Interview by: Andrew Koran
Video editing by: Aris Deligiannidis

As you correctly guessed, Musica Diablo is the new project of Sepultura’s vocalist Derrick Green. In a short chat with Metalpaths, Derrick informed us about the band and talked about how did this idea came out.

Musica diablo….a new band, a new beginning. Tell us a few thing about your decision to play that kind of music and how did you decided to write songs for an album.

It’s the greatest story ever told and we made it into an album. The ideas for the album came from the love of heavy music it’s very simple.

As I read on your biography on your myspace page, you have joined the band after a call from Andre NM. A first thought for a side project? How did you react? You said immediately the ‘yes’ or you examined thoroughly the whole undertaking?

Yes we met on the internet and I did want to hear a few songs and meet the guys before deciding anything. Once that was out of the way things started to grow and more songs came out of the unity.

How did you ended up on that name for the band?

You would have to ask Andre about that but I think it’s great way to describe what I do to people who know nothing about heavy music. “I play Devils Music!” Anything people don’t understand becomes evil.

Your influences are really obvious. Didn’t you think that some will insult you for not trying something new, not only as an individual, but also as a project.

Hows there band doing (laughs)? I’ve been on tour in Europe having the time of my life and the last thing I’m thinking about is what some people are thinking. Trust me most people can’t do what I do! There will always be those frustrated musicians out there talking a lot and doing nothing.

In this new project of yours, you reveal new aspects and new capabilities of yourself, for example your singing. You had that on mind for some time? That you want to reveal these capabilities, and make something new, different for Sepultura.

Yes I learned a lot being in Musica Diablo and I learn even more on the road. I wanted to try a different approach with MD but the music is different then Sepultura so I could try something to flow with this
style of music.

Five different people, meet up for the first time a couple of years ago. How easy or difficult was for you to play as a band, to get known each other and what are your near future plans?

It wasn’t that strange meeting up we had a lot in common to begin with. We did a short tour a few weeks ago in Europe and we hope to be back doing a longer tour in Europe at the end of the year. Lets keep our fingers crossed that we will be there!

The other members of Sepultura how reacted to your decision for a new project, that will surely take some of your time from the band?

The guys in my band are also working with other people in music so it wasn’t a big deal for them. Sepultura comes first because it’s where I have been for such a long time now. We try and make everything work out because it’s important as an artist to expand and grow and have freedom to do this.

The other members have also some projects other than Musica Diablo ?

Yes Andreas has Hail and Paulo and Jean also have projects in the making.

In the end… why would you suggest a metalhead to give the chance on you, and listen to Musica Diablo?

They would be a fool not too! Loosing up and have some fun is what I say, life is too short to be narrow minded.

Interview by: Stathis V.

Just before Deicide’s live show in Thessaloniki, Metalpaths had the opportunity to chat with the band.The frontman of the band, Glen Benton who is not known for being very talkative, spent a little of his time talking about the upcoming plans of the band and not only.

Hello from Metalpaths everybody, today we are here to host a blast show with Glen Benton and Deicide, one of the greatest acts in the history of Death Metal, but mentioning that, how do you feel after all these years being one of the top of the scene?

Ι really don’t put that much thought on that, I don’t know.

Ok, let’s continue with some basic information about the band and your studio works, so there has been a couple of years since the release of your latest record so I’d like to ask you, shall we expect you to enter the studio soon for a new material or something?

Yeah, as soon as I get back home, we’ll be back in the studio.

Is it going to be something more similar to your first albums or something new maybe?

It’s Brutal!

Yeah brutal like everything, definitely, but any more details? Like any possible title or something?

The title of the album is called “To Hell With God”.

Rough! And what about the label thing? You are currently working with Century Media. Are you satisfied by the attention they pay to Deicide?

I don’t know, they haven’t done anything yet.

And the reason you split up with Earache?

Cause they were ripping me off!

It’s a very nice thing for a Death Metal fan seeing you guys sharing the same stage with Jack Owen, how is your relationship with him and what about the rest of the line-up?

Well Kevin our guitar player is the newest member, Jack has been with us since 2004 and everything goes smooth now, no problems, no hustles, no bullshit…

No further lineup changes?

Exactly. Well Jack is a little bit of a troublemaker but we put up with it.

Deicide’s name is totally associated with violence, Satan worshipping etc, but do you still believe the same things you used to back in the days?

It depends on what we believed back then, do I still not believe in God? Absolutely!

But do you still believe in Satan?

Do I believe in Satan? Well I can’t believe the one or the other. Is my loyalty there? Yeah! Has God done anything for me? No! Has Satan?? Hmm, oh yeah!

And what about the story that tells you were supposed to be dead at your 33 years??

I guess I just got lucky, I’m still here.

I understand that you must not be the vegan type of guy, in fact you were accused of animal abusing, why was that? Sacrificing insects or anything?

No no, actually I shot a squirrel in an interview.

But why?

Cause I had an infestation on my house , squirrels were in my attic and they were chewing all the wares and destroying everything in the attic of my house upstairs and on the roof you know, so I’ve been trying to kill them and poison them. I couldn’t get them all, there were a couple of them still alive, two squirrels I couldn’t get, so I was sitting outside doing an interview one day when a squirrel came by the house and i shot him so that’s how all that started.

Have you ever got bored of the mark in your head or thinking of removing that?

What mark?

That one!! (Showing the cross in the forehead)

I don’t notice that anymore, last time I did that I could see my skull so I don’t want it to go any deeper or at the end of the bone!

We know a few things about Glenn Benton’s life, like that you love riding your harley or never changing they way that you dress for example but could you describe a typical day of your life?

I get up in the morning, I make launch for my 8 year old son Vinnie , I make coffee for my fiancee cause she goes to work, I get my son off his school and pretty much I do …. nothing! Walking around the yard, just like everybody else does, go shopping…

What music is the kid listening to?

My kid? Vinnie don’t really listen too much of that stuff, I don’t expose him to that music but my older son, he’s into metal.

So you do earn your living by the band?

Yes I do..

Have you ever attacked or were attacked by a fan with any unpleasant results?

It happens to me crazy staff once in a while. A chick in Australia attacked me and I punched her in the nose. She was grabbed all over my chains cause she wanted to have sex with me and then in the last show she showed up, changed her hair colour and everything so I didn’t recognize her and she tried to jump into our van, she tried to attack me and she grabbed me again from my chains and wasn’t going home, so I made her go home. It happens..

A few days ago something has happened that really shocked all of us, the fans of the metal scene and of course I mean the death of Ronnie James Dio. How did you react when you ‘ve heard that he was dead?

Oh yeah, I grew up listening to Dio and like everybody else, you know I was very upset. The whole world was very sad when Ronnie died.

Sure it was, unfortunately. What is your opinion about Death Metal or Metal in general nowadays? Do you prefer like it was the old days?

I prefer the old stuff definitely. New stuff don’t do that much for me.

Florida was always the home of Death Metal, the majority of our favourite bands happen to have their base there but how is the condition there nowadays? Death Metal still lives?

I’m sure it does but i really don’t know too much about that, Steven our guitar player knows better, I don’t really hang out with the scene, so I really don’t know.

Anything more to add about the band’s following plans expect from the new record?

We will keep touring and putting records out.

Ok then, good luck with the rest of your schedule, and hope to see you soon in our country!

Sure, thank you!

Interview by: Rena Koutsou.

The Ocean is definitely a much discussed band as about metal music during the last years. After their work “Precambrian” that took really good critiques by the media, Germans are back with another interesting release that is called “Heliocentric”. The founder and main songwriter of the band Robin Staps together with Jonathan Nido talks about the new “child” of the band and other interesting sections around The Ocean and not only.

What happened to The Ocean between the release of “Precambrian” and “Heliocentric”?

Jona: When we released Precambrian we were actually on tour, it was in November 2007. Since then and until March 2009 we have played a ridiculous amount of more than 200 hundred shows between Kiev and Los Angeles. After that we took a break and started recording Heliocentric and Anthropocentric in June 2009. Oh yeah, I have to add that Heliocentric and Anthropocentric were actually written in the summer of 2008, after 4 months of non-stop touring…

Can we still refer to The Ocean as a collective?

Jona: The collective has been relegated to the background a bit recently. What we still call the “collective” is all the classical musicians, graphic designer and guests of all kinds contributing to the albums or the artwork or the visuals…But we have been transforming into a « real » band recently and that affected the work process quite a bit.. Up until recently, Robin was really doing everything and acting probably more like a « chef d’orchestre », but for Heliocentric, although he wrote the whole album on his own, we could interpret his songs the way we felt it and we were totally free to discuss any points or to change certain parts. That’s a first big step compared to the way he was working for the last ten years ! Also, for the first time some other people than him wrote material for The Ocean. On « Anthropocentric » Louis and me wrote some entire songs. Of course, we adapted our songwriting to the aprroach of The Ocean. That’s probably why Robin liked our songs and thought that they fit the band.

Tell us about your new singer. Which are his credentials?

Jona: Loïc is an amazing singer and a really hard-working man. He’s never satisfied with himself and that makes working with him really smooth, because he’s not the typical “this is my vocal line, take it or leave it” kind of singer. He’s never giving up and always wants to give his best. Robin recorded vocals with him in Berlin and I remember him telling me that he had never worked with such a singer before. Loic’s physical condition is amazing, he is able to do 50 takes in a row, at times they were recording for 6-7 hours a day and finished the day with screamed vocals… His ability to cover a really large spectrum of different vocals has opened new doors for us. He is also really creative and gave a lot of input during the recording process. He auditioned with the song “Firmament”, and his vocal lines there are actually what you can hear on the final version now…

Two albums in two years time (after the 2CD “Precambrian” album). Isn’t it too much for one man to compose?

Robin: I have never suffered from a shortage of musical ideas. I have more ideas than I can properly record and turn into songs. The really time-consuming thing is the recording process… after Precambrian I was fed up with making albums for quite a while. But after all the touring we’ve done in 2008, I found lots of motivation again to start anew. That’s one of the exciting things about playing in a band like The Ocean and the permanent oscillation between studio and stage: you bring yourself to your limits, physically and spiritually, you get fed up with what you do for a while, but then you can actually do something completely different for a while… so it’s possible to refill your energy tanks and it never gets boring.

Which is the concept of “Heliocentric”? Talk to us about it.

Robin: The theme of the album is a broad-angled critique of religion and we use the heliocentric turn merely as the frame of the whole concept. The discovery that the earth was not at the center of the universe, as proclaimed by the bible, had tremendous effects on people’s faith and the role and power of the church. The Lyrics of the album start with original text from the bible: the creation of the firmament, according to Genesis (Firmament) and ancient explanations of the movement of celestial bodies in 1 Enoch 72:2-5 (The 1st Commandment of the Luminaries), continues with Copernicus and Galilei, the first propagators of heliocentrism who were not yet in conflict with the church (Ptolemy Was Wrong) and Giordano Bruno, who was burnt at the stake of the Catholic inquisition for being a Heretic (Catharis of a Heretic). Arthur Rimbaud’s criticism of moral law in his essay „Reasons not to believe in God“ and Nietzsche’s rejection of fundamental Christian values has inspired the lyrics to Metaphysics of the Hangman. The album concludes with the greatest achievement in the history of modern science, Darwin’s theory of evolution (The Origin of Species) and ideas inspired by evolution biologist and passionate atheist Richard Dawkins (The Origin of God, Epiphany). I believe that Christianity is probably the last great evil of mankind which eventually will be overcome by man’s ‘egress from its self-inflicted immaturity’, as Kant called it. This process still lingers on, and my point is that in contrary to common thinking, we are still in the historical period of enlightenment until the day that Christianity will be defeated. The fact that Christianity has not yet been overcome by cultures which in every other respect are grounded on trust in the rational mind is fascinating – Islamic cultures, for example, have not been transformed by the process of enlightenment as occidental Christian cultures. Our societies have witnessed the rise and the impact of modern natural science. The sets of values and ideologies brought forth by the process of enlightenment dominate our daily thinking and are the foundations of our societies, yet at the same time we still uphold the superstitions that in no way are conformable with the findings of modern science. Because of the prevailing historical influence and power of the church, our culture is based on the peaceful coexistence of preclusive sets of values. It’s time to break this cycle of incoherence, and ‘Heliocentric’ is our contribution: a reminder of Charles Darwin’s legacy. Darwin’s findings are contradicting the most fundamental Christian teachings. He basically proved that some of the very first words in Genesis are wrong: Man was not created by God, but is the result of a process of evolution that can be traced back to the most simple forms of life. The genes of man and pig are to 98% identical, and radically phrased, our ancestors were cockroaches… This is hard to understand for many believers who take the bible literal. I admire Darwin’s courage, passion and exploratory spirit. He was being ridiculed by his fellow scientist colleagues, and it takes courage to stand up for convictions that were completely at odds with the Zeitgeist… and while some of his theses were wrong, a lot of it still holds true and his ‘Origin of Species’ has basically been ‘The Shape of Science to Come’, so to speak…

Pre-human era’s, the universe, you like talking about huge cosmic phenomena. How does this reflect to your music?

Robin: I think there’s a certain primordial, archaic quality to our music. When I was listening to the songs that ended up on Precambrian, I always had to think of erupting volcanoes and streams of red lava… that’s how I originally got to the album concept, by visualizing the music. The new album is not so much about “cosmic phenomena” as you say. It is a critique of religion in the face of the heliocentric turn. So yes, there is an astronomic aspect to it, which apparently is also reflected in the album artwork, but it’s definitely more of a philosophical theme.

More acoustic, piano, clean vocal sessions. It seems you have softened your music. Was it a conscious decision or it just happened?

Jona: It just happened, but we were conscious of what we wanted and where we wanted to go… There was this unanimous will of having more clean vocals. I wrote some really acoustic songs for “Anthropocentric”, the album that is coming out in the fall. The “ballads” you can find on “Heliocentric”, like “Epiphany”, Catharsis of a Heretic” or the most controversial song of any Ocean song, “Ptolemy was wrong”, are not actually acoustics, they ususally have didn’t come from out of nowhere. “Cryogenian”, the last song on “Proterozoic”, the second half of “Precambrian”, was already a track that consisted only piano and strings… Those tracks show how large our musical spectrum really is, and I know that for Robin it is crucially important to explore these kind of new territories.

How does “Heliocentric” prepare us for “Anthropocentric”? Should they be considered as twin albums or as completely separate? It was yours or the company’s decision to be released separately?

Jona: Conceptually they are directly related, but “Anthropocentric” is particularly challenging the views of creationists and other modern fundamentalists who still believe that the earth is at the center of the universe and no more than 5.000 years old. “Heliocentric” was written in a rather short time frame by Robin and he really had the whole record in mind. I had a few songs written too, but we didn’t want to add them to “Heliocentric”, as that album appeared ready and compact and good as it was, we didn’t want to add anything there. So, apparently we just had too much material that we were happy with and decided to make it 2 albums.

Robin: We decided to release them separately because we didn’t want to overstrain people. “Precambrian” was almost 90 minutes of complex song material, it was a bit too much at once and I had the feeling that some people were giving up too early, not giving the album enough time to really dig it and get it. So this time I wanted to offer something that is still complex, musically and conceptually, but not too much at once. It seemed like a wiser idea to release the 2 albums separately.

Should we expect another gorgeous artwork, as its predecessor album’s? How does the artwork add or complete the whole concept? Tell us about its creative procedure.

Robin: Of course. The album artwork and packaging are reflecting the Heliocentric-theme, the idea that the sun, rather than the earth, is at the center of our planetary system (if not the universe). The European version comes with 3 revolving PVC-dials in different sizes that are attached to the digipak cover with a screw: the inner dial shows the sun. The second dial shows the orbits of the planet, the outer dial shows the zodiacs. For the ‘Anthropocentric’ album, the artwork is basically the same – only that the center dial shows an image of earth and man, instead of the sun, reflecting the contradictory idea which creationists still support… The dials are transparent, so you can see the background through, a starry night sky, on which a star-chart is printed in UV gloss varnish… the US version comes without these dials. There is a vinyl box version available through my own label Pelagic Records, with the same artwork and the dials and a silver-foiled box that can hold both the “Heliocentric” and the “Anthropocentric” gatefolds… also, there is a limited CD box version with additional artwork and an extra instrumental version of the album. Check www.pelagic-records.com/shop

What are your influences for creating these albums, musically and in a non-music level?

Robin: The one album I have listened to while writing “Heliocentric” was Trent Reznor’s “Ghosts” 2x album at that time. It took a while until the subtle beauty of this album unfolded in front of my ears, but looking back at it now it was the most dominant influence at the time of writing. If you can’t hear that when you listen to Heliocentric, well that’s good. Inspiration is a mysterious process and if influences are too obviously audible in your sound, then it is not a matter of influence anymore but a matter of copying or stealing. It works like a black box, even you as the artist don’t know what’s really going on inside. You have a number of influences, past and present, that manipulate your songwriting, although you may not even be conscious of that. What comes out of the black box is hopefully something new and rather far away from the original influences, athough certain details may allow to draw conclusions…

Jona: I was together with Robin in a nice big house by the sea when he wrote “Heliocentric” and I was writing some tunes for “Anthropocentric” at the same time… at that period I was personally totally into The Mars Volta… but same here, you’ll barely realize that while listening to “Anthropocentric”.

You toured with At the Gates. How did that happen and what was the experience you earned by touring with such a legendary band?

Jona: We never toured with them. We supported them on their last ever show in Athens. It was a great honour, first of all because it’s a legendary band and secondly because it was the last At the Gates show ever. It was the first time I met those guys, and sharing the stage and talking to Thomas after the show really impressed me. When I was younger, I was totally into that Swedish death melodic scene, and I was so sad because at that time, the band was already split up and I would never have thought that I would ever play support show for them, especially such an important one…

What are your future plans for the promotion of the new album? A tour, festivals?

Jona: We’re gonna tour from May 23rd until June 18th in the Baltic states, in Finland with Callisto, then Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Serbia… In the summer we’ll do a short Spanish tour and then we’ll play A festival in Portugal, Sicilly, Latvia and Belarus. In November, we’ll be going over to the US.

You are a German band using two Greek names for your albums. A German magazine “Focus” used a Greek cultural symbol, Aphrodite of Melos, to give Greece the finger. How do you comment this, as a citizen and as an artist? Are you into politics?

Robin: I didn’t actually see that magazine cover but that’s kinda funny I think… A lot of people here don’t understand why German tax payers should pay to save Greek asses, simple as that – and especially, why Germany is paying more economic aid than any other European country. A lot of people think that the bankruptcy of the Greek state is not really “our” problem. This kind of thinking already implicates an idea of national identit or unity, which I think is a misconception, because the true division between people lies not in belonging to one capitalist state or another, but in economic differences and access to means of production. Also, apparently, most of those people don’t see that the Euro-zone is a complex entity of its own and that changes or crashes in one region essentially effect other regions via a complicated network of relations.

Has life in Germany changed because of the economical crisis? Has it affected your life as a person, an artist, a professional?

Robin: Everything is getting more difficult, yes, but I can’t say that my personal life has been affected so much. I think the real effects will be felt years later, because now there is no money for things that would be easy and cheap to fix now, but will become more expensive and complicated later. You see, it’s like repairing streets in tropic developing countries: if you only do repairs every 2 years, you are facing HUGE damages, thus repairs will be expensive. If you do repaits every 2 months, you are facing minor expenses, as the work that needs to be done is rather small. But once even the money for those little repairs is not at hand, everything will fall apart…

What’s your opinion about today’s metal scene? Are there any bands/albums in particular that you think they can pave the way?

Jona: I think the metal scene is kind of boring today… Most bands stick to one formula or one genre and there’s no real challenges aside from who’s gonna be the fastest, the most technical or the ones who have the ugliest merch to sell… Every single metal sub-genre has its own rules, dress code and community and that really sucks I think. There are only few bands to me who have this capacity to gather people with a genuine interest in music rather than fashion or trends… Bands that I think are trying to do something different would be Tool, Meshuggah, Behemoth, Mastodon, Converge, for example…

Will we see you soon in our country? The last words are yours.

Robin: Hopefully so! Nothing definite is planned as of now but I really hope we will be back in Greece before the end of the year. Thanks for the interview!

Interview by: Aris Deligiannidis.

Interview by: Aggelos “Redneck” Katsouras.
Video editing by: Archon.

Few times we have the opportunity to have such releases in metal music generally. Need from Athens managed to release their second album ”Siamese God”, and Metalpaths tries to understand how such a masterpiece was created.

At first tell us a few things about the band for the people that maybe haven’t heard about you yet.

Hi there! First of all thank you for the interview. Need exist since 2003 and the core line-up (Jon V.-vocals, Ravaya – guitars, Pete – drums, K.K. – bass) is together since the beginning of 2006. Last winter we became a quintet with the addition of our keyboard player, Anthony Hadjikonstantis. We have released 2 albums so far, “The Wisdom Machine” which was released in 2006 and “Siamese God” that was released last Christmas. We’ve played lots of gigs those last few years and now that the new album is out we’re ready to kick your ass for good!

We would like some details about the album’s creation: Duration of recordings, production issues and if you are satisfied from the final result.

Well, recording “Siamese God” wasn’t easy, that’s for sure! The recording procedure lasted more or less a year, with quite a few breaks in between. We re-worked a lot of the stuff in the studio, tried a bunch of different things and sounds, wrote and erased tons of stuff and the final result of all this is what you hear in the album. We recorded this one in Soundflakes studios in Athens (www.soundflakes.gr) and the production and mixing duties were held by the band and Callmelazy mainly, with the help of Nick Papadopoulos who also did a great job. After that we sent out the album to New York City and Alan Douches who handled the mastering and that’s pretty much it. It was really fun and we learned a lot during this whole period. We are satisfied with the final result but as usual there are a lot of things that we would change if we could. That’s a rather standard cliche though, and we always know it will happen so overall, yeah, we like the album!

Which are your expectations from this release? How far are you willing to go to promote the band?

We want more people to hear about Need and listen to our music which is already happening to some extent. We hope that we’re gonna be given the opportunity to play as many gigs as possible which is something we really enjoy to do. Now about how far we’re willing to go…well as far as we can I guess…It all comes down to making things work out together with our day jobs and stuff but all in all we’re willing to make a lot of sacrifices to push this band forward.

Name some of your main influences of each member and some you all find in common, fans would be interested to know as the album’s identity varies a lot.

We all like different stuff and we all have common tastes as well…I guess you can hear some of our most common influences in our music. Let’s see… Metallica, Dream Theater, Tool, Fates Warning, Nevermore, Pantera, Savatage, Meshuggah to name a few. Now for things that some members like a bit more than the others do, I guess you could say that Ravaya is a bit more into soundtrack music Pete is really into stuff like Ulver and also he’s really into black metal, K.K. is the heavy/epic warrior in the band, Anthony likes the sound of keyboards in general (his own keyboards for the most parts) and I’m a bit more into hard rock, be it 80’s or 90’s.

Having seen you live 3 times, I must say that you rule on stage. Is it easier for you up on the stage? Is it a challenge? How much does it vary compared to the studio?

Thanks a lot! We really appreciate it! You can’t really say that it’s easier on stage but it definately needs a lot more energy to go up there and tear the stage apart. As I told you earlier on, we really enjoy being on stage and giving 110% of ourselves every time. Every single gig is a challenge cause you have to give everything you’ve got, that’s what it’s all about. The main difference between playing live and recording the songs in the studio is that when you’re recording, everything has to go down perfect so you might have to play something again and again till you get it completely right. This might get really frustrating at times. In a gig however, it’s all about the moment, about the energy that you give to the people and they give back to you.

I still remember the godly cover on ”Jesus Saves” by Savatage. Why don’t you do the whole ”Master Of Puppets” on one gig? It would sound perfect by you.

He he! Thanks about that! We really enjoyed playing this cover cause we’ve changed it so much that it feels like it’s our own song. Well at the moment we don’t really think about any cover songs cause the thing now that we have 2 albums out, is that we have to fit our own songs in a typical 40-45 minute setlist, and that’s already a tough task to do. But we never say never, we might try “Master…” sometime in the future!

Tell us some things about the lyrics of this album and where do you gain inspiration from in order to write them.

The lyrics for “Siamese God” were written by Ravaya, K.K. and myself while for our debut album Ravaya had done all the work himself. Now for the most part the lyrics are sociopolitical in general. We give our own point of view to stuff like religion, war, environmental disasters or even human relationships. Inspiration can come from anything really. Something you read, hear on the news, see on TV, discuss with a friend or some strong experience.

Which are your plans in the time being? Gigs? Rest? Some festivals maybe outside Greece?

Right now we don’t think about rest, only about hard work. Of course we want to play as much as possible, and that’s the main plan for now. We have booked a few gigs so far (29/3 Athens, 31/3 Agrinio, 9/4 Thessaloniki) and we’re waiting for a few more to be confirmed. We won’t be able to try any festivals outside of Greece for this year but we’re hoping we can play to some inside Greece. For abroad at the time being we are planning a small european tour for the fall, which I hope we’ll be able to confirm and announce within the next couple of months. In addittion to that, we are already working hard on new material and this keeps us really busy for the time being.

We’d like your opinion for the Greek scene in general. Do you think that things roll better than in the past? Which bands have the potential to do something special?

For sure things are way better than in the past in many aspects. Most bands play better, sound better and are a lot more professional-oriented. This doesn’t mean however that we still don’t need tons of work before we’ll be able to consider ourselves an equal part of the central European and Scandinavian metal community. But we’re getting there I think and there are quite a few bands that are trying really hard and I believe they’ll see their hard work bring results.

What’s your opinion about the ’00s decade musically in metal? Could you tell us some albums you liked a lot?

There’s a lot of them! I think ’00s did a lot of good to the evolution of metal sound and there are many bands that put out amazing albums in the last decade. I don’t know if it’s gonna be as influential as the ‘80s were on a long term but still I’m glad I heard so much good music these last 10 years. I think we could talk for hours if we were to start on specific albums but some bands that made an impact in general are definitely Tool, System Of A Down, Deftones, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Slipknot, Mastodon, Nevermore, Meshuggah and some from the really old school that continue to amaze me like Rush or King Crimson.

Last but no least, we’d like to tell you congratulations about the new album. We hope you go on like this. The last words are yours. Add whatever you find necessary or we didn’t ask you.

Thanks a lot for the interview and your kind words. We really appreciate all kinds of support. Check out more about the band in our page at www.myspace.com/needband where you can find info on how to get our album (it is distributed all over Greece through Rock Hard’s distibution network), see our new video @ www.youtube.com/needband and of course you can listen to the entire “Siamese God” album @ www.myspace.com/siamesegod. I guess that’s all! Rock on!

Interview by: Aggelos “Redneck” Katsouras.

“Lord Ezec” aka “Danny Diablo” speaks about the new Skarhead album, DMS crew, “Thugcore” and loads more..

Hi Ezec, it’s nice doing an interview with you. So, ten years have passed since Skarhead’s latest record, but now you’re back with “Drugs, Music and Sex”, a record strong enough to justify our eagerness. How is the album going so far?

The record is selling real good. It is one of the hardest hardcore records out right now!

And what was the reason you didn’t enter the studio for so long?

I wanted to do a record 5 years ago but I had no time. I was working on mad projects so I had no down time. I finally said “Fuck it” and called Laurens from I Scream records and told him I had a week off so lets record an album.

There are two promo videos for the songs “D.F.F.” and “PSP” from the released album. Could you report us the shooting process and how did you reach the whole ideas?

Both videos were directed by my manager Don Capria. He came up with both story lines. The first video D.F.F. was shot at the Black N’ Blue bowl last year and the other video was shot at a strip club in my old neighborhood!!! I actually grew up a block away from the strip club in Queens. We all had a great time doing both videos.

Based on what we see in D.F.F., shall we presume that there is some kind of a sponsorship from “Pitchfork Hardwear”?

My brother’s own the company… Skarhead is also sponsored by Tribal. I got mad sponsors!

Coming from a totally different world, I am also one of those fans of the NY scene who are really interested in learning a few things about the DMS crew and of course I feel like I couldn’t find the best person to ask about it. So, what does DMS stand for?

Drugs, Money and Sex! Dirty Money Syndicate!

And which are the bands that belong to the crew?

There are a few. We have bands and artist from all kinds of music. Mainly hardcore and hip-hop. Madball, Panic, Slaine, The Shotblockers, Ceekay Jones, Skam Dust are just a few…

There are quite a few scenarios about it’s meaning, but the exact is “Dirty Money Syndicate”, isn’t it? Why did you choose to name it like that?

When I do the music I use Dirty Money Syndicate…

What exactly is the meaning of a crew in the States? It would surely be a strong reason for someone to get into a fight, right? Could you describe any crazy story that has happened because of this?

It is a family. We handle our own business. I don’t kiss and tell.

Many people from all around the globe are excited about DMS and don’t miss to support it any way they can. Is that careless to you or is it something that makes you feel proud of?

I love that we have a big movement with our music. DMS is hardcore. I tell the fans that the letters are for family only!!! If you are a fan and want to support then buy the music and show love. I even tell the fans now to put ILL-ROC as the movement. A fan can’t put DMS on them cause it is only for family but a fan can put ILL-ROC up cause it is the name for our movement!

There’s a strong connection between hardcore music and it’s lifestyle with the hip-hop culture but still, there are those narrow-minded who insist that there should not be any kind of correlation between those two. You, being one of the people that belong equal to both scenes, what are the reasons you believe that this connection exists?

I am a street kid. I was brought up on both. Hardcore is straight street music and so is hip-hop. I combine both styles of music and make it hard as hell!

Is this where “Thugcore” derives from?

Yes! Exactly.

How is a typical hardcore live show in your area? Do you believe that the shows receive the proper feedback from the fans?

No matter where we are Skarhead kills it live on stage!!! The fans know that so they come out and support.

Beyond others, you are also well-known about the numerous co-operations with many artists from different style bands/genres. Is it difficult for you to be a faithful dad/husband and band-mate as well?

No, it just makes me work harder and harder now. I got a son to take care of. I am a man who puts 110% into everything I do. I drink, Fuck and Fight with that motto! Also change diapers within the same attitude (laughs).

What are your impressions from your last show in Athens? Would you like or planning to come back to our country?

Skarhead will be playing Greece in the summer. I love Greece and I love the Greek people. I grew up in Queens and went to school in Astoria, Queens wich is all Greek people. My best friend since I was 1 years old is Demitrious Babousis… Now that is mad Greek.

We appreciate your time, so we won’t keep you any longer. Before we close, what are Danny Diablo’s direct plans?

I will be touring with Skarhead for the next few months. The new Danny Diablo record “International Hardcore Superstar” is out now on Itunes. You can buy the c.d. in March from Hellcat Records. Check out ill-rocrecords.com for all the new hot music. I have a webstore on the site so you can buy mad new ILL-ROC RECORDS music. I put out the old Crown Of Thornz and Skrahead stuff on ILL-ROC RECORDS. You can buy all Skarhead and Danny Diablo merch straight from my site. Check out the ILL-ROC Myspace page also. New Panic, Grizz Rock, Diggy, and Shotblocker music ready for Greece.

Thanks a lot for answering we hope to see you soon perform and good luck with all of your plans.

Thank you.

Interview by: Rena Koutsou.

Interview by: Andrew Koran.
Video Editing by: Archon.

On the occasion of Uriah Heep’s upcoming live shows in Greece and their 40 years celebration, on the other side of the telephone, Trevor Bolder in a really good mood (although some technical problems that we had) talks about “Wake the Sleeper”, their upcoming shows in Greece, the 00’s decade and many more.

Hello Trevor, this Karagiannidis Panagiotis of Greek Metalpaths.com calling. How are you?

I’m fine, resting of our tour in Europe and everything is fine.

So in a few days you are going to visit our country once again for two live shows. What are your memories of the Greek crowd?

Greek crowd…they are brilliant. It’s absolutely one of the best crowds in the world. We know that when we play in Greece the audience is gonna go crazy and we always have a really good time.

How does it feel to be on stage for so many years? Do you still enjoy it the same as you did 20 years ago?

Oh yeah, definitely yes. I mean, we want to do music, we love playing and I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. It’s still such a thrill travelling the world and meet lots of people. There’s nothing better than being on stage and playing for people that really enjoy the music.

In 2008 you released “Wake the Sleeper” which was your first studio album since 1998. Looking back now, do you believe that the album meet your expectations?

Yes, but you never know when you record an album how it’s going to turn out . You just put songs together, take them into rehearsals and start recording them. We knew that there was something special about this album when we were recording it, there was so much energy. We had a new drummer, you know, Russell Gilbrook that put a lot of energy into this album. When it was released, the reaction was amazing and it was a real thrill to see the reviews coming. I think it’s better to bring out a good album in 10 years instead of bringing stuff that isn’t good. We were very pleased with the reaction overall.

Recently you released another album that is called “Celebration”. Tell us a few things about it.

It’s the 40 years anniversary of Uriah Heep. You know, the band was formed 40 years ago and we would do an anniversary tour. We’ve done an album which covers the first part of Uriah Heep’s greatest hits, it doesn’t cover all of it, but it’s all the songs that we really like to play on stage and all the songs that people really love. We’ve put this album out just because we thought that people might want to listen to this line up playing these songs as well from the 70’s or 80’s or whatever, so it’s a celebration for the band.

What do you think makes a band, such as yourselves, have as much success in such a long period as you have ?

I don’t know (laughs). I think it’s down to the people who buy records. You make the music, music that people want to listen to or music that you really love. If people like that it’s successful. Why? Who knows (laughs).

The last decade has just been gone a few days before. How was this decade for Uriah Heep ?

The last decade was really good for Uriah Heep actually. We did make a new album and we were very busy touring around the world constantly. The only unfortunately sad thing that happened for Uriah Heep was that Lee Kerslake left the band. You know, loosing a member that has been in a band for such a long time is always hard.  However, the last decade was great for Uriah Heep and hopefully the next one will be even better.

Do you really believe that the next decade could be even better?

Yeah, I do. I think that we will do more studio albums in the next ten years and we will do a lot of touring as well.

After being a 30 years old successful band and given so much to the music and the fans,what is your inspiration to keep going and how could you imagine the next decade for Uriah Heep?

The inspiration to keep going comes by the people that are coming to see you, I love it, there is nothing better than the audience that comes to see you playing. Why would you stop if they still want to see the band playing? If you feel well, keep yourself together and still have the same enthusiasm, the audience will come to see you and even attract younger people too.

Your very first albums used to be vinyls, then we switched to cds and nowadays many labels are switching from cds to digital albums and mp3s. What do you think about that and the future of the music industry these days?

(laughs) I don’t know how the music industry is gonna go record wise, it’s difficult to sell records nowadays, there is the free downloading and stuff. If they find a way to stop people from downloading for free, they’ll probably start buying again.You know it’s not a problem for Uriah Heep or other bands from 70’s or even the 80’s for example. We sold millions of albums but for the new bands that come along, it’s gonna be really difficult for them to survive when they put out an album and people just downloading it immediately for free. They need to make a living out of it, progress and make more albums. Hopefully something will happen in the future and people start buying albums again.

Is there a new band or music genre that keens on your interest?

I don’t think that there is a new music genre that keens on my interest, but the only new band that I really like is called Muse. They are very different compared to everything else and I like them. I don’t really listen to a lot of new stuff,  I’m still stuck in the 70’s to 90’s music.

In a very clice question, I would like to ask you which was your best and worst time with Uriah Heep during your career?

I think that one of the best things that I did with Uriah Heep was when we went in Russia when we played in Moscow, it was a breakthrough and very exciting. Bad moments? I can’t really think of any, except from when Lee left, that was kind of hard.

So Trevor what’s the next for Uriah Heep?

Just keep playing, get out there and do what we’ve always done since we were young. Playing, enjoying ourselves, traveling the world, meeting our fans and making new ones, that’s the plan..

Is there anything that you’d like to add in conclusion?

To all the readers and the fans in Greece: We’re looking forward to seeing you, I hope it will be a great evening.

Thank you very much for your time.

Interview by: Karagiannidis Panagiotis.

After nine years off Fear Factory, the original guitar player and main songwriter of the band Dino Cazares returned to produce alongside Burton C. Bell the new FF monster called ”Mechanize”. What follows is Dino’s vision about the album, some details about it, his opinion about new groups, his emotional statement about his long gone close friend Dimebag Darrell and a promise to do anything he can to see FF live in Greece. Observe!

Hello Dino, where do we find you at the moment?

I am in Los Angeles and I am getting ready for our Australian tour.

Fear Factory is finally back and everybody here in Greece are very happy about it. I am sure you have discussed what I’m going to ask several times, but what was that stopped the band back then and how did you take the decision to reunite?

I really don’t know what happened, all I know was I was not in the band again and later on, they approached me to rejoin the group.

How do you feel working with Fear Factory after so many years?

Oh, I feel great. I feel really great I can work with Burton again, and also Gene and Byron. There’s definitely a chemistry there and you definitely feel the magic that came out of the record.

So, let’s talk about the new album called ”Mechanize”. Does the title have a special meaning or symbolize anything?

I think it symbolizes a great sound of Fear Factory, it takes what we did to the next level, it takes records like ”Soul Of A New Machine”, ”Demanufacture”, ”Obsolete” and ”Digimortal”, the records I was on, to the really next level, and creates a whole new chapter of Fear Factory that I’m really proud of. The record’s coming out in February.

What were the composing and the recording process of the record like? Did you have any problems during the creation of the record?

None (laughs)!  Not at all. This was one of the easiest recordings I have ever done, the writing process was very exciting since I was very excited to record with Burton again. Also Gene and Byron are very talented musicians, very professionals and the writing was smooth, no tension, and also having Rhys Fulber who is kinda fifth member of the band, made the recording very easy. You know, working with him was great, he did a great job in producing the industrial elements of the band, with all these new soundscapes and generally the recordings were great and we had a great time.

So, are you satisfied with the production and the record generally?

100 % satisfied. You are correct. I mean, we put a lot of time and effort into this record to become what it is, and we are very proud of it.

What is the musical direction of ”Mechanize”? How would you describe it to a fan that hasn’t heard it yet?

Very powerful, very aggressive, very exciting, fresh, it has a lot of industrial in it, it’s got all of the new elements that you want, it’s a very well ran record. Later on the record it slows down a little bit and you get into the real big songs like ”Final Exit” or ”Designing The Enemy” and finally you have all the elements that you need to like the record.

Is it similar to the previous releases of Fear Factory? Can you compare it to any of the previous albums?

I would say yes and no. No there isn’t a comparison because musically it’s still Fear Factory but it goes to different places. But you can compare the energy and the excitement of albums like ”Demanufacture”, you can compare the maturity and the songwriting of albums like ”Obsolete”. But soundwise it is still Fear Factory, we have taken it to a new level and this is where we are up today right now.

Gene Hoglan is an amazing drummer that joined Fear Factory. How did this come out? Did he bring new elements to the band with his playing?

When Raymond refused to play drums, Burton gave Gene a call and asked him if he wanted to be a part of this, and Gene said yes. He is a legendary drummer, he’s done a lot of big and great things and to have him as a part of this is the best move Burton could do. I believe that he did bring new elements to the band, he’s a different player, the first different and in songs like ”Fear Campaign” there are a lot of good toms and that is something Fear Factory never had before. So it is great to have a drummer that can play so good with his hands and we are very happy to have him in the band.

I would like us to talk about the lyrical part of the album. Is there a concept on the album?

The whole conceptual thing about the record himself is we wanted to take the meaning of Fear Factory further. What is Fear Factory? Fear Factory is something that causes fear. For instance, the church, politics, religion, terrorism, all the stuff that causes fear. Where is the future of this world going and what is our future? For instance songs like ”Christplotation” we use them to state how religion is using fear tactics to make you believe in God or Jesus Christ. On ”Fear Campaign” we talk about the political leaders who try to cause you fear with the media, in order to vote them. So, that’s the overall concept of the album. Which are the things in life that cause us fear and where we are lead to.

You have already played some shows, what where the reaction of the fans so far?

It was amazing. I mean, I was really nervous because I wasn’t sure how people would react that I am back in the band, I wasn’t sure about how they will react on the record. But I was confident when I got on stage and saw Burton on my right side singing, and the overall positive response we are getting for the shows and for the album fills us with confidence and makes us believe that what we’re doing is right.

On the other hand you recently made a new video for the album, tell us a little things about it.

Yes, we did a videoclip for the song ”Fear Campaign”. The video will be out on February 6 and the album will be out on February 9. So you get to see it worldwide online, on MTV or wherever a video station is on February 6. We shot it with director Ian McFarland, he has worked with a lot of bands, one of his most popular videos is the one he did for Meshuggah for a song called ”Bleed”. So we brought down the word fear and the images that cause us fear, there’s gonna be a bit of a live performance and maybe Burt’s gonna be acting on the video, you’ll see a lot of things flashing and a lot of images that cause us fear in today’s world.

Why especially this song? Is it considered to be the hit of the album?

Whoa, good question… we love all the songs,I wish we could make a video for every song. But ”Fear Campaign” I think best resembles where the band is right now. It has the industrial element, it has the fast, aggressive element, it has a great melodic chorus. I think it has a very strong meaning, so I think it is the best song to represent the album.

Getting out of Fear Factory, the last years you have been more than active with bands like Divine Heresy and Asesino. Tell us a few things about them.

Divine Heresy is going really strong right now, Asesino is on hold since we are all a little busy. Divine Heresy is doing some shows in Australia on April and I think we might do a US tour, hopefully we are going to come to Europe, but obviously Fear Factory takes a lot of my time right now. When there is space in between Fear Factory tours, I will make a Divine Heresy tour.

I would like to inform you that our site is working on a big tribute for the 00’s decade that has already left us behind, and ”Digimortal” was voted as one of the 50 best albums of the decade. Which are your memories from back then?

Oh, that was a very, very tough time for all of us. We are very proud of this record, but there was a lot of elements that kinda destructed the band. The record label was one of the destructions, other people who tried to harm the band, I wish those people never were a part of it, but overall despite all the destructions that occurred, it’s still a good record with good songs on it like ”Acres Of Skin”, ”Linchpin”, ”Damaged”, ”Byte Block”, ”What Will Become”… There’s still some good stuff on the record. But obviously at the end of the day things didn’t work out between me and the band, but I’m back in the band now after so many years and I am very proud that ”Mechanize” is what it is.

I would like to ask you since we are talking about that album, how much productive were the 00’s in your opinion as far as metal is concerned. Do you notice any highlights?

Honestly, I am not really into new bands or anything new that blew me away this last year. A lot of my influences and a lot of the things that I enjoy come back from the ’80s or the early ’90s. What I’ve noticed in metal music is a recycle of what was old to become new again. Like the resurgence of thrash music. I haven’t heard a good thrash band this year, a lot of people tell me there are a couple of good bands but I haven’t heard a new Exodus, or a new early Anthrax. So, I guess if you want to thrash, you have to do it right. That was one of my favorite music styles when I was growing up, thrash metal, early speed metal and early death metal. These were the styles I used to love and I still love, I am into more classic stuff until now.

Dimebag Darrell’s death is definitely one of the worst things that happened for metal in ’00s decade. Would you like to tell us a few things about him, since we know you were very good friends? Which are your memories?

Well, one of the cool things about Dimebag is that he is a legend. When he was alive he was a living legend, and now that he’s gone, he’s still a legend. He left a legacy of music that it’s gonna inspire for years and years to come.You know, like Jimi Hendrix, to be honest he is basically our version of Jimi Hendrix. You know, a guy who really took things to a new level, inspired a lot of people and will keep inspiring a lot of people. I’m very proud that I was lucky to know the guy, to have some drinks with him, hang out with him, tour with him, have a great time. He was just a guy that touched all of us. The cool thing is it was not only about his guitar playing, it was also about his personality. He is a loveable personality, anyone could love him.

Moving back to the band and changing the mood, what are the future plans for the band? Are you going to book a tour? If you come to Europe can we hope for a Greece show?

Well we got back from South America, and now we’re going to Australia. After Australia we are coming to Europe and I really hope Greece is on the list. Then we come back to the US, we’ll tour the States for a while and then back to Europe and back to Australia again.

So you’re really busy I guess. Are you happy to be back on stage with Fear Factory?

I am very busy, I am very happy but I actually never left the stage. We have a great band, we are very tight. Everything goes fine thankfully.

Is there anything else you would like to add or tell us? The last words are yours to all the Greek fans. All the best to you in personal and for the band.

I’m gonna talk to our manager and tell him to book a concert in Greece. I promise to do the hardest I can. The album is out on February 9 and I hope to see you on tour.

Thank you very much, have a nice day.

Thank you too, bye bye.

Interview by: Karagiannidis Panagiotis.