God.Fear.None
God.Fear.None released
a few months ago their debut album under the title "Envy", presenting us
a persistant, hard working and full of potential band. So, if you are into
the Swedish sounding death metal, you should keep a close eye on them!
1. CONGRATULATIONS ON “ENVY”! IT’S A VERY
GOOD ALBUM! HOWEVER, I’D LIKE TO KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT IT… ARE YOU CONTENT
WITH THE FINAL RESULT OR IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO CHANGE?
Thank you very much. I believe it’s a good
album too. The final result is 100% what I had in mind and I could not
believe that it came out that good. I’m saying this cause about 3 months
before we had to start the recordings for Envy in order to keep the time
table, there was no band. So in about 100 days I had to arrange things
like finding the band members, re arranging the songs, recording mixing
and mastering the album. I guess being in pressure all this period brought
out the best of every one of us.
2. GIVE US A SHORT BAND BIO AND PRESENT THE CURRENT
LINE UP TO THE READERS…
Well, about a year ago the band went through
a big change, cause the other band members except from Chronis (vocals)
decided to quit. This decision came in the same time that we signed the
contract with Sonic Age Records. So, you can understand that I was completely
disappointed and shocked with that decision. About a month later I started
looking for members. I saw Kostis (drums), playing with Stagnate when they
opened for Chimaira and Shadows Fall. I knew he was the right person for
the job. As soon as he got off stage I asked him to join the band. We did
some rehearsals and that was it. The same thing happened with Chris (guitars).
He was playing live with his band Parthian Shot. I really liked his style.
I believe he is a great talent. I asked him to join God.Fear.None and he
was ready for it. At that time we started recording the album. With no
bass player and no vocalist for the clean voices, we had to keep the schedule.
When Kostis finished tracking his parts, I had to record the bass for the
album. That happened last Christmas. As soon as that was finished, our
management label, MusicForward, suggested that Domenic from Wastefall would
be great for the lead vocals. Domenic agreed to join the band and also
suggested to become the bass player. We were more than happy to hear that.
So almost a month before the deadline, the lineup was completed. I know
it sounds weird, but I’m really proud that we pulled that through.
3. WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT WITH THIS BAND?
WHICH ARE YOUR AIMS AND ARE THERE ANY THINGS YOU’D LIKE TO CHANGE OR IMPROVE
IN GOD.FEAR.NONE?
The band with the current line-up is only
a year old so I believe the biggest achievement so far is that we managed
to release this album. It was really hard. We are getting great reviews
from all around the world. We are definitely looking forward to playing
live. We will be opening for Biomechanical, sometime in October in Athens.
I don’t think I would do anything to improve the band. This is happening
any way. We are way better than we were as a band and as individuals.
4. BY THE WAY, A STRANGE MONIKER YOU HAVE… HOW
DID YOU COME UP WITH IT AND WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SUGGEST? GOD FEARS NONE
OR NONE FEARS GOD? OR PERHAPS IS IT SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT?
We get that a lot. We don’t want to suggest
anything. That is why there are dots between the words. So that you can
but them in the order you want and get the meaning you like best.
5. LET’S SUPPOSE THAT YOU WERE ASKED TO REVIEW
“ENVY”. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TRYING TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE?
I would say it’s 100% real modern metal album,
with powerful, intense songs. Remove all the suck, whininess and trends
that penetrated death, metal-core the last years and you end up with “envy”.
6. YOUR SOUND IS CLOSE TO THE MODERN MELODIC DEATH
METAL SCENE AND HAS STRONG RESEMBLANCES TO BANDS SUCH AS IN FLAMES AND
SOILWORK. SO WHICH OTHER BANDS CAN BE FOUND AMONG YOUR INFLUENCES? NAME
SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE ALBUMS…
We are mainly influenced from the Swedish
scene. Bands like the ones you mentioned are influences not only in the
music field but in the way they work in general. I m also a big Nevermore
fan. Chris (guitars) on the other hand is a big Dream Theater fan. I guess
my favorite albums are … Cowboys from Hell (pantera) and Dead Heart In
A Dead World (nevermore).
7. LET ME PLAY DEVIL’S ADVOCATE… WHAT WOULD YOU
SAY TO SOMEONE THAT WOULD ACCUSE YOU OF FOLLOWING TRENDS AND SUCCESSFUL
RECIPES? WHAT NEW DO YOU HAVE TO OFFER TO THE SCENE?
Yeah some people may say that but I don’t
think that’s the case here. Each one of us has different influences as
a musician and as a music fan. So weh have many different elements in our
music. You can easily hear progressive metal, death or heavy metal riffs.
The most important thing for us is to stay true to ourselves. If we are
not happy with the stuff we play there is no point playing them. We must
be the biggest fans of our music first of all. As I said before we have
different backgrounds as musicians, so the things we write have many elements
from different fields of metal. It is hard to specify what a band has to
offer to the scene with only a debut. Envy shows character and great abilities.
So except great things from God.Fear.None.
8. WHAT’S THE BEST AND WHAT’S THE WORST PART IN
YOUR MUSIC ACCORDING TO YOU? ARE THERE ANY ELEMENTS YOU’D LIKE TO ADD IN
YOUR MUSIC OR EXPERIMENT WITH IN THE FUTURE?
I would say that the best part is that we
write music first of all for ourselves. We have our influences and we like
to be the best in what we do. So the result is an honest album, no pretentiousness.
Now for some people this exact same thing may be the worst thing in our
music. Elements to add? Nothing in particular at the moment. I believe
we have various elements and that’s not going to change. Experimentation,
is what’s keeping bands alive in my opinion. We hate copying ourselves.
9. TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE LYRICS. WHICH
ARE YOUR FAVORITE TOPICS AND SOURCES OF INSPIRATION?
I’m the person responsible for most of the
lyrics. I write about personal experiences and feelings mainly. But also
about things that bother me around the world like the executions in the
east for example.
10. WHY DID YOU NAME THE ALBUM “ENVY”? PLEASE
MAKE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE ALBUM TITLE AND THE COVER ARTWORK. WHO
IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE IMAGE?
Well, it’s the emotion I was getting from
some, lets say “friends” while I was trying to succeed in my goals. You
know, they were really supportive when I was present, but while I was away
they were undermining me. I guess you understand what I’m saying. So the
cover is showing this, the handshake between two persons so different from
each other, but one of them is pressing hard the other showing his true
intentions.
11. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? WHAT
SHOULD THOSE WHO WILL ATTEND YOUR GIGS, EXPECT TO SEE?
We will be opening for Biomechanical in Athens
in a couple of months. That’s the plan at the moment. We try to give our
best performance every time we are on stage even if it’s a big or small
venue. We try to share our energy and excitement with every one attending
the gig. So I guess you will have fun and hear good music.
12. IF YOUR MUSIC WAS AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT
BE? IF IT WAS A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
I guess you could say the album title and
the cover is the answer. Envy, is a very strong and wicked emotion but
is really bad when you are in the receiving end of it, believe me.
13. IF YOU COULD INVITE FAMOUS MUSICIANS TO PARTICIPATE
IN ONE OF YOUR LIVE SHOWS, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
Hmmm that’s a hard one. I guess Anders from
In Flames and Speed from Soilwork would be great. Mike Portnoy from Dream
Theater and Jeff Loomis from Nevermore also. Why? Cause they are mainly
the people that inspire us the most these days. If I had to go way back
I would say James Hetfield, Jeff Waters and Matt Barlow.
14. WHAT’S THE IDEAL TITLE THAT COULD SUM UP ALL
THE BAND’S EFFORTS UP TO NOW?
I would say “IMPOSSIBLE”.
15. THANK YOU! THESE LINES ARE YOURS…
Thank you for your time, I m glad you liked
Envy. We hope to see you in one of our gigs soon. Stay True to your beliefs.
Christine Parastatidou
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