What a night. It wasn’t just a gig, six bands make it a mini festival. Kind of tiresome to attend a fest in a club, but I think it was worth it in the end. The sad fact is that I got there a bit late, so I missed Celestial Immunity’s performance. Moreover, I only managed to listen to just two songs from Ritual of Odds. Having missed most of their show too, I can’t really say much about them. Anyway, let’s continue.

Show Your Face was up next and I have to say they impressed me from the very beginning, and particularly their vocalist, having a wide range of brutal growls and screams. Playing something like Gothenburg mixed with Sepultura, they made sure the people wouldn’t stop banging their heads. Sepultura I said? They covered “Roots Bloody Roots”, creating panic in the audience.

While I’m not a big fan of their style, Lucky Funeral kick ass. Musically, they move around the stoner spectrum obviously influenced by Down. Good overall performance by these guys, but once again, the credit must go to the band’s frontman. That guy, wow, he’s got it in him. A really funny highlight: in the middle of the show he takes his clothes off, leaving only his boxers on and showing his ass to the audience. I bet you don’t see things like this on every show.

At this time I was getting a bit tired and anxious for Nightrage, the main reason for me going there in the first place. Cheers from the audience while they came on stage and started mayhem. It was simply awesome. The band showed a lot of energy, playing songs covering their whole discography. “Being Nothing”, “Scathing”, “Hero” are some of them while lot of the songs were coming out from their latest release “Wearing A Martyr’s Crown” with the semi-titled song that recently made a video of, to be the highlight of the show. Guess what. I’m going to talk about the vocalist again. He isn’t just good in signing, but he’s funny too, making the entire show very enjoyable. Another thing worth mentioning was the presence of former Nighrage guitarist Gus G in the audience, leading to something that left us all surprised in a good way: Nightrage covered part of a Firewind song, dedicated to him. They finished with the song “Tremor”, receiving tons of applaud.

Finally, there was the last act of the night, Septic Flesh. Background scenery, dim lights and here they come. Seth speaks a few words and the opening track “Unbeliever” starts the show. They continued with a few more old songs and then switched to the highly acclaimed “Communion” songs,  with only “Red Code Cult” and “Sumerian Daemon” breaking the continuity of Communion. The whole playlist was well received by the audience, creating a constant pandemonium in the pit. Septic Flesh capped the performance with a very professional show and lots of energy. However, I was kind of annoyed by the choice of songs played. It’s not that I don’t like them, but it had been more than a year since I last saw them live, yet the playlist was exactly the same. OK, last time they were promoting their latest album, but now I had been expecting to see more of their old stuff, not just three or four songs.

Finally, a note to the promoters and technicians: the sound was terrible, especially on guitars. If you want to hold a gig of this caliber, you must have appropriate sound support. That however didn’t hold back any of the bands and they did their best to please us. Sorry if you weren’t there, but this gig was very good overall, showing that the Greek metal scene has quality bands and lots to offer.

Thanasis Gatziouras.

Marios Iliopoulos, the soul of Nightrage, talks with Metalpaths about the new Nightrage album, about Gus G. and the progress of the Greek Metal scene in general.

Good evening Marios. How was your day?

Hello Alex. Everything is all right. Yesterday we had a live performance.

How did it go ?

It was nice. It was scheduled to play The Haunted first but their drummer had flu and they canceled their performance. But we played as we have planned.

Before we start the interview, I would like to tell you that I admire your carrier into the Metal Music Industry and I believe you hold up as a very good example here in Greece.

Thank you very much for your good words. I believe that every one of us should follow our dreams. Personally I did my best to achieve my own dream.

Very nice. So let’s start with the questions! I want to tell me with a few words, how the things are going for Nightrage right now?

As you know Alex, our new album “Wearing A Martyr’s Crown” from LifeForce Records is out, and we are very satisfied with it. The album has gained many good critics and reviews from foreign and domestic magazines and from our fans and friends. At that moment, we are preparing for our first European Tour which starts this month, November 09, and on February ’10, we will come in Greece for 10 live concerts. The next plan for the year 2010 is to get back to the studio and start recording a new album as soon as possible. I like a lot our new line up and I want to stay as it is.

Can you explain, why there were so many changes to the Nightrage’s line up ?

Most of all it was bad luck. Personally I have put some members in the band that they weren’t the right people. They were totally wrong choices. When you have some special demands for your band , it is very difficult to find the right members. I want to work with professionals and I believe this line up we have is the best ever. I’m very happy and satisfied with the new members. These guys its seams that they love Nightrage’s music and they are having fun.

Can you tell me a few things about the recording procedure of your 4th album?

The recording of our new album started without any problems. We were in the studio Fredman for 23 weeks.

Fredrik is an old friend of yours and a very good producer. Am I right?

Yes, that’s right. With Fredrik’s help I know exactly the result we will have. But we were already prepared. Every single song it was in demo form. So we knew exactly what kind of sound we wanted to record.

I can see that you liked the final result. Is there anything that you would like to change ?

There are always some things you want to change. Never the less , I don’t have any complain. Everything went as it was planed. Every single member knows what he has to do and there wasn’t any problem at all.

Can you compare your last album with the older ones ?

Yes, I believe that our new album has a similar sound with the first one. We wanted a melodic metal album like our first one but without recycling ourselves. And I think we made it!

I liked a lot your cover from Metallica “Holier Than Though”. How did you choose this song ?

We are all big fans of Metallica and we wanted to choose one song from the Black Album , which is one of their best. We adjust the song with the Nightrage’s sounds and style.

Is there any idea of recording a video clip ?

Of course we will make a video clip with Bob Katsionis’s help. We have worked together in the past with Bob. The shooting will take place in Greece, before our Greek Tour starts.

In your new album, there are some guest stars, like Gus G and Sakis from Rotting Christ. How did you achieve that ?

Gus G. is my best friend I must say. We started together this band. For me, it was a great pleasure that he returned and gave some of the old sounds of Nightrage to this album. Sakis , I believe is the leader of Metal in Greece , and it’s a great honour that he sings with us in our album.

Are you satisfied with Life Force Records’s co-operation with Nightrage ? Did you have any problems with the promotion of the new album?

No, we didn’t have any problem. Life Force did its best with every tool the had in their arms. And not only for Nightrage. They give their best to all the bands they have. They are not cold business men. They truly love the music.

So, you say that Nightrage gain advantage from Life Force Records.

Exactly. And we hope that we will continue this co-operation with the same terms and conditions.

When you left Greece, why did you choose to go to Sweden? Do you believe that there were more opportunities there than somewhere else ?

Sweden is the best in so many ways. In Greece we don’t have the right substructure for Metal music. I knew some people from Sweden, at Fredman studios. There we had recorded two albums with Exhumation. There I understood that Greece has left behind from this music progress.

Do you believe that the lack of music education, the short-minded society and the lack of substructure and equipment have leaded the Greek metal bands into some kind of international elimination?

I believe that there are some good studios in Greece. But, the bands themselves must show interest, especially now with the power of the internet. Everyone can have access to all kind of equipments. I’m sure that we could have the same progress like Sweden, but we Greeks are lazy creatures and like to show off. Music is not like the Olympic Games. The point is not to become the best of all. There are some Greek Bands that they do their best but in the end they cannot achieve much because there are financial problems, or the army, even the society itself.

Marios, tell me your opinion about the progress in the Greek Metal Scene. Personally, I’ve seen some good bands and I’ve noticed that on an international level, there has been a significant change of attitude towards Greek musicians, especially in the genre of Metal.

Yes indeed. Especially now, that Gus G was Ozzy’s Choice to be his guitarist. That’s the proof that Greeks musicians have what it takes to achieve every goal. Unfortunately, the most of the new bands don’t play music for the right reasons. But of course there are some very remarkable bands, like Septic Flesh, Rotting Christ, Firewind and I believe that they are the leaders in Metal.

Would you like to say a few things about Ozzy Osbourne’s choice to take Gus G?

Gus G is my best friend and has a star upon his head. He truly deserved it and I believe he is the best Greek musician. He is a professional. Big bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden support Ozzy. That is something remarkable!

Do you believe that all the bands have an expiry date? For example, do you thing that Metallica or Slayer can keep up the same pace for good?

In my opinion these particular bands definitely have more to
give. Anyway,such bands don’t see the light often and when it comes to metal it’s tough to find a new style to play as it will be old news, not to mention finding new band members who will give it all to achieve what they want. There are many people out there who simply ignore that in order to play heavy metal or become a member of a band is no piece of cake.

The truth is that new musicians lack in originality. Is it all a perpetual re-serving ?

There are some good ideas, but the best would be for everyone to try and write the best songs possible, to believe in what they do and really love it. As I said earlier, it’s not so easy for bands such as Black Sabbath, Metallica, Maiden , Slayer and Megadeth to see the light of day again. These are all classic groups that got established after many years of hard work.

You said that Nightrage plan to release a new album and go on tour.

We want to do as many gigs as possible so that we bond even better as a band. We’re in good spirits and fully inspired, so we don’t mean to waste another two years before releasing our new album. We want our new cd to come out sooner than most would expect.

Thank you very much for the interview. As an ending, I would like you to send a message to the readers of Metalpaths.

Thank you all greek fans for your support and your encouragement. I look forward to February when we shall start our tour around Greece and see you all there. Keep supporting Nightrage and buy our new album. Stand by true bands, not trends. Thank you very much!

Interview by: Alex Ambatzis
Transladed by: Effi Burton

The recipe: good old Swedish death metal, with tons of “heavy” riffs that reminds us of their first two works, “Sweet Vengeance” and “Descend Into Chaos”. Also that turning back is confirmed by their return at Fredman studios and Fredrik Nordstrom as the producer.

The experimental state of their last work, “A New Disease Is Born”, is now over, the clean vocals have now been reduced to minimum and the relaxing parts are very few, not allowing us to take a break from the bombardment of guitars, drums and bass pandemoniums.

The new guitarist of Ozzy and former member of Nightrage has now returned to give his influence in the instrumental track “Sting Of Remorse”. I am of course referring to the Greek guitarist Gus G.

So now the balance has been restored between the brutality of their first two albums and attitude of their last album.

An amazing work that proves, in my opinion, that they are now one of the best in the Swedish death metal style, despite the fact that they are not from Sweden at all.

We are in the Metal Healing Festival with Marios Iliopoulos from Nightrage and the new guitar player of the band, Konstantinos. Good evening guys.

Marios: Good evening.

Kostas: Good evening.

The new album by Nightrage has been released recently. Tell us a few words about it.

Marios: We are very pleased with the new album. It was the first time we left the Frendman studio in Sweden and tried another studio for the production. So, the new album was produced in France with Hansen and I think it worked quite positively as we achieved a really powerful sound.

In relation to your older work, in the New Deases is Born one observes new musical elements…

Marios: Yes, we have implemented some new elements in our music, like some clear vocals and generally more simple arrangements in relation to the songs but I believe that the Nightrage element is still there, in the new songs, meaning you can still understand this is a Nightrage album. Furthermore, the new members brought some new ideas that affected the outcome, which sounds a bit more “modern” and this becomes apparent in some of the album’s songs.

How did you come up with this choice for “new” experimentation?

Marios: It was basically my decision. I always used to do all the work in Nightrage as the lyricist and composer and this time I wanted to give the new band members the chance to externalize their own ideas so as to come up with a more homogeneous outcome.

So you’re happy with the outcome…

Marios: Very much. I believe this album to be a rebirth for Nightrage for, after Liberg’s withdrawal from the vocals many thought that Nightrage would break up and won’t go on. I think we can once again prove that the drive wheel of Nightrage is still here and will keep on writing new albums.

A video clip has been created for the album’s promotion…

Marios: Yes, this video clip was made in Athens with Babis Katsionis, who has recently been making a very good job in the video clip area. He’s done a good job with Rotting Christ and I generally like his work. It so happens that he is also a good friend of mine and I considered it a good idea to make the video in Athens. We didn’t produce a “wow” video clip, but considering the money invested it was a very good clip which gives us the opportunity to show how Nightrage might seem on a video.

Kostas, as a new member, would you like to describe to us the experience of making a video clip?

Kostas: It was a really nice experience. A little bit tiresome I should say, but Babis did an excellent job, everything was really organised, the outcome was brilliant and most people enjoyed it…for me it was an awesome experience. I’m only 19 years old and playing for Nightrage is really cool.

What was your reaction when you first realised you were going to be the band’s new guitar player?

Kostas: I was on the top of the world!

During the last years band member changes were frequent. Where do you render this?

Marios: I believe those changes were necessary for Nightrage’s survival. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find devoted musicians, able to follow the band’s tour programme and all its obligations in general, because most of them won’t have music as their number one priority in life. This is a problem to me. I need band members to be dedicated and to perform 100% of their ability, so this was sadly unavoidable. We had to change the band members so that the band could go on doing what it should do.

On which basis were the new members chosen?

Marios: Based on their capacity and my own experience. I’m quite pleased with Kostas, our new guitarist.

Weren’t you at first afraid to choose Kostas, being 19 and obviously lacking the experience?

Marios: I would have to say yes, it sounds a bit odd, but I think age doesn’t matter. Kostas is talented and passionate enough to play in a band like Nightrage and this is the object of my request. That is, to collaborate with people that love what they do, which is –unfortunately- very hard to find in the metal scene, due to many factors…others have financial issues, others can’t go on due to their day-time jobs…all these don’t matter to me. I play music because I love it and I want to play with people that feel the same way.

You are in a country were metal is thriving and opportunities are bigger. Was it a difficult decision to transfer to Sweden? For what reason did you choose this country?

Marios: This, I have to say, was the harder decision I had to make in my life, choosing to leave Greece. Playing there with Exhumation we achieved to produce three albums recorded in Sweden but, sadly, nothing above the Greek reality, for, as you know, in Greece music business doesn’t exist. It’s really hard for a metal band to rise there for either you like it or not there isn’t proportionate efficiency from band members, corresponding support from the audience, the media and so on. So I think, that decision to leave was the most mature decision I’ve ever made in my life and I haven’t ever regretted it, ‘cause I believe that what I’ve accomplished in 6 years with Nightrage I would have never achieved with Exhumation. I’m pleased to see that there is huge correspondence to the music we play and not just in Sweden, but also in Greece and worldwide.

Let’s move to your cooperation with Tomas Limberg. How important was it to you to work with such a metal statesman and how did this cooperation occurred?

Marios: I have known Tomas since 1998, when we were recording the second album by Exhumation in Sweden. When I moved to Sweden later in 2000 I suggested this idea to him. I had some demos by Nightrage and well…I never thought something like that would happen. I’m a fan of At The Gates, too, and I loved Tomas for his voice. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that he liked our music and this was the reason he wanted to join us. So he joined the band and we did together two very good albums and it was an honour that he played with us.

As far as Exhumation is concerned, what was the reason of your withdrawal and how are your relationships with the rest of the members of the band?

Marios: Look…a lot of shit happened especially towards the end of Exhumation. There was generally an unprofessional attitude by some of the members and they didn’t want to go on.

Would you like to elaborate?

Marios: Ok, I think what’s done is done, I really forgive them for what they did, if they did something against me and it’s ok…life goes on, we move forward and I’m very happy that I managed to achieve something musically on my own, based solely on my own ability and I didn’t need these people to tell me what I had to do. Either way, these people lacked the appropriate capabilities and passion in order for me to proceed with my own musical expectations.

This is the first time Nightrage perform in Northern Greece…

Marios: This is Nightrage’s first performance in Greece. I believe this will be a special show and I think we’ll have our best show ever. We’re really pleased with this opportunity to perform in Greece for the first time and we hope that our Greek friends will value it respectively.

Would you like to tell us some of the differences you can spot between festivals in Greece and abroad?

Marios: It depends on the festival, on the audience and the time period. It’s not a matter of country whether a festival is successful or not. The same phenomena are true for other countries, too, but I think the most obvious difference is that maybe abroad things are better organised. They’ve been doing this for more years and have gained greater experience in the process. Such cases like Metal Healing, I support them wholeheartedly and I hope the festival will become established and succeeded. I would also like, though, the respective support from the people, that is, to come and see the bands performing.

Do you think there is a chance that metal in Greece will evolve? Is there a “recipe” abroad which maintains the high standards in metal?

Marios: The difference, as I said, rests on the “music business”. There is no such thing in Greece. Imagine that in, let’s say, Sweden, where I live, the state helps new musicians. It gives them money for recordings, lives and rehearsals…

How does this work?

Marios: The state, in general, helps young people get involved with music, and even more, with other arts as well, like painting, poetry…

Kostas: I remember you mentioning in another interview that perhaps the Greek society is not ready to accept new kinds of music.

Marios: Yes, this might be true. Not to mention that in Greece we’re overwhelmed by pop-folk music and I think that with folk music we haven’t got any further and that young artists are not given any appropriate opportunities to play something other than Greek music, like rock, pop or classic, so as to unfold their talent. I believe that there are quite capable musicians in Greece, who are –unfortunately- fading in this vicious circle of “folkness” that reigns in Greece. Even if there are talented musicians there won’t be corresponding support from the Greek audience towards a band so that it can rise higher. There is generally a bad attitude in this issue. Things are very different abroad. For example, they don’t mind if a band is from a foreign country. There exists meritocracy. That is, they estimate a band’s value without trying to “put down” a band on account of not being native. On the contrary, they do exactly the opposite, by supporting them, something which is not true of Greece and it is sad, as there are really worthy musicians in Greece. I believe this and I had the opportunity to perform with some of them like Fotis from Septic Flesh, Babis Katsionis, Giorgos Kolias…there are so many great musicians and of equal standing like those from abroad.

Have you ever thought of recording a live DVD?

Marios: Yes, that’s a very good thought. Basically we had an opportunity of recording a live DVD in Poland but last February we had an accident there and we couldn’t do it. Now we’re expecting a response from Metal Mind Production and we will probably do it later. But we had a chance 5-6 months ago.

What are your plans for the future of Nightrage?

Marios: We want to be in as many live concerts as we can in order to promote our new stuff and, later, to start recording the songs for the new album which is going to be the best Nightrage album ever. We have a lot of new ideas and we’ll do our best.

You play on the same day as another Greek band which, in the past, has made us proud abroad on several occasions. I’m talking about Septic Flesh, of course…

Marios: Yes, I’d have to say that Septic Flesh are among the oldest and most worthy bands on the Greek scene and I’m happy about their reunion after so many years of absence from the stages. I believe they’re having a great come back album and, well, they are one of the aces of the Greek scene together with Rotting Christ and Firewind.

Thank you so much for this interview. We hope the best for the band as well as on a personal level.

Marios: You’re most welcome and we also hope the best for you and your website. The metal scene needs you.

Kostas: Thanks a lot.

Interview by: Rena Koutsou
Translated by: Thanos Koulouris