IRONSWORD
Are
you sick and tired of following trends, of allowing other people to decide
for you and your future? Would you like to take your life into your own
hands? Well, in that case there is a band that sums up all these basic
(and in my point of view essential and valiable) principles. A band that
brings closer the splendor of the past in our every day lives... CROWD...ALL
HAIL ! ! ! ! I R O N S W O R D ! ! !
1.WHICH ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS
OF THE BAND'S HISTORY? WHICH IS THE CURRENT LINE UP?
Well, I have to be very honest
with you, ever since I formed IRONSWORD, it immediately became my life
and to tell you the truth, every minute, every second is worth of it, I
don't regret having this life style, because IRONSWORD is much more than
a band, it's a way of life actually with a very own personal philosophy
towards music and I wouldn't change a bit of our slowly underground route.
With almost 10 years of existence, the most important moment of the band's
history so far was obviously when we released our first CD. It was a reward
for all the years of hard effort and dedication in the underground, you
know. The current line up is me (Tann) on guitar and vocals, Ricardo on
the drums and Victor on bass guitar. I'm having some serious line up problems
at the moment, so I'm not sure if we can keep up together for much longer,
because unfortunately the other members don't have too much time to dedicate
to the band, so let's wait and see. There are many people interested in
joining in case it happens and I know it will, sooner or later...
2.IRONSWORD SOUNDS LIKE A TYPICAL OLD
SCHOOL EPIC METAL BAND NAME. DO YOU THINK THAT THE BAND NAME SHOULD ALSO
BE AN INDICATOR OF THE BAND'S MUSICAL STYLE?
Yes, you are right. Thanks for
the compliments. You see, if everything we do in IRONSWORD sounds like
a typical 80s band is because it flows naturally. As metal fans we all
come from the 80s so we experienced very well that period. Our goal was
never to copy or try to bring the 80s back. About the name IRONSWORD even
if it sounds too cliche, because there are too many bands that use the
word "iron" or "sword" in their band names, we would never change. For
us this name has a strong meaning, it's our own identity. It is a short,
very powerful epic memorable name. IRONSWORD means more or less, the stereotype
sword of all swords with a symbolic connection. Through the history of
mankind we learn that history is often made by the sword (battles, etc.)
or in bed (marriages of convenience between kings and queens of different
kingdoms). Yes, I do believe that a band's name should aplty portray the
music they play. With IRONSWORD, you conjure up immediately images of epic
battles, warriors, etc. and our music is linked not only with the band's
name, but lyrics, image, attitude, artwork, etc as well.
3.HOW MANY RELEASES (DEMOS INCLUDED)
DO YOU HAVE THIS FAR? CAN YOU POINT OUT THE DIFFERENCES AMONG THEM? ARE
YOU STILL SATISFIED WITH THEM OR DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE THINGS THAT
COULD HAVE BEEN ARRANGED IN A BETTER WAY?
IRONSWORD recorded 2 promo-tapes.
The first one was released in 1995 containing 3 songs, recorded on a 4
track recorder and I played all instruments, except for the drums, I used
a drum machine instead. This was in a time that IRONSWORD was an one-man-band,
it was very hard for me at that time to find a stable line up. The 2nd
promo tape was released in 1998, containing 5 songs. This time it was recorded
in studio, in some songs I played the drums but at the same time Ricardo
joins the band and plays the drums in the rest of the songs, although his
name never appeared on the promo. It was with this promo that we gained
a lot of attention from the Power Metal underground scene. Musically, the
main difference between 2 promos is that the old songs have this JUDAS
PRIEST, SAXON, IRON MAIDEN feeling, while the newer songs are more in the
vein of MANILLA ROAD, OMEN, BROCAS HELM much more epic and actually this
is the style we've become developing. Yes, of course I'm satisfied, although
I could have done a better job back then. Anyway, all the old songs released
on both promos will sooner or later be re-recorded in slight different
versions in the upcoming IRONSWORD albums. Some will be faster while others
shorther versions of the old original songs.
4.YOU RELEASED A WHILE AGO YOUR DEBUT
CD. TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE PRODUCTION AND THE RECORDINGS.
We went to the studio like a bunch
of brainless barbarians that just wanted to make as much noise as
possible. The first CD was recorded at Gar studios and we asked the sound
engineer to use only analogic equipment instead of digital one. So, we
really recorded with the old system of bobbins, because we do love the
sound frequencies that can be captured during this process of recording.
We don't like clean productions, we prefer a raw atmosphere and feeling
instead. I think we achieved that goal. Also, instead of being locked up
in the studio almost 24 hours per day, we usually recorded during the weekends,
around 3-4 hours per day, so this means your ears were always fresh and
became less tired and bored. I really love the production of the CD, because
it does sound a lot different from all the other Power Metal bands. I just
dislike a bit the drum sound, because Ricardo had to play on an electronic
drum kit instead of an acoustic one, because the one available from the
studio had a very bad sound and since we couldn't afford to rent a good
drum kit, Ricardo decided to play on his electronic drum kit. I just wish
we had more time and money to spend on the production, because I believe
some details could have been improved. But in general, the production is
more or less what we were looking for. After all it's the music that matters,
the rest is irrelevant...
5.WHAT KIND OF SUBJECTS DO YOU PREFER
TO DEAL WITH IN YOUR LYRICS? DO YOU PREFER REAL LIFE OR FANTASY THEMES?
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO ANSWER TO THOSE WHO SAY THAT FANTASY LYRICS ARE CHILDISH?
I don't care if people think that
fantasy lyrics are childish or claim that the underground Epic Metal is
a joke, played by a bunch of Cro-Magnon's that can never be taken seriously.
For IRONSWORD, if people don't know us personally they can never judge
or evaluate us, so I do expect a certain repsect even if they don't like
the music. I can not force people to like IRONSWORD, Epic Metal or whatever.
Maybe that's why they can never understand it. The subjects I deal in my
lyrics can range from ancient civilisations, classic mythology etc and
I always try to make these fantasy topics applicable to our daily life
as we have so much to learn from the past, some values and principles that
once honoured man and are totally forgotten and scorned nowadays. It's
more or less our mission to remember the message from the past...
6.WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH IRONSWORD
AND ALL APPROACHES YOU HAD FROM LABELS ENDED UP IN FAILURE?
I can not tell you what really
happened with some of the labels that approached us in the beginning, showing
their support and they were highly interested in signing IRONSWORD, but
in the end failed to work with us. I really don't know the true reasons.
Some of them had no money, some went bankrupt, some offered bad terms and
conditions, other's simply realized that IRONSWORD doesn't follow the trend
and make music for profit, so it would be a bad investment for them. We're
not a top selling product. Since 1995, this has been happening to IRONSWORD,
but only in 2001 we signed a contract with MISKATONIC, the only label that
we could trust and that treated us respectfully as a band. If possible,
we will release as many albums as possible with MISKATONIC...they really
help and support us!
7.ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FEEDBACK
YOU GET FOR YOUR DEBUT CD? WHICH WAS THE BEST AND WHICH WAS THE WORST REVIEW
YOU HAVE RECEIVED?
We never expected such extremely
good feedback, coming mainly from Germany, Greece and USA, it surpassed
all our expectations. I'm not aware of all the reviews, I think we just
got maybe two bad reviews. Maybe one of the best at least in our view was
the one from Rock Hard Magazine, but it's difficult for us to remember
all reviews and some we don't have knowledge of. To sum up, I can tell
you that our first CD was very well received in general. The main reason
for it?! Maybe because we are simply an honest and sincere band that wants
to play metal!
8.WHICH DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST AND
WHICH IS THE WORST PART IN YOUR MUSIC? WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU NEED FURTHER
IMPROVEMENT?
Well, we always try to see our
songs as a whole, from the lead riffs, bass lines, guiatr solos, chorus,
etc. and try to make it as powerful and compact as possible. Every single
part of a song is important. Further improvement?! Well, definitely some
of my vocal lines and guitar solos, but I'm working hard on that, believe
me!
9.WHICH IS THE BIGGEST DREAM YOU WANT
TO MAKE TRUE WITH IRONSWORD? HOW ARE YOU PLANNING TO MAKE THIS DREAM/AIM
REAL?
My biggest dream, and I speak on
behalf of the other members as well, is to play our music, our style for
as many years as possible and that people can repsect us and recognise
our work. A bit of modesty doesn't harm anyone and in that matter I have
both feet on the ground, our goal is not to become successful, to compete
with other bands, become legends or whatever, we just want to play our
music and be taken seriously. It is not an obsession to make this dream
real or possible, if it will ever happen at least it will have its natural
course.
10.YOU WERE THE GUITARIST FOR MOONSPELL
IN THE PAST. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THOSE TIMES? WAS IT GOOD OR BAD?
DID IT HELP YOU IN ANY WAY? WHY HAVE YOU DECIDED TO LEAVE THE BAND AND
FORM YOUR OWN? YOU SUDDENLY PASSED FROM THE EXTREME GENRE TO THE CLASSIC/EPIC
80'S METAL.
When I was invited to play in MOONSPELL,
I felt it would be a good and interesting idea to work with them, because
they wanted to mingle traditional Heavy Metal with some folk, classical
and ethnic influences. So, taking advantage of my epic and traditional
Metal inspirations we kind of mixed them with the more extreme genre. Anyway,
they slowly started moving towards a much more gothic approach so I felt
I wasn't fitting there any longer, so I was kicked out, besides of other
personal problems that fortunately were solved as time passed by. I have
both good and bad experiences and remembrances as my memory recalls it
well. We had the chance to back then to travel to Germany and record at
Woodhouse studios with Waldemar. I have a good friendship with them, especially
with the drummer and the vocalist, but I don't like their music and they
know it ah ah! After this I decided to form IRONSWORD, because I was sick
and tired of getting involved in other projects. It was the right timing
and the right choice so the rest is history...
11.WE SEE EVERYDAY THE EXTREME SOUND
TO WIN GROUND AGAINST CLASSIC HEAVY SOUND. WHERE HAS MELODY GONE, WHY DO
PEOPLE PREFER EXTREME AND NOISY THINGS INSTEAD OF MELODY AND SENTIMENTS?
I think there is room for every
style of music, even within Metal, although I remember that Metal was something
different from nowadays. I often see a lot of people trying to make Metal
a more accessible kind of music, but my point is that traditional Metal
will always survive as long as there are people supporting it, even with
all its trends, because you simply can not please everyone. But to tell
you the truth I care only for IRONSWORD, so all the other trendy bands
can do whatever they want...
12.ARE YOU ANNOYED BY THOSE GUYS WHO
JUDGE THE ARTISTIC VALUE IF A BAND BY THE NUMBER OF CD'S THEY SELL?
Of course not. The number of CD's
you sell doesn't necessarily mean that you have quality! What happens nowadays
is that shitty trend bands always et a lot of attention when they are signed
from big labels with good world wide distribution, that make a good promotion
to have better sales. It makes thier lifes easier when they have these
labels working hard behind them. Most of the bands that I admire were always
unknown from people in general, underground bands that never changed their
style to become more successful. That doesn't mean they don't have artistic
value, people simply don't recognise their work because they were not too
popular, so you can never judge a band by their sales.
13.WHICH IS MAN'S BIGGEST TEMPTATION?
14.IF YOU COULD TRAVEL BACK IN TIME,
WHICH HISTORICAL PERIOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT AND WHY? WHAT WOULD YOU
MISS THE MOST FROM OUR TIMES?
There are several different historical
periods that I really would like to visit, but since I am certainly fascinated
by the Roman history, obviously that would be my first choice but I mean,
from pre-historic to medieval age, it wouldn't matter. Several myths and
legends to be revealed that I really would like to encounter. I would certainly
miss a lot of basic things, so I guess it would be hard for me to adaptate
even with all my fascination for the ancient times. I would miss my guitar
and my vinyl, CD Metal collection...
15.IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET THE
CREATURE THAT CREATED THE UNIVERSE, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASK HIM?
Hmm...what firstly crosses my mind
is "what is the secret to become immortal?!".
16.IF YOU COULD CHANGE SOMETHING IN
THE WORLD, WHAT WOULD THAT BE?
Some speak of peace, human rights,
etc but I don't believe on bullshit beaurocracy, so fuck the world and
take all the best it can give or else you'll become a slave of your own
life. I honestly think that each one of us should live a totally individualistic
barbaric way of life or a warrior clan brotherhood and replace nuclear
weapons with swords, axes, spears, clubs and maces, the only way to become
free and to master your own life. If you live by the string, you can not
trust someone that is miles away from your home and press some buttons
and thousands of innocent victims die. It's easy to make war like that
and a coward attitude as well. Unfortunately, the economic situation of
several countries depends on wars to develop, so as long as greed stands
higher than other values and principles you can not change much...
17.WHAT TITLE WOULD YOU LIKE THIS INTERVIEW
TO HAVE?
Ohh...that's easy..."THE TRUE BARBARIC
METAL WARRIOR'S LIFE STYLE"!
18.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK
YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?
Well, thank you very much for all
your support. It was indeed a pleasure answering this interview. I can
say that we all hope that 2003 will be a big year for IRONSWORD...we are
working hard on the 2nd CD that should be released mid 2003 again under
MISKATONIC Metal wings, we'll have T-shirts available, hopefully official
web page and hope to start playing live as soon as possible, wherever you
may be. HAIL METAL!
Christine Parastatidou
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