regarding ”Communion”.

It’s longer in duration than ”Communion”

And I see the fans already getting to know the songs, saying ”What a great part this is” here and there… It’s unbelievable because you see it in persons of young age that seem to live and breathe for it.

In the beginning, when we created we said ”It’s a difficult album”.

You didn’t make any easy one though in the past…

Well, yes, we didn’t make any easy one. Maybe the most easy was ”Revolution DNA” which also had some strange elements for its era, anyway, we don’t know how the fans are going to see each album, some songs need many listenings to get to know them, and especially if you see it as a sum, because each song is different compared to the others. It’s not like listening to ”The Vampire Of Nazareth” which was the first single, and you think the whole album is going to be like that. If you listen to one song only, you get the wrong impression, you have to listen to the sum. I really see the fans emphasizing in some songs very fast, that they have stuck to their minds as ideas and pictures, what happens now is really great.

Despite your self confidence, does the love of the fans fill you with extra responsibility?

By all means. First of all, the responsibility starts from ourselves. The correct creator must feel satisfied for himself for what he does. He must have original feelings, the one successful is the one doing things from the heart, coming from inside of him. From the point that the fans have followed us all these years of our career and has seen our various elements, there is a basic personality which is the Septicflesh sound, which follows us. We may experiment and evolve, but I don’t think there will be fans to say one day ”This ain’t Septicflesh”. So, the ones being our fans get satisfied from the result, as long as it is original and passionate. The responsibility towards our fans is correctly structured.

There are always goals inside a band. How much did you believe that this different band compared to all from ”Mystic Places Of Dawn” will reach the point it has reached so far, and how much have you stayed the same or different in some parts since then to now, for we all evolve through the years…

If I tell you that we imagined when we were youngsters, that we would be a band with twenty years of presence in the scene, and that the name Septicflesh would mean something for persons in various regions of the world…

You were created in difficult seasons, especially for the Greek scene.

Yes, we couldn’t imagine this. We had ambitions, our ambition was to play something special. We didn’t want to come up the stage, just pose and say ”Wow, we are a band” ! Our ambition was to play music, but not just music. We wanted to play music with some identity on it, that was our purpose. Then we would take it step by step, first we released our demo, then we released our first mini LP and then we released our first album. There was the important part where we achieved to sign with a foreign record company, which opened the doors for us to the fans outside Greece.

You also had Nightfall in Holy Records then…

Yes, Nightfall were first, then we joined Holy Records and generally the French have a sympathy to the Greek metal scene. They have stood by the side of many Greek bands.

Since you refer it, I must tell you that two years ago I was in Hellfest in France. I must have seen in three days at least one hundred Septicflesh T-shirts, with no exagerration. I’ll be there this year too and I see that there is a strong fan base there for you, I don’t know if your new record company helps also on that.

There is a strong fan base, from the beginning things were easy in France and especially if you think there was a season we wouldn’t play live. Our first world tour was in the ”A Fallen Temple” era, about a decade after our formation. The most gigs we’ve done are from our reunion and on, when ”Communion” came out. We built all this thing without having the super promotion done, and this has an importance to me. Now, how much we changed as persons all this time, our basic elements are the same. Our personality hasn’t changed, our beliefs haven’t changed, we just mature and experiences are gathered, so you see some things clearly. These are the changes done. Our soul and our way of thinking hasn’t changed.

It would be very interesting to tell us some influences from composers, because to tell you’re only a guitarist or a singer would reduce your status. Which bands or persons shaped you since then until now, and if you have a suggestion to make about listenings, metal or not, so the people could hear, because I believe your opinion will be of interest to many people.

First of all I should say that I started by playing violin. When I was young I would play violin for about ten years before I fall in love with electric guitar. So, my first listenings were more in the classical music and violinists.

Mozart or Beethoven, now that you made the statement?

I like them both. Each one for his own style, I also like Tschaikoffsky very much. Anyway, there was a time that I would listen to rock very much, apart from metal, some of my influences were artists like David Bowie, some more gothic rock artists, or bands like The Police, which were real artists with great compositions and of course I kept evolving. In metal all the giants had impressed me, like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Dio, Saxon, you know, I lived the ’80s, all this magic of NWOBHM.

You saw it given birth.

I saw it given birth. Then I got into black metal, bands like Venom, I saw the extreme music evolving and I was following, thrash, death metal. Death metal was the point it did a ‘click’ to me.

I think it shows a bit.

Yes, it did a big ‘click’ to me. I generally liked the extreme element, I wanted compositions with melody but I was very enthused by the extreme element.

There was something direct on it, maybe a little ‘naive’ also.

I don’t know but something inside of me was driving me to that style. Bands like Morbid Angel, Death, Celtic Frost, if I continue telling names the interview will never end.

We had an interview with Nergal of Behemoth last year and he told us how much he appreciates you as a band. And when we asked him to tell us some of the best albums of the decade, he had put ”Communion” in a special place and that he considers you good friends of his. Something else before we close this, we’d like you to tell us some of the direct plans of the band, if a tour is going to follow because the fans really want to see you very much. And if there’s going to be a tour outside Greece, apart from festivals, where I’ll catch you up on Hellfest.

I should tell you that this week, 22 and 23 of April, we have two festival appearances in France, on one of which I’ll be too. As you know, I’m a bit the invisible force on the band, I’ll try to be more on the front.

It’s nominable for the other guys that they produce this result without you, without putting you aside of course.

Yes, it really is. There is a respect and Septicflesh is a common creation, there is not only one from behind. On the next month there’s going to be a big headlining tour in France, about twenty gigs, it’s a lot of gigs. Then in summer, there’s going to start a tour in America, with a strong package. We are playing with Children Of Bodom, Devin Townsend and Obscura.

I think you feel a bit lucky, it’s a great line-up with different bands.

That’s what I like very much, each band has something different to give, different show, different intuition.

Obscura are great guys also, I think you’ll fit a lot with them.

Meanwhile, Obscura impressed me, I had met with their bass player (Jeroen Paul Thesseling) and when I saw what he was playing I wanted to look further on them.

It’s strange because alongside your album, Obscura’s album is the best for this year so far for me. It’s like they reincarnate the old spirit.

They are a worthy band, they are very worthy and I’m happy that this tour will take place.

We’d like to thank you all very much, and you on behalf of all the band. We want to wish you the best because you are worth it, not only musically but also for your attitude to the fans, everything should go well, first of all being healthy, stay who you are, and have even greater response.

Thank you too, thanks to the fans basically, because it’s the fans that drive you, it gives you the motive, when you see there is response, when they want to listen to more material, you get power of this. Be sure that we’ll try more each time to open a new chapter in our history and we will show you new elements.

So, see you on tour. Thank you very much!

Yes! Thank you too.

Interview by: Aggelos “Redneck” Katsouras.
Video edit by: Manos Spanos.

Metalpaths speaks with Roger Miret about Agnostic Front’s new record, their involvement into the hardcore scene and the band’s direct plans.

Hello Roger this is Rena from Metalpaths. Where can we find you at the moment?

Hello Rena, nice to meet you! I’m at home, relaxing.

Well, your latest album titled “My Life, My way” has been recently released. Could you tell us a few things about the record?

It feels it is one of Agnostic Front’s strongest record, pure hardcore! It’s like a really cool combination of “Something’s Gotta Give” which meets the “Warriors” album and then “Victim In Pain” so it’s a very classic hardcore sound, true to hardcore roots. It’s a very natural sound and very aggressive.

Your previous record was released quite many years before, what was the reason that took you so long to release something new?

Just touring a lot. We did a lot of touring with the “Warriors” record. We toured the world and then we changed the drummer in the middle of it all. Actually it’s just that we write songs for us, we just write albums for us and we just do whatever we feel like and we release an album when we feel it’s the right timing.

So you didn’t have any pressure from the company right ?

No, no pressure at all.

The album was released by Nuclear Blast, are you satisfied by the attention they pay to Agnostic Front or do you think that they have other priorities ?

I guess the big priorities are the bands that sell the most, like every other label. I don’t think we are a top priority but they definitely don’t treat us like we’re not anything. I think that’s pretty fair. It’s a very good team and they’re good people. They just work album by album as releases, who’s coming out, what’s going on, if something is really new for the fans to attract more than us, but at the moment I think they’re pretty good.

The production was made by Erik Rutan plus your brother Freddy Cricien. Do you think that they put any of their own ideas on the record and if yes, could you mention a few of them?

Erik Rutan was the engineer of the record and he is responsible for basically the sounds of the record. We said both Erik and Freddy knew exactly how the songs sound. Erik knew that we wanted him in the studio because he knew that we wanted a very natural sound, not a very triggered metal sound you know. He worked hard and it was really difficult to give the right sound for Agnostic Front but he did a great job. My brother Freddy, as a producer did a fantastic job too, he listened to the songs, and he gave us feedbacks, positive feedbacks, suggestions, a lot of different suggestions. Freddy is my brother and this is the second record he produces for Agnostic Front. Actually he has been an Agnostic Front member for so long so it’s not a big deal, he’s like the sixth member. They definitely had some responsibility for the sound and songs; I definitely give that credit to them.

I guess that you must be a big influence in Freddy’s career since you were one of the reasons he is into the NYHC scene but is it easy for you to work with your brother? Tell us a few things about your relationship with him.

Well, what can I say he’s my brother! Ever since he was a little kid I used to bring him up in the NYHC scene, ever since he was 7 years old he sang with Agnostic Front. He was always with me cause my family lived in Florida so I used to bring him up with me in NY to stay with me for a bit and then he just decided to stay and finish the school in NY with me and live with me. He knows the NYHC better than many people. He was the younger guy in the NYHC scene you know. This is pretty cool, in the age of seven to be singing with a band like Agnostic Front in the early early days. Working with Freddy is pretty simple cause we recognize him in real life. I was a very big influence in his life, it’s obvious, I got him into his life and he created his band and everything, so he’s just giving back to us. It’s not that difficult you know cause these are his roots, he knows exactly what Agnostic Front sounds like, he knows exactly what Agnostic Front is, and he’s been a real brother.

Many artists of the NYHC scene, for example Diablo of Freddy are used to releasing their own solo albums and some of them are really involved into the hip hop genre. What is your opinion about hip hop and would you do an album like that?

No I wouldn’t do an album like that cause it’s not my style. I do my own solo albums. I have some new releases to work with “Roger Miret & the disasters”. I probably sing more originated to my roots which are the punk scene. I’m not a hip hop fan, I don’t really like that, I don’t feel like that and you know I just don’t get it. I like the earlier I guess rap hip hop where the message was a little bit more alternative, more positive. That doesn’t mean that I ignore that, I could listen to a good song, definitely a good song is a good song. I’m not a fan of hip hop but they definitely have some good damn songs. I could hear them of course but it’s just that I’m not a fan of hip hop and if it sounds good to me imagine how it sounds to real fans. But I prefer more the punk scene; my style is punk, that’s what I like better.

Also some of them they have adopted some hip hop standards like dissing others with their songs (like the one Ezec has done with Skam Dust about Cro-Mags) but do you think that’s a good way to express your any problems with someone? Would you do that?

I don’t know, to be honest I haven’t listened to that song but this is the whole hip hop thing. They really like doing that staff. It’s kind of ridiculous for me you know but that’s what they’re doing, that’s their lifestyle I guess.

“DMS crew”. What does it stand for you and how could a band from your area be involved in that? Do you have any criteria or something or is it a close kind of family matter.

To me DMS crew is original, it’s a family. We are a bunch of guys who met together and try to keep the scene alive, that’s how it came you know. We are a few people that came together and support what we believe in. I am a part of the crew, a have tattoo upon me. It’s more than a brotherhood to me, it’s family, friends, it’s people that really look strong for each other, pretty much that’s what it is. Apart from that it’s cool cause there are people from different styles and different musics involved it that crew. We have people from the punk and hardcore scene, to hip hop, ska, reggae; you know we got a lot of good people. And yes it’s a close family network it’s not something that anyone can join, it’s a close dedicated family network, it’s how we chose to keep it.

Apart from the NYHC scene are there any other countries that you recognize their offer in hardcore, for example like London Hardcore or German hardcore ?

I think the NYHC scene it’s the biggest of all, for example when everybody refers into hardcore, what comes to their minds is the biggest scene of all which has to be the NYHC. NYHC has collectively the most influenced bands like Agnostic Front, Madball, even Hatebreed is a part of the NYHC scene. There’s a lot of great bands out of NY and I think is such a big impact but throughout the years there has been a lot of great bands coming from worldwide like California. I think we are in the forefront, we are the huge hardcore scene and it’s been a lot of respect back in the NYHC but it’s been a lot of great bands that are not from New York that are doing great hardcore as well. We have Death Before Dishonor from Boston, just a lot of great bands. For example you mentioned London, we have Knuckledust from there and a lot of other great bands in Germany as well but I think as a crew, the NYHC has always been the top.

Agnostic Front has always been a big influence to the new blood. But what do you think has influenced you at the beginning of your career ?

Well first of all, this thing that we are all part of was a very small scene and it had much difference than how it started more recently in other places, for example with the 100-150 people in a club. The scene was not bigger than 30, 35, 50 people max. But they were passionate people, it was people that was coming out in the weekend and was really passionate, they were living it on the streets and living it hardcore like we were.

You mean the CBGB’s era right?

Yeah exactly the CBGB’s era where the people were really passionate about music, so the main influence was the fact that we were in a “true” team full of dedication and passion. If you have dedication and passion then you walk into a great scene. If you really love the music like we do, if you listen to the lyrics and then they stick into you, this is hardcore you know…

And what is your opinion about the straight-edge way of lifestyle ?

I think it’s a great life, how could you say it’s negative? Labels are ridiculous in general you know, everybody should be themselves be whatever they want to be but straight edge is a good movement, they live a positive lifestyle. It’s better that a regular lifestyle you know. I’m not the straight-edge type of guy, I’m not straight-edge but I live more a straight positive life if you know what I mean. I understand the true meaning but I think that people should be something for themselves not just to be a part of something. If you’re straight edge that’s cool but stay straight edge for yourself not to show to others that it is cool and just to hang out with people, but it’s nothing wrong with it. Good bands, good movement and it has a good message.

Were there any phases in your career that you said “OK that’s enough” and you thought of disbanding or split the band ?

It happens on every tour!! No I’m only kidding… Well I don’t know, sometimes you hit those walls cause I have been doing that from 16 years and I am 46, I have been doing that for 30 years! I never been to high school, I never did a lot of things that other people did. I have no career. I definitely knew that this is not the lifestyle I would pick for my whole life for sure cause I work, I am an electrician, I’m not so “glorious” as a lot of people think. And sometimes when you’re on tour you start thinking more about your future, you’re getting old you know, but then you play the show and it feels so good that people understand you and you give it to them and then they give it back to you, so it’s a weird situation. But it’s a hard life cause it’s not guarantee you never know…

And what is the worst thing that has ever happened to you while touring ?

I can’t think of something bad that has happened to me while on tour.

Really? You seem to be very lucky cause the most bands I have interviewed have something stupid to describe!

I don’t know if something so stupid happened to me. Maybe the worst moment was with our first drummer when he told us that we were about to play in a show and we were very excited but after all we didn’t play because they didn’t want us to play! That was a pretty bad moment, but I cannot think of something else, or something die-hard that has ever happened to us, thank god! It’s been a lot of good times.

Are you planning to visit us soon?

I’m not sure about Europe and Greece cause we were there recently and it was very good cause we’ve been trying to play to Greece for a long time. Every time I was seeing my schedule we had a show and when I checked it again was not there any more, I don’t know the situation there, we love Athens we love Greece, actually I did my honeymoon there.

Greece loves you! Really you did your honeymoon here? In Athens or in any island ?

Yes in an island. I have been to Crete and I have been in somewhere else but I don’t remember the name…

I wish I could help but we have thousands!

Indeed, that’s crazy!

So Roger, before we close, do you have something to say to your Greek fans ?

Thank you for the many years of support, the scene is great every time that we get there, it’s strong, it’s one of the most generous scenes I have ever been and I’ve been keeping my eye on what’s happening there always, it’s crazy but we always want to go to Greece so maybe I will see you soon! Anyway keep the faith, keep hardcore alive and support hardcore!

Thank you Roger and wish you the best for your future plans!

Thank you too, goodbye!

Interview by: Rena Koutsou.

Just a few days before the release of U.D.O. new album “Rev-Aptor”, the frontman of the band Udo Dirkschneider talks about the vibe of the record and the new experiments of the band to some songs. On the other hand, the ex-singer of the legendary heavy metal band Accept, comments on the latest album of his ex-band.

* You can also listen to the audo format of the interview here.

Hello, Udo nice to have you on board, seen that your new album “Rev-aptor” will come out in a month. What were your first impressions after finishing your work on it, only a short time after a great piece of work; “Dominator”?

We did a lot of things in a different way. The new album is better ruled; I mean guitar vibes, more written solos, more melodies on this one and I think the most important thing is that we tried to keep the sound very modern but also stay close to our roots. I think so far it has been great.

I’ve heard some new stuff in it. For example the song “Leatherhead” except from its true metal origins, has also some fragments of German industrial music, at least in my ears. Do you think so?

Yeah I think this is the best example. “Leatherhead” is a straightforward metal song but in a way this is a modern song and it shows everything in this album. It’s experimental but so far the reactions are very very good.

You will surely know -even if that’s not the point- that some people will wrongly compare it with Accept’s last record “Blood of The Nations”. For me, your path and Accept’s path are two completely different things…

(interrupting) For me also… (laughter)

Did you enjoy it or you didn’t have the time to hear it?

Yeah of course I enjoyed it, it’s a good production and a good album and I expected a good album from Accept. I mean they’ve had almost 10 years time to compose it, I wish I had that time, but it was quite a success and what can I say, they can be happy.

Ok, let’s move on.  Some people say that figures of the past, even legends, just like you, have to step down and give their place to new artists. Such words were heard about bands like Scorpions or Priest and even Iron Maiden, Saxon etc. What is your answer to such opinions?

I don’t know maybe it’s true, or not, you never know. Maybe they’ll come back. What can I say, maybe it’s for promotional reasons and maybe two or three years later they’ll come back. You can never be sure about such things, I don’t know…! (laughter)

Back in 60’s or early 70’s it was a difficult thing for a German band to go to the top. Scorpions were the first band to break this barrier. Back then, did you have any German rock bands who acted like icons to you or your friends? My favorites bands of that era for example were Eloy or City.

Who? I’ve never heard of them. At the time were so many german bands like Amon Duul but at that time the most famous band were Scorpions, I mean at the end of the 60’s already.

Do you think that there are some bands in today’s Metal Music that can have such an impact on metal fans such as Iron Maiden or Metallica made back in the 80’s ? The circumstances are totally different now, some people, including myself, suggest Slipknot or Mastodon. Can you suggest a band?

There are a lot of great bands out there today, I always forget the names. There is a new theme around, but they always come back to classic metal stuff. There is a new generation of people hearing this music, but there are bands that are in a way very big, again.

Anything in your whole career to remember and to regret?

There have been a lot of mistakes, but I learn from mistakes, and I would do the same things allover again if someone asked me.

There was one particular thing that caught my attention througout your career; that song along with Doro Pesch, “Dancing With an Angel”. How did that come up?

I’ve known Doro for a very long time, we are in a way very good friends and we always wanted to sing a song together. “Dancing With an Angel” was the right song that we could sing together. Our vocals worked great together. What can I say, “Dancing With An Angel” is a love song.

The tour is about to begin in a few days, what can your fans expect?

It is begin in S. America, we’ve never been in Argentina or Chile. We will appear in many festivals accross Europe until the end of September. Of course we’ll put new songs in there but it will be a very good mix-up of old and new U.D.O. stuff.

Do you have a message to the fans?

What can I say to the fans in Greece… We haven’t come to Greece since 2004 but we’ll try to be there in the next tour. We’ll sure keep on rocking!

Ok, nice talking to you, UDO and may I wish all the success on the new album and the tour that begins in the end of the month.

Interview by: Chris “Wild Child” Zarkadakis.

As if he’s coming from another time when things were simpler when talking about rock music, it’s interesting to hear him talking about his own work and the things that are going on in the music industry. As we were talking about his experiences so far with Kyuss Lives, his future plans with his own personal band, it’s easy to understand that rock is Brant’s life, not work. Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only, Mr. Brant Bjork…

* You can also listen to the audio format of the interview here.

So Brant I think you’ve been resting for a couple of days after a big tour so far. From what I’ve seen Kyuss Lives’ tour starts again on May 4th am I correct?

Yeah, May 4th in Australia.

I think that the tickets for most of your gigs both past and present over these months have been sold out, the attendance has been great. How does this affects you and the rest of the band?

Well, first its fantastic. Youre always excited to see a sold out show, to see people come out and get enthusiastic about the show itself and the tour and its also interesting because, you know, throughout the years we all worked individually, been told how people have come to really love Kyuss and surely weren’t doing sold out albums back in the day, any incarnation of the band never did sold out shows, so it’s really exciting how people have come up to love Kyuss over the years.

I’ve also been in a Kyuss concert. There’s only one person misssing from the original line up of the band. I am talking about Josh. Even if he was sort of replaced by a great guitarist, many people miss him. Will we ever know why he didn’t join the band?

That’s a question for Josh. I don’t know why and, to be honest, it’s not super important to me. At this point of my career and my life, I’m very excited to be back with the guys, playing Kyuss music and I’m equally excited to be playing with Bruno. I know that a lot of fans might be wanting all four of the original members but that’s something I don’t have any control of.  Of course Josh has every opportunity to be part of it and if he chooses that, well, what can we do?

For many years it was difficult for a European band to break the barrier and tour in the States. We’ve seen that it was also difficult for an American band to tour in Europe. Over the last years, especially in Greece, we’ve seen bands that we couldn’t imagine of like Kyuss, Clutch, Electric Wizzard and Pentagram. Has it become easier to tour in Europe, did you see any increase of support here that made American bands to come in Europe and make successful tours?

I think things have just evolved over the years and they’ve evolved to a place where American bands and European bands are able to participate in the European market, even trying to reach for shows in the Eastern block of Europe. You know South Americans are getting bands that are our level and you know, it has something to do with the particular genre of music, you know, heavy rock, stoner rock, stoner doom, whatever you call it, there might just be more of a demand for this music in particular. I know that the United States are still a very difficult market but that has not something to do with the type of music. It’s more economics and business and the structure of how these things set in the States. It’s a lot like England, it’s very saturated, the corporate dollars run things and if you try to do anything on a street level, it can be very difficult to make things happen.

You, Garcia, Oliveri and Homme have participated in many great projects and have made records with these bands. The flow of inspiration and lust for good rock music must be continuous right?

Yeah, of course, we all love rock music and we dedicate ourselves to help rock music stay alive and little forward.

I mean, from the moment you started your career, luckily you’ve never been out of job, there’s always demand for your music.

Yeah, I think there’s always a demand for rock music. I think rock, rock n’ roll or pop rock or heavy metal or any of those genres, I kind of look them as cousins of each other and they’ve always been in demand, they never truly died. They’re not always the most popular music in any particular market but it’s always there, people always want them, wanna rock out and you know we enjoy creating this type of music. It’s what we grew up on and I see a positive future for all of us.

Let’s talk about your own plans. Your personal band made a great record in 2010, “Gods and Goddesses”. What can your fans expect from you in the near future, given the fact that Kyuss are rumoured to make a new record soon?

Well I am halfway through on a new record and I’ve got a side project called “Jacuzzi” and it will be an instrumental record, I’ve got two instrumental records set for release this year and of course there is a new solo record that is set for release in the spring of next year or next summer the latest. You know, I’m staying very busy with my own projects as excited as I am to be back with Kyuss and for the new record. I’m still very busy and motivated with my solo work and I’ll be back playing solo shows in Europe next year.

Is the rest of the band affected by this fact? I mean, Oliveri has his own band, Garcia has also made some serious work with Unida and Hermano. I think all these have to be put aside in order to focus on one thing and make something great or is it possible to it all at them same time.

We are all busy with our own individual projects but we are all aware of the fact that we’ll have to do some serious time management in order to nurture our solo work and also give Kyuss what it needs to sustain a new life. So, you know, it’s just a matter of us to make sure that we give everything in order to not neglect one or the other. We are all excited about our own work and our work with Kyuss so there’s a lot of motive that’s fueling everything. I think we’ll be just fine, we’ll pull it off, no prob.

Have you made any material yet, is there any new stuff with the rest of the band?

With Kyuss no, we just collectively decided to make a new record about a week or two into the new tour. We’ve jammed a little bit but we haven’t come up with any new songs or particular musical directions. We’ve worked on our chemistry but we’re very excited, we feel comfortable playing together, I think there’s a great natural chemistry there and I just feel a lot of good music.

We saw in Greece, on 25 March and we will also see Kyuss Lives in a few months during the Rockwave festival. Given the fact that in many years we didn’t have the chance to enjoy a Kyuss gig, how did those two gigs come up so soon?

To be honest, I don’t know the answer to that question.  A lot of the tours and the festivals is supply and demand. We are asked to do a show and we do it, it’s just the outcome of offers coming in and we say yes.

After so many years, when looking at the audience of a gig, did you see old people or younger, did you see new fans of Kyuss coming in?

The most exciting thing of this tour was seeing the new generation coming in. I was really surprised to see younger kids coming out to the show and having said that, I also saw older people as well. The crowd was a mix of two, three maybe even four generations of rock n’ roll fans and for me, you just can’t beat that, that’s awesome.

You have also participated in another band, Fu Manchu. Do you have any connections with the rest of the band until now? How they’ve been doing?

I actually haven’t stayed too much in contact with the Fu Manchu guys. I mean, we’re still very good friends we still have respect for each other. I talked to Bob the guitar player and I’ll talk to Scott, the singer, every once in a while but really we’ve been so much busy in our own individual paths, we haven’t stayed in touch too much unfortunately.

And as far as we are concerned about your new record with your own personal band, do you have anything to say about its musical directions will it be the same or something will change?

I’m recording a lot of music at my house out in the desert. I am using all analog gear like I’ve always done and I am going for a more raw, live recording. It will certainly be rock music. It’s definetely more in a rock direction but I am really excited with what I’ve got so far, it’s going to be great stuff.

May I wish you all the success in everything you do, anything to say to your fans in Greece and worldwide?

Thanks so much for the support all over the years, I’ve worked so far to sustain a life and music and I do everything to provide everyone with what I feel is good honest rock n roll and as long as they’re supporting me I’ll keep making music for them.

Ok thank you for having you on board Brant. Its been an honour.

Interview by: Chris “Wild Child” Zarkadakis.