ILLIUM
ILLIUM
are a new power metal band from Australia and soon they will release their
debut album under the name "Sirens Of Styx". I had the chance to talk with
Jason about his band and their plans. The result of this interesting conversation
is published here for you to read and judge... Hope that you will enjoy
it.
1.THE FIRST THING THAT I NOTICED
IS THAT YOUR NAME IS TAKEN BY THE TOWN WERE TROJANS LIVED AND THAT GENERALLY
YOU LIKE HOMER'S ILIAD. AM I RIGHT? WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS NAME?
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We originally called ourselves
Iliad,which is basically the same thing, but changed our name after we
found out there was a dance band in Sydney with the same name. Mark in
particular is the big fan of ancient Greek history, and some of his lyrics
reflect this, though the name was my idea. It seemed like a strong name,
so we went with it.
2.BEFORE ILIUM, SOME OF YOU WERE ALSO
PLAYING IN ANOTHER BAND CALLED ORACLE. HAVE YOU RELEASED ANYTHING OFFICIAL
WITH THAT BAND? WHICH ARE THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ILIUM
AND ORACLE?
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Oracle didn't actually release anything,
although some of the songs have been kept and remoulded to suit Ilium.
At that time we were probably more interested in playing as fast as we
could! We certainly are more melodic these days, which has just come from
experience and maturity.
3.FROM THE BIOGRAPHY I READ I FIGURED
OUT THAT YOU PLAY EPIC POWER METAL. AM I RIGHT? WHICH BANDS HAVE INFLUENCED
YOUR STYLE AND ATTITUDE?
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Some of our material is certainly epic
power metal. From the time I heard songs such as Iron Maiden's "Murders
In The Rue Morgue" and Black Sabbath's "Die Young" I knew I wanted to play
dramatic music that could tell a story all by itself. We certainly
take a different approach with lyric writing to other bands and alot of
my material is conceptual rather than story based, or at least it is an
original story. I actually have published a novel called "Black Abyss",
so my interest in telling stories or describing theories is put to good
use in Ilium. We have been influenced by a variety of bands, but
mostly traditional metal bands like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden,
Ozzy Osbourne, Dio, Scorpions etc and European-styled power metal bands
like Helloween, Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian, Rage, Sonata Arctica, Iced Earth,
Angra etc. Also a few other bands like Coroner, Megadeth, Rush etc.
The bands I draw influence from number in the hundreds.
4.HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO SIGN A CONTRACT
WITH ADRENALINE RECORDS? DID YOU HAVE ANY PROPOSALS FROM OTHER LABELS AND
IF YES, WHY DID YOU SELECT THIS ONE? ARE YOU STILL SATISFIED BY YOUR RECORD
LABEL?
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We got a few offers, including major
label offers, but Adrenaline basically showed they were willing to go the
extra mile and gave us the freedom to do what we wanted. Primo has been
great to deal with, and it gives us a chance to test the waters.
We'll know more about how successful this is once the album is out I guess,
which hopefully won't be too far off.
5.YOUR DEBUT ALBUM IS CALLED "SIRENS
OF STYX". GIVE US SOME INFO ABOUT IT. WHEN WILL IT BE RELEASED? WHO WAS
THE PRODUCER, HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO RECORD IT AND GENERALLY ANYTHING
THAT MIGHT INTEREST US...
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"Sirens Of The Styx" will hopefully
be out next month, though I don't have a release date yet. It contains
ten diverse songs, some epic, but all are strong in their own way. The
producer is Lord Tim from Dungeon. It took a few months to record,
but this is because we recorded when we were all available. Actually recording
time - not long at all. The booklet will contain 5 original paintings and
will feature a world created by us where evolution is incomplete.
6.WHAT ARE YOUR LYRICS TALKING ABOUT?
WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE LYRICS AND WHAT CAN DRAW AWAY THE INSPIRATION
FROM YOU?
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Our lyrics are fairly diverse. Mark's
are largely historical where mine are often based on original concepts
or theories. Others deal with the darker side of the human condition.
We basically just like strong themes, and in my case just a title or a
word may be enough to influence me.
7.ALTHOUGH YOUR DEBUT ALBUM HASN'T
YET BEEN RELEASED, YOU ARE ALREADY PREPARING 2 MORE ALBUMS. WHEN WILL THIS
ONE BE RELEASED? DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS? AREN'T YOU AFRAID THAT YOU DON'T
ALLOW YOUR CREATIVITY SOME AIR TO "BREATH" AND "RELAX"? ARE ALL THOSE SONGS
OLD ONES AND YOU JUST WANT TO RELEASE THEM SO YOU CAN FOCUS ON THE COMPOSITION
OF NEW SONGS?
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We have no release plans for the next
two albums at this stage - we will be shopping for a deal, but recording
now is just convenient as we are all available. The songs were all written,
though we are still coming up with new ideas in the studio. We felt that
we had 20 really strong and diverse songs, and so far they are coming up
very well. We will have a special guest vocalist on these albums, though
we aren't at liberty to say who just yet.
8.SOME MEMBERS OF YOURS, ALSO PLAY
TO OTHER BANDS TOO. HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO FIND TIME TO PRACTISE TOGETHER
AS A BAND? DON'T YOU THINK THAT THIS WILL BE A PROBLEM WHEN YOU WILL DECIDE
TO GO ON A TOUR?
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No one is playing in any other band
at the moment. Basically Ilium is a priority and normally we set aside
time for practice. At the moment we are recording so our schedules have
gone out the window. The main problem we'd have for touring is most of
us work full time and have mortgages and responsibilities at home. We'll
deal with that when the time comes though, as we definitely want to get
over to Europe and Japan.
9.I WILL GIVE YOU THE NAME OF SOME
AUSTRALIAN METAL BANDS AND I WANT YOU TO TELL ME YOUR SINCERE OPINION ABOUT
THEM (IF YOU KNOW THEM OF COURSE). OK? THE BANDS ARE: DUNGEON, PEGAZUS,
SEDITION AND BLACK STEEL.
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Dungeon are good friends of ours and
they are a great band. Working with Tim means we really get to see
what a major talent he is, and it has been a godsend for our band. We've
also worked with Stevo on our first album. Pegazus aren't bad, though I
find them a little cliched. I liked the title track of their second album.
I honestly have never heard of Sedition. Black Steel are great and we're
on their label now. I think with a little more originality they could be
a really strong force, but I really like them.
10.IF YOU HAD A PROPOSAL TO DO A VIDEOCLIP,
WHICH SONG OF YOURS WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND HOW DO YOU IMAGINE IT TO BE?
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We are supposed to be doing a clip
for "The Celestial Sphere", but our video guy is proving very unreliable.
Hopefully that will see the light of day eventually. We have some great
natural backdrops around here which we've used, and I think he's got planets
and things in it too. We're toying with the idea of doing "Permian Dusk"
from the second album, but those ideas are in their infancy.
11.IF WE ARE ALL JUST A WORD IN THE
GREAT BOOK OF CREATION, CAN YOU SAY WHICH WORD COULD DESCRIBE YOU BETTER?
CAN YOU ALSO IMAGINE WHAT KIND OF AUTHOR WOULD BE THE CREATOR OF THIS BOOK
AND WHY?
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I really don't know. Revelations? I
think maybe if I wrote a script for the world I'd be changing a few things.
There a some people who really should never have existed.
12.DO YOU THINK THAT PERHAPS GOD GOT
SO FRIGHTNED FROM WHAT HE CREATED THAT HE MOVED TO HEAVEN IN ORDER TO KEEP
DISTANCE FROM HIS CREATIONS? :))
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Who knows. There are certainly some
monsters in the world from all over the planet.
13.LET'S SUPPOSE THAT WE LIVE IN A
WORLD WITHOUT MUSIC. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IN SUCH A CASE?
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I'd probably do something with animals.
I have alot of pets and I have always really be interested in them.
I'd love to have a zoo. I suppose I could pursue writing novels or something
like that.
14.IF YOU WERE A FLY, WHERE WOULD YOU
LIKE TO BE AND WHY?
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I think a nice steaming pile of dog
crap would be the ultimate holiday destination for a fly. That's just the
sort of thing they like.
15.IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT
WOULD IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
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Our music is a rollercoaster of emotions.
We lean toward the darker side of human nature though, but our strong melodic
sense counteracts this to some degree.
16.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK
YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?
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I'd like to say a big hello to everyone
in Greece - you guys have been some of our biggest supporters so far and
we really appreciate it. Also,thanks for the interview - your questions
are really thought provoking. Good luck with everything and we wish you
all the best.
NIKOS "William_Kidd" PARASTATIDIS
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