Dunkel
DUNKEL play black metal
music and I can say that they really impressed me with their mature replies
on my questions. So don't wait to listen here to fascistic declarations
and satanic fanatism.No the guys are very clever, have a mature way of
thinking and reveal the true nature of this music which is the revolution
against any oppression - mainly religious. All the other you listen to
are simply bullshit that other bands say in order to sell more albums.
So read and understand a few things about what black metal music stands
for...
1.HELLO, SINCE WE DO THIS INTERVIEW IN ORDER
TO PRESENT THE BAND TO OUR READERS, PLEASE GIVE US SOME INFORMATION ABOUT
THE BAND HISTORY TILL NOW. ALSO TELL US HOW MANY DEMOS YOU HAVE RELEASED
TILL NOW...
Hello to Behind The Veil web-magazine and
to the team that comprise it. We must thank you for this interview. Your
work is extremely difficult and you worth our congratulations, because
you go on very well and you bring many people to this great thing called
metal. Few words of our biography: In the beginning of 2001, Agelos (guitar
&vocals) and Alex (bass & vocals) created a Black Metal group in
Volos. The group's first name was S.T.W.A.C. (Support The War Against Christianity).
The group has recorded the songs on a computer (guitars, bass, vocals)
and then had added the drums with the use of a drum machine. A few months
later, Stathis (drums) came into the group and the band’s name changed
into "INCINERATOR". With this line up, in the summer of 2002 we recorded
in Agelo's room the first rehearsal demo with only one microphone. In the
cover of this Demo was a burning Christian church. In August the group's
name has changed into "DUNKEL" and appeared live in the G.R. Festival in
Volos. In September DUNKEL dismissed Alex from the group .The same month
Spyros came in the band, as a guitarist at first and then we kept him as
a bassist. Then, 5 songs were recorded for the new demo, the "Mikrokosmos".
This demo has sold too many copies abroad and in Volos. Since then we are
playing live in Hellas.
2.YOU PLAY BLACK METAL AS I READ IN YOUR BIO.
CAN YOU TELL ME YOUR INFLUENCES? ARE YOU CLOSER TO THE SOUND OF ROTTING
CHRIST OR THE NORWEGIAN ONE?
The music that Dunkel play is black/death
metal. Our influences come from Marduk, Hypocrisy, God Dethroned, Naglfar,
Emperor and Dimmu Borgir. Now the “Mikrokosmos” (demo-cd) has a more Norwegian
approach than “Victory Or Death”. When I say it has a more Norwegian approach
I mean that the music and the feeling moves on the style of old Mayhem
e.t.c. “Victory Or Death” had a more new age touch and feeling like the
bands I wrote above and this is true because we had some synthesizers in
our tracks.
3.BEFORE USING THE NAME DUNKEL FOR YOUR BAND,
YOU HAVE CHANGED MANY NAMES. CAN YOU TELL US WHICH WERE THE PREVIOUS NAMES
AND WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO CHANGE THEM? WHAT EXACTLY DOES DUNKEL MEANS?
Yes that’s the truth. Dunkel have changed
3 names. Me of course as the newest member of the group I know the band
as Dunkel. The first name of the band was: STWAS (support the war against
Christianity) and the second was the Incinerator. The reason that the guys
changed the name so many times is that Dunkel always searched for something
better, including the name. They had to find something that it could be
harmonized with their feeling and their music. So they came to an end that
was Dunkel. Dunkel means Darkness in Germany.
4.I BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE PREPARING A NEW 7" RELEASE.
CAN YOU GIVE US FEW INFO ABOUT IT? WHEN WILL IT BE READY AND WHICH LABEL
IS GOING TO RELEASE IT? WILL IT INCLUDE NEW COMPOSITIONS?
Truly we prepare a 7” that will contain three
tracks. The 7” is the “Victory Or Death” (demo) but we are going to release
it as a 7”. The production will be ours since the recordings will take
place at our homes. We believe that if everything will goes as have planned
that it will be ready at the end of December. Winter mist will release
it.
5.AS BLACK METALLERS THAT YOU ARE I WANT TO ASK
YOU, WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE ABOUT SATAN AND WHAT EXACTLY DOES HE SYMBOLIZE
FOR YOU? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE BLACK MAGIC RITUALS THAT SOME PEOPLE
DO? DO YOU THINK THAT SATANISM IS A KIND OF RELIGION OR JUST A REVOLUTION
AGAINST ALL RELIGIONS?
I don’t know if the names that we have come
up with for god and Satan have the meaning that we know. But the only sure
thing is that good and evil exist. If you want I can tell you something
else. In order to believe that good exists, you must also believe in the
existence of evil too… These can be named as god and Satan. Now the magic
is sure that exists but not with the help of Satan. You know what I mean.
Magic can be used from anybody but he must believe in it. All people have
some power inside of them. I believe that Satanism is a religion but a
secret one. Satanism exists centuries ago but maybe with another name..
6.ONE OTHER THING THAT I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WITH
SOME BLACK METAL GROUPS IS THAT ON ONE HAND THEY ARE AGAINST CHRISTIANITY
CAUSE THEY CONSIDER IT FASCISTIC, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND THESE GROUPS ALSO
PREACH FASCISTIC AND RACISTIC IDEOLOGIES THROUGH THEIR LYRICS. TO ME SUCH
BLACK METALLERS SEEM LIKE THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SAME COIN (WHICH IS CHRISTIANITY).
WHICH ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT? DON'T YOU THINK THAT BLACK METAL MUST
MAKE PEOPLE SEE THAT IF WE FORGET ALL THE ORGANISED RELIGIONS THEN THERE
IS A CHANCE FOR HUMANITY?
I understand exactly what you mean. You are
absolutely right about this.The result that I have come up with about this
subject is: Maybe the bands have no idea about their beliefs, which results
to the listener to catch an inexplicable thing, or they simply want to
be known but with the wrong method. I don’t know what else to say. I can’t
also understand why someone who plays black metal must be Satanist or Fascist?
I believe that from black metal everyone can reveal and interpret his/her
own beliefs.
7.IN ONE OF YOUR DEMO'S COVER YOU HAVE A BURNING
CHURCH. WHY DID YOU PUT THIS PICTURE ON IT? WHICH IS THE MEANING OF IT
TO YOU? DO YOU APPROVE OF SUCH ACTS? WOULD YOU DO IT IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE?
Actually it was on our first rehearsal demo
INCINERATOR (has the same name with the first band name). The truth is
that it had a little bit extreme layout but no so extreme as other layouts
from other bands. That doesn’t mean that I have a different opinion for
the subject. Of course I’m not happy to see burning churches but I have
to say that any orthodox that exists just exists to steal money from the
faithful. I think that church is not the building, but a team of faithful
with a “public opinion” god, or if you want the blessing. So they do anything
possible using thousand fables to steal money from the people. This must
end. I can’t do something like that but if I had the permission I would
forbid priests to accept any money from people.
8.HAVE YOU DONE ANY LIVE SHOWS? DO YOU THINK DUNKEL
IS A LIVE BAND OR ARE YOU MAINLY STUDIO ORIENTED? WILL YOU PLAY ANY SHOWS
IN THE NEAR FUTURE? FOR WHICH BAND YOU ADMIRE WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE THE
OPENING ACT?
Yes we have done some lives in many places
in Greece. One of them is at Golden R Festival in Volos city, with groups
like: SNOWBLIND, HUMAN GENOM, SIDE EFFECT, CARNAL REDEMPTION, FLESHEART,
DISHARMONIC, SHADOWS. Also another live was in Athens on 22 June 2003,
at club “Onoma Tou Rodou” (Note: Name of the rose in English) with bands
like: UNHOLY THRONE, ASTRAL AEON, AEOLEAN FIRE, VIA SERPENTIS, M. MACHENSCHAFT,
ARCIMONIOU, GOD LIKE DEMON and BLACK WINTER. I believe that Dunkel is both
a live and a studio band. Now a band that we dream to open for are Mayhem.
9.UNTIL NOW YOU HAVE RELEASED 2 DEMOS UNDER A
DIFFERENT NAME. DID YOU SEND THEM TO MAGAZINES AND LABELS? WHAT KIND OF
REVIEWS AND REACTIONS DID YOU GET? DID YOU HAVE ANY PROPOSAL FROM A LABEL?
Yes we keep ourselves busy with the promotion
of our demos and this is very good for us. I can say with a certainty that
we have a big correspondence from people that give us the will to continue
the way of expressing ourselves through our songs. We have correspondence
from labels too. But we mustn’t forget that Dunkel was and will be an underground
band. Nothing more and nothing less. You know more than us about the music
industry. Let me ask you a question. According to your knowledge, is it
the best for a Greek band to be occupied by a Greek label? I don’t think
so. Have you ever wondered why so many Greek musicians go abroad and don’t
do something in Greece? And there are many musicians like Marios Iliopoulos
from Exhumation and now from Nightrage, like Kostas Garamitroudis from
Mystic Prophesy and of course like Vasilis Tsamis from Warlord that declared
their disappointment by the situation that exists in the Greek music industry.
That’s the truth you can’t do anything in Greece. So what’s the point?
So we are going to do everything alone and of course with some friends
of the band that probably exist.
10.NOW TELL ME A FEW THINGS ABOUT YOUR LYRICS.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM AND FOR WHAT KIND OF SUBJECTS DO YOU LIKE TO
WRITE ABOUT?
The lyrics are a work of Agelos. He is also
the founder of Dunkel. Our Lyrics talk about wars. Wars in our days and
wars that will happen in the future between humans. If someone gets busy
with our lyrics, will realize that they are somehow prophetic. Meaning
that in general the humanity will bring the destruction of our planet earth
with its creations. When I say creations, I mean the guns that will be
created by humanity and robots. There will be a day that we will fight
with our creations and finally we’ll make them more intelligent than us
and of course they will win us. So with a few words in our lyrics we “reveal”
our hate towards this “exceptional” humanity and this is everyone who doesn’t
go with our beliefs and everything that leads our world to destruction…
11.IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO BE ONE OF TH FAMOUS
MONSTERS OF CINEMA WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE AND WHY?
I would like to be Tim the wolf, because he
has a double personality and he doesn’t know it. That is very interesting
for me.
12.THANK YOU FOR THE INTERVIEW. THESE LINES BELONG
TO YOU, JUST WRITE WHATEVER YOU LIKE...
I thing the best thing we can do is to thank
you for giving us the chance to reveal our beliefs with this interview
in Behind The Veil web-zine. We wish you to carry on like you do now. And
something for your guests! Guys, there is not only hard core as a kind
of music!!! Always Friendly!!! Stay heavy, stay true!!!
Nick "William_Kidd"
Parastatidis
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