Acid Rain

Antonis Koumiotis is one of the few guys here in Greece that does everything is possible for supporting the Greek metal scene, as a radio producer and with the festivals he organize. Here, though we had a chat about his epic metal band that hears in the name ACID RAIN and it will be a great proposal for the friends of MANILLA ROAD and DOOMSWORD. So come closer to our fire and listen what Antonis have to say...

1. HI MY FRIEND ANTONY! FIRST OF ALL CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR DEMO “WAR IN THE SKY”, WHICH IS INCREDIBLE! NOW THAT SOME TIME HAS PASSED FROM ITS RELEASE AND THE FIRST ENTHUSIASM HAS BEEN REDUCED, TELL US WHAT YOU STILL THINK OF IT. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THERE’S ANYTHING YOU SHOULD CHANGE? 
  • First of all, I’d like to thank you and “Behind The Veil” for all the support and for giving us the opportunity to express ourselves in the open and talk in public regarding the band. Surely time comes and goes (like a beautiful and all time classic 80s Greek song indicates) and in the beginning it finds us filled with enthusiasm and after that pleased and satisfied with all the support and feedback that Acid Rain received from the metallers. Of course changing things within the music is a matter of relativity, since we certainly find mistakes, especially in our performance, due to lack of time mainly and I also think we have some drawbacks in the composition department. However, the fans embraced both or promo work and the demo we released after our comeback and this fills us with enthusiasm for the future to come.  We had to offer something to the fans and this had to be directly after our reunion. Something spontaneous that springs up with no effort and that consequently is romantic. Thus the “War In The Sky” demo was created and we are very proud of it! . 
2. TO BE HONEST WITH YOU I THINK THAT THE NAME ACID RAIN IS A LITTLE BIT DECEIVING. I BELIEVE IT IS MORE SUITABLE TO AN EXTREME METAL BAND. HOW DID YOU CHOOSE IT AND WHAT EXACTLY DOES IT STAND FOR TO YOU? 
  • Acid Rain…! “Acid Rain” was born from the ashes, the love, the passion and the unceasing (perhaps due to the fact that we come from a rural territory) thirst for pure and impulsive epic heavy metal. Throughout or existence our basic axis around which we move and rotate is the creation of a proper model for the youth of the Magnisia territory, where we live and where we are considered being one of the most popular bands of this area, if we are not the most popular. Our main target is to spread the word for the spirit, the truth and the right choices. Somewhere there… between the past and the present, between the burning flame of wisdom and obscenity, between the paradise and the hell of the soul, there is something that can’t be explained with any of the normal ways. This is the way that managed to remain alive, survive, evolve and raise hundreds of thousands of young, romantic music fans. It is the neverending need for creation and expression, the unstoppable inspiration and ultimate moment of the living raving. This is the hour of apotheosis and the fair sharing between the mortals and immortals. It is the right and the coexistence of every free person. This value (of the free expression) come Acid Rain to secure with our personalities. Like an adolescent promise, a children’s dream, which we ought to make true. Acid Rain is back for good aiming to dissolute everything that stands in its way.  We will be here forever and we will be the thorn for all those who are malevolent to our values and divine offerings. The freedom of will and expression. Acid Rain came back in the year 2003 and work for the accomplishment of their personally desired result and dream. To put it simple… Our recognition!!! 
3. BEFORE ACID RAIN YOU USED TO PLAYING IN ANOTHER BAND UNDER THE NAME SOULBLADE. HAVE YOU EVER RELEASED ANY DEMOS WITH THIS BAND? DO YOU PLAY ANY OF THE SOULBLADE SONGS WITH ACID RAIN? 
  • Soulblade is Acid Rain’s ancestor, with whom we never released any official cds and none of these songs is used or performed by Acid Rain. I’d like to tell you here that none of the previous Acid Rain songs will ever be used again, meaning all those compositions we wrote before disbanding, because I think it would be immoral to use this material, since it doesn’t only belong to the remaining Acid Rain members. So, we are back more mature and with fresh ideas. We grew up, we matured, but liking it or not our beliefs haven’t been altered. We have new material that we fully support and believe in and we also have a new line up dedicated to the above mentioned values. 
4. ACID RAIN WAS PUT IN “ICE” FOR QUITE SOME TIME. WHY DID THIS HAPPEN?  WERE YOU THINKING OF QUITTING OR DID YU ONLY WANT TO HAVE A BREAK? WHAT LED YOU AFTER ALL TO THE DECISION TO REUNITE? 
  • The truth is that we disbanded back in 2001 for good. We disbanded because we got sick of everything in the scene and we couldn’t react to it. I decided to end Acid Rain because that line up back then couldn’t help me bring forward and make true the vision and goals I had for Acid Rain. The rest of the guys, except for me and I am talking about the today’s line up, played music constantly. Spyros played all the time, but he has quit everything now to focus on Acid Rain. Dimitris, our bassist and old band member, also plays in Side Effect and Alimentary Canal, like our drummer, Stauros, who has also worked with some other projects. Giannis has Mortfontaine and George plays in a band for the first time. Regarding me now, the right question would be which is the reason that made me, along with the help of Dimitris, play again and reform Acid Rain, after I stopped playing and after I only concentrated on helping others, having my own radio show, having my own zine and organizing festivals, etc. To this specific question I’d answer that I felt the need and urge this period to express myself with the help of my friends. I think it makes a perfect sense. I discussed about this with Dimitris, since he was the only person from the previous Acid Rain line up, who could involve once again, so we decided to reform the band. All these are simple, easily understandable and humanly, I believe. The rest of the guys didn’t say no, since they all knew what was in store for them and they wanted to live the experience. We want to pass our time in a beautiful and creative way and I think we will manage to get through despite the fact that timing is our worst enemy. 
5. PERSONALLY YOUR SOUND REMINDED ME OF BANDS LIKE DOOMSWORD, MANILLA ROAD AND MANOWAR. DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT? WHICH OTHER ARTISTS DO YOU THINK HAVE PUT THEIR MARK ON YOUR SOUND? 
  • I agree with everyone whatever he says our music reminds him of. We like many bands, the most important of which are Brocas Helm, Heir Apparent, Cirith Ungol, Thunder Rider, Omen, Doomsword, Manilla Road, Virgin Steele, Holy Martyr, Battleroar, Spitfire, Marauder, Inner Wish, etc. 
6. YOUR VOICE IS VERY SIMILAR TO ?ARK SHELTON’S FROM MANILLA ROAD. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS? ARE YOU A BIG MANILLA ROAD FAN?
  • There are many people that told me this, but I think it’s desecrating, since I think I am cacophonous. My only weapon is the passion I have for my beloved music and all those things I want to express through it. Regarding Manilla Road, yes I am a hardcore fan of their music and in fact I will forever be following them.
7. LET’S TALK A BIT ABOUT THE LYRICS. HOW IMPORTANT ARE THEY FOR YOU? DO YOU THINK THAT SOME CHILDISH OR BAD WRITTEN LYRICS LESSEN A SONG’S VALUE? WHICH ARE THE MAIN TOPICS YOU LIKE TALKING ABOUT? 
  • My point of view is that the hard music and especially heavy metal music has always gone along with the financial, political or social problems of each time. This is how this music started and this is how it must continue. From the Woodstock arena, when the youngsters back then protested against the Vietnam war, to the most recent live shows and protests against the attacks to Iraq. To put it in a different way… I think we should all be free. We should all have the right of free expression without censorship. Everyone and everything must survive harmonically on the planet without any intrusions. Everything flows and everything must evolve, without the values, mainly the moral ones, being trespassed. Tons of blood has been spilled over these values. I strongly believe that those who write the reviews should divide the metal albums 50-50, separating each work into 2 sections, the musical and the lyrical part. Let’s go now to our work. We are dealing here with a concept. Its result is the disappearance of the centaurs because of the humans. A fact that expresses the unfairness that exists in our world and the result of intrusions. The centaurs wanted revenge and humans eliminated them, in a battle like no other, 90.000 centaurs, half men half horses, fell in the South – East part of Thessaly. The battle was enormous and tons of blood got spilled to satisfy human’s ego and his thirst for fame. The prince of the centaurs, on the other hand, died from the hand of a centaur, a fact that indicates the hypocrisy and the treachery and reminds us a bit of the commercial religious phenomenon of our times. Plain simple, bombasting and easy to understand in every way that each persons heart and soul requires. The thrill of the traitor centaur can still be heard every spring on Pilio, the mountain of the centaurs. He whips and moans, whilst running in the vast forests, for his insolence and takes a vow of death for all those who fight against the freedom he once betrayed. This is why his soul can’t rest. Perhaps in the future he can take the power in his hands. Perhaps it is our romantic and at the same time controversial way to express our beliefs. 
8. I’ VE SEEN ON YOUR SITE, THAT YOU’VE SENT YOUR DEMO IN MANY ZINES. ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FEEDBACK AND THE REVIEWS YOU RECEIVED THIS FAR? HOW DID THE METALLERS ABROAD REACT TO ACID RAIN’S DEMO? 
  • Hmmm. Basically the massive reviews you saw on our site are from our one song promo cd, which was released a while ago and it is already sold out. We are still waiting to hear the opinion of the “specialists” for our demo. You are among the first who reviewed it.  Regarding the feedback now and the reviews we received this far, like I said in the beginning of this interview, they have really been encouraging. In fact they have been so encouraging that we really go wild, every time they say they’d like to see us playing live. 
9. ARE YOU IN A SEARCH OF A RECORD DEAL OR DO YOU SIMPLY HAVE THE BAND FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT AND FOR PLAYING YOUR BELOVED MUSIC? WITH WHAT CRITERIA WILL YOU SELECT A LABEL? 
  • Basically we just play ha ha ha! Acid Rain have no plan, we just play for our amusement. So, we wrote some new material because we wanted  to do so and little by little we started promoting it. We released a promo in order to make the fans learn about our comeback. This promo is called “Revenge” and it is the second, in order of appearance, track from the 3 songs included in our “War In The Sky” concept demo. I’d like to have your attention now please. Acid Rain prove with both these releases that they do what they do for their own satisfaction. We recorded the promos in a local studio and this is because we weren’t craving for a good production. We don’t want to act like we are something special or anything. We are down to earth and everything will take its course. We want to revive the earlier more primitive productions and this is why we don’t force anyone into buying these 2 promos. We respect every cent of each listener thus we sell the promos for 1 euro only. The production is not good and we know that. We want to walk along with that fucking feeling that made us love this, torn apart from the intruders and yet so pure and beloved, genre. In the future maybe this will be slightly changed. Nevertheless we will continue doing what we choose and please our own thirsty souls. For us epic heavy metal is a way of life and we all live heavy metal lives, even in our every day jobs. This is who we are and we respect each other’s value and move on.  We promise to everybody that we will offer them what we know to do best and this is nothing else than playing true and dirty epic heavy metal. We are not college boys that know their instruments like Dream Theater, we are not a band based on social relations and promotion, we are band coming from the streets. We have a brutal and yet filled with sentiments vocalist and a bassist who is a fan of Mastrokalos (note: an incredible bassist of the great Pavlos Sidiropoulos) What else do we need? We want to live every minute with Acid Rain and level everything that stands in our way. So be sure that Acid Rain will become the living nightmare of the music industry’s “decency” that exists nowadays. Regarding now the label issue… We’d like to sign to a label just to get our work distributed more massively for the metallers to know us and what we express better.  We’d prefer a small underground label, since we don’t care about money and we can’t come through any big expectations the label may have. A big label has demands and doesn’t do any charities. You must go on tour and support your material with live shows and we don’t have that much free time. However, we will perform live and we will have lots of fun with all those that accept us and our music. Whoever dares can come and sign us… ha ha ha! 
10. YOU INVOLVE A LOT AND DRASTICALLY IN THE GREEK METAL SCENE. SO, I AM REALLY INTERESTED IN YOUR OPINION ON WHETHER YOU SEE ANY SIGNS OF PROGRESS COMPARED TO THE PAST. WHICH DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST IMPORTANT OBSTACLE THAT THE GREEK SCENE IS CONFRONTED WITH AND THAT SHOULD BE DEALT IN ORDER TO ALSO WIN RECOGNITION ABROAD? 
  • My point of view is irrelevant. I am being interviewed as a member of  Acid Rain, who despite being a part of the Greek scene, don’t want to jump into conclusions or make any assumptions yet for any of the Greek music scene branches. The friction of the reunited Acid Rain with the Greek metal scene starts now, therefore I can’t give you any definitive opinions that can be valid. However, we realize that it consists of many members. Some of them are worthy and others indifferent, even as personalities. There are good people in all the branches. For example no one can deny the offering of men like Haris Efkarpidis, Bill Tsamis, Efthimis Karadimas, George Zaharopoulos, John Pousios, Tolis Palatzas, Spyros Antoniou, Andreas Stasinopoulos, Makis Siskos, Sakis Tolis, Jim Liapakis, Kostas Karamitroudis, Giotis Paharidis, our friend Thymios from Inner Wish, Bob Katsionis, Theodore Ziras, Jim Sirinakis, Markos Mihailidis, Nick Loris, Jim Selalmazidis, Stathis Panagiotopoulos, Iosif Konstantinidis, Mr. Varsamis, Theodosis Miras, George Grammatikas and even Panagiotis Tzanetatos and his contentious personality. Sorry if I forgot someone. Believe me, it doesn’t have anything to do with this my friend. A homogenous approach to things is required in this situation that we are into. It’s not weird why there are so few people that managed to make people recognize their value worldwide. It’s not enough, you know, to be known in Gianena or Orestiada. If things were this way we should be called Acid Rain in Greek and our promo should be named “Ekdikisi” (note:this is the word for revenge in Greek) and not “Revenge”. Let’s wake up and realize at last that the Greek market is too small and the money and fame are shared among the big labels and the “strong” names. Do you know why? It is reasonable. So, the only solution is to get in the roster of a big label. How? Only if you make “sacrifices” if you have a good production, nice compositions and of course being 100% dedicated to the heavy metal career you dream of.  Personally, I have to say that Acid Rain don’t dream, so we don’t fulfill the requirements, because I believe that if we dreamt of such things we could make them true. I know this may surprise you, but it’s the truth and this is what we do. I told you that Acid Rain is not a band, it is what elevates us and we are not even thinking of trading this feeling. I’m not exaggerating. Acid Rain will still be Acid Rain, nothing more nothing less. The only thing we could do is to find a small label to release and distribute our music in a more massive way. Me, Stavros or whoever else within the band, may want to become or even become heavy metal heroes someday. Not with Acid Rain though… Acid Rain will continue doing what they’ve always wanted. They will remain being Acid Rain.
11. WHICH GREEK HEAVY METAL BANDS HAVE YOU POINTED OUT LATELY AND WHY? CAN YOU MENTION 5 ALBUMS FROM GREEK BANDS YOU LISTEN TO A LOT THESE DAYS? 
  • From time to time I listen to many Greek bands, but since you restrict me in the present time, I’ll simply tell you: Inner Wish who are like brothers to us released an incredible new album! Of course we are anxiously waiting for it to be released in Greece, however I don’t think anything like that is possible in the near future. The situation here is fucked up and we know why this happens. Is it perhaps that they need to be clamored in order to start behaving more professionally? You, as a webzine, should also think about it and make a research on that. Abroad Inner Wish’s album, “Silent Faces” which I have literally “melted” from the many hearings, is in stores over 2 months now. Why not here? One more personality now and his latest achievement… I am referring to the solo album of my friend Bob Katsionis. It simply is a killer and truly proves that he is by far the best. Ending, we shouldn’t forget Firewind and Kostas Karamitroudis, known in public as Gus G.. Personally, I think of Firewind as a Greek band and I think their new album is excellent. They also think of them as a Greek band, since if you access their website, the address is www.firewind.gr and not .com or anything else. After all we shouldn’t forget that after the addition of Bob Katsionis on the keyboards 3 out of the 5 band members are Greek. I also listened to the debut albums of Battleroar, Bloodstained, Marauder and Raging Storm as well as the divine “I am Jesus” from Nightfall. All these albums are simply great. My 5 most beloved albums are: 
  • Inner Wish: Silent Faces
  • Firewind: Burning Earth
  • Battleroar: Battleroar
  • Bob Katsionis: Imaginary Force
  • Nightfall: I am Jesus
12.  I READ SOMETHING THAT I LIKED A LOT IN THE LETTER YOU SENT ME ALONG WITH THE DEMO AND I AGREE WITH YOU. HOW DO YOU THINK THE LABELS AND WHICH BANDS IN PARTICULAR DO YOU THINK DESTROY HEAVY METAL? 
  • Heavy metal is destroyed by all those mean and sleazy men of the scene. I am not suggesting those guys that are workaholics and work on professional standards. I’m talking about those mean and disgusting people. 
13. WE ALSO SEE NOWADAYS MANY METALHEADS BEING INTERESTED MAINLY IN THE PRODUCTION OF AN ALBUM AND WHICH FAMOUS MUSICIANS PARTICIPATE IN IT AND THIS MAKES ME FEEL THAT THEY DON’T VALUE THE ESSENCE OF MUSIC ITSELF. ARE YOU WORRIED FOR THESE SIGNS? HAS THE MUSIC WE LOVE BECOME THESE DAYS JUST A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT LIKE POP MUSIC IS? 
  • No, this thing doesn’t worry me. I have faith in our pure fans and I trust them. If it really bothered me, believe me, the next question would also concern the guest appearances we have in our demo from some famous musicians. But this is not the case and this proves how much first of all I believe in Acid Rain and then I believe in the fans. Now, regarding the popularity of heavy metal music… I’d tell you that whatever sells a lot is pop, since pop means popular and pop music is the popular music. Thus, Iron Maiden, Mettalica and System Of A Down are pop bands. Or don’t I speak English well enough? 
14. YOU ALSO ORGANIZE SOME LIVE SHOWS IN VOLOS. CAN YOU NAME A FEW GIGS THAT WILL TAKE PLACE THIS YEAR IN VOLOS? 
  • Basically, I wouldn’t want to take this opportunity given and advertise the upcoming Golden R. Festival 3rd. However, you should know that it will take place this October and colossal heavy metal names, the heroes of our childhood will participate and when I say this I mean the original heavy metal heroes. This doesn’t necessarily mean however that we will have the huge names. Despite that I strongly believe that you will all be satisfied this year. 
15. IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW? 
  • Rage and tranquillity, nostalgia and a fight for evolution, love and hate. Somewhere there in between the paradise and hell of our own senses. Regarding the painting that would represent our sound, the only thing you have to do in order to see it is to look at the cover artwork of our demo “War In The Sky”. 
16. WHICH IS, ACCORDING TO YOU, THE BEST AND WHICH THE WORST PART IN YOUR MUSIC? WHAT’S THIS THAT MAKES YOU EASY TO DISTINGUISH FROM THE REST OF THE BANDS? 
  • Our passion is the best and our romanticism our worst, since being a romantic has become a drawback nowadays if you want to move on. Can we really be distinguished? This is for the fans to decide. Perhaps we are the only ones playing true heavy metal still in the year 2004 and our fans are the only true metalheads. Somehow like this I can prove that I am a Manowar fan…Ha ha ha! I’d also like to add here that our friends have already established our first official fan club, which they named Sky Warriors F.C., being influenced by our demo “War In The Sky”. Whoever needs further detail, can check www.geocities.com/skywarriorsfanclub
16. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF WE LIVED IN A WORLD WITHOUT MUSIC AND HOW WOULD YOU CHANNEL ALL YOUR CREATIVITY? 
  • Personally I’d be an author or a radio producer as I already am. 
17. THANK YOU! END THIS INTERVIEW AS YOU LIKE… LEAVE A MESSAGE TO OUR READERS. 
    Thanks a lot for the support and good luck with Behind The Veil Webzine. You can email as at: [email protected] or you can visit our site http://acidrain.xweb.gr Regarding our comeback now… yes we are back! Do you remember us motherfuckers? Hail!!!
Nick  “William_Kidd”  Parastatidis
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