AN INTERVIEW WITH
AN INTERVIEW WITH
It was difficult to determine which should be my favourite 1994 music release. Dream Theater's "Awake" was definitely a most excellent one, but Holy Records recording artists Septic Flesh had also done some really excellent work with their totally brilliant "Mystic Places of Dawn". In the end, I decided to opt for the lesser known band, so the Greek Metal band Septic Flesh became it.
I also decided I would really like to interview them, but as they weren't touring Europe soon this would have to be done through the rather less ideal written medium. I sent off a list of questions to their record label who forwarded them to Sotiris, one of the Septic Flesh guitarists.
Step into the world that is known as Dreamy Emotional Death.
Can you tell us your ages, social status and current occupations?
Sotiris: None of us are married. I am 23 years old, Spiros (bass & vocals, ED.) is 21, Chris (guitar, ED.) and Kostas (drums, ED.) are 20. I am a student at University, and recently Chris went to a music University in England. Spiros is studying graphic art and Kostas is unemployed.
What will your next album be like? Do you already know some details about it?
Sotiris: Our next album will be out in spring and will be called "Esoptron". That means "inner view", "inner mirror". The music is more melancholic, full of ancient mystery. We are also thinking about changing the band name, probably into Moon Dragon.
What do you dislike particularly about the music industry?
Sotiris: That it is an industry.
When will you be touring?
Sotiris: Nothing is sure.
What musicians are you most influenced by?
Sotiris: Mozart, Dany Elfman, Jim Mattheos (Fates Warning, ED.), Basil Poledouris and many more.
Where do you get the inspiration for the music's lyrical contents?
Sotiris: I am inspired by the old mysteries and the search for knowledge. I believe the answers were closer to the truth in the past, especially in ancient times. On our next album, the lyrics will deal with the most powerful key that it is also an enigma, the hidden self. The message is clear - we use it or lose it.
Greek metal, including that of Nightfall for example, has a fairly distinct sounds, unique among other heavy metal genres. What would you see is the magic ingredient?
Sotiris: Feeling.
Some people thought the drums on "Mystic Places of Dawn" sounded computerised. What is your reaction to this?
Sotiris: No, I don't think they sound computerised.
What is your favourite band as a whole, and who is your favourite guitarist?
Sotiris: Iron Maiden and Uli John Roth.
Which book have you read recently that made most of an impression on you?
Sotiris: Collin Wilson's "Mysteries", for its sceptical but also creative approach to a variety of puzzling matters, and Peter Valentine Timlett's "The Power of the Serpent", for its vivid recreation of the Druidic world.
What's the film you've been to recently that you liked most?
Sotiris: "Star Gate".
When, in many years, you'll leave this mortal plane, which song do you want to have played on your funeral service?
Sotiris: If I leave this body to the ground I want to hear "The Return" by Bathory...
What to you is the 1994 music release?
Sotiris: "Mystic Places of Dawn", of course.
What do you remember as the worst moment of your life?
Sotiris: When I kissed the corpse of my grandfather at his funeral. I felt him so frozen, so empty.
Suppose you could slip into the sandals of Aladdin for a while. Which three wishes would you make?
Sotiris: Just one - the power to make my will reality.
Is there a person you'd really like to meet before you go the way of all flesh?
Sotiris: Many people, but they are all physically dead.
If you were confined to a desert island and you could only take one book, five CDs and one luxury item, which would you take?
Sotiris: That's a difficult question. The CDs would probably be Mercyful Fate's "Don't Break the Oath", Bathory's "Under the Sign...", Celtic Frost's "Into the Pandemonium", the soundtrack to "Conan I" and Dead Can Dance's "The Serpent's Egg". Of course, I would take with me some great stereo equipment to be able to hear them. Also a DIY book would be very useful.
What invention do you hope mankind will come up with soon?
Sotiris: The reversal of age.
What is your ultimate ambition, the thing you hope to be remembered by?
Sotiris: I want to be remembered as a great non-human.
Now some words to react to. Some of these are intended to provoke... First word is "the Netherlands".
Sotiris: I want to visit them some day.
Macedonia.
Sotiris: A historical part of Greece, birth place of Alexander the Great.
MTV.
Sotiris: A music channel. No more, no less.
Guns'n'Roses.
Sotiris: A good-selling product.
Nightfall.
Sotiris: A well-known band from Greece.
The Greek Metal scene.
Sotiris: Great!
Michael Jackson.
Sotiris: Black or white, he's one really confused person.
42.
Sotiris: Hmmmm...
Religion.
Sotiris: The biggest lie.
Orphaned Land.
Sotiris: Another fellow band.
Holy Records.
Sotiris: Good taste.
Greece.
Sotiris: Land of ancient beauty and wisdom.
Misanthrope.
Sotiris: A fellow band, too.
RK
Written March 1995