Lord
Impaler
Lord Impaler is a black
metal horde hailing us from the beautiful, green and cold Kastoria in the
North West part of Greece. Despite the fact that they are a Greek band,
their sound bears influences and a strong flavor from the Nordic countries.
The kind of black metal they deliver is not that common nowadays, so I'm
really glad that bands like this exist, to show us another dimension of
this genre and offer more variety! I truly believe we should all support
such bands and releases, so I welcome you to read the following very interesting
interview!!!
1: First of all give us a short band bio
and introduce the line up to the readers.
Lord Impaler were formed in September 1998.
We played something between black and death metal back then. In 1999 we
released our first demo, under the title "The Lord Impaler", which is a
bad recording of a rehearsal and you can hardly hear what we play! Anyway,
it never reached any magazines and only a few people had it, mostly our
friends. The same year we gave our first gig. A night to remember, where
funny (at least, if not stupid) things happened. In 2001 we released our
second demo, "Twilight Wander". Again, this was only a recorded rehearsal,
but with better sound and much more worked tracks. The following years
was a time of troubles. Much happened, and it is expected when a band has
seven members! But the fact is that we survived. And today as a quartet
we released the "Promo 2005", which is our best release, as I see it, more
mature, and away from the mistakes of the past. Our line-up today is Necroabyssuss
(vocals), Lord Nebulah (guitars), Nosferatu (synth) and Illuzion G. (bass).
2: You belong to the extreme, primitive and
old school black metal with a strong Norwegian flavor. Do you agree with
me? Why have you chosen to play this specific kind and name some of the
bands and albums that have offered you "guidance" towards this direction.
Actually, I don't think that our music is
so primitive or old school, but surely is far away from modern "intelligent"
black metal. We like the 1994-95 era of black metal, and this is easily
understood when you listen to our material. As for the Norwegian flavor,
I guess it is the climate and the environment of Kastoria which is cold
and green, with mountains and the lake and rivers... Even more, I think
it is because the Hellenic scene has only a handful of albums in the style
we like and today's scene is even more distant. So it is a bit natural
that we sound more like a Norwegian or Swedish band. The albums that "guided"
us to this point are Emperor's "In the nightside eclipse", Satyricon's
"Nemesis Divina", Immortal's "Battles in the North", Marduk's "Panzer Division
Marduk", Dark Funeral's "Secrets of the Black Arts", Dimmu Borgir's "Enthrone
Darkness Triumphant" and Summoning's "Stronghold". From there on, everyone
of us has different listenings and inspirations...
3: Nowadays Black metal is quite popular in
the metal scene, but not the kind you play. I'm talking about all those
atmospheric black metal bands with keyboards that sound either like Cradle
of Filth or Dimmu Borgir. What do you think of such bands and how do you
"see" the contemporary black metal scene to be? Do you think there is space
for bands like you?
To be honest, I don't have anything against
bands like these, I just don't like Cradle of Filth, and naturally I cannot
like their clones too. I really like keyborads and female voices in black
metal, but this must be done properly. And even if I am ashamed to admit
it, we never used correctly the female vocals, when we had a singer...
As for the contemporary scene I expect it to be more... noisy. I don't
like this "noise for the noise" attitude, I want something meaningful,
or else I don't hear it... Hopefully, as long as there are people like
me, there will always be place for bands like Lord Impaler.
4: Your compositions are very dark and aggressive
with frozen riffs and a demonic atmosphere accompanied by some twisted
black metal screams. However, if you were given the chance to present and
review your demo, what would you say, trying to be as objective as possible?
Thanx for your kind words! First of all, this
is our most extreme and mature release. The songs are well worked and with
lots of riffs and many changes from blast to mid-tempo sections. Musically,
we are playing a mixture of majestic/symphonic Black metal, with howling
vocals. Some people compare us with bands like Cradle of Filth or Dimmu
Borgir, I guess because they have used to think that every band that uses
keyboards will sound something like these bands. From my point of view,
I see that we have a basic difference from bands like the above: while
they have a simple guitar line and leave the synths to build all the atmosphere
(or vice-versa), we have complex guitar riffs, a bit too sharp for symphonic
black, but also we give huge free space to the synths to expand our music
and not only follow in the background. The production is a bit "weak" since
we recorded the promo in my house on a PC and we did no mastering. Finally,
there are some obvious faults in the drum machine.
5: Tell us a few things for the lyrical content
of the demo by introducing each song. Which are your sources of inspiration?
"Antichristian Hordes" is a call to war against
the religion of "Love", the same that destroyed our glorious ancient civilization
some centuries ago. The song "The Lord Impaler" is a tribute to Vlad III
Draculea, who "built" us a great name for the band. "Admire the cosmos
Black" is only a darker perspective of the natural world, and a promise
that we will be near our ancestors wherever they are, may that be the stars
of the sky or the flames of hell! My basic source of inspiration is reading.
I read a lot and about many things, but my favorites are history (especially
the Hellenic), the occult, and philosophy. Other sources are movies, music
and images of nature, be it printed or seen through my own eyes.
6: What's the best and what's the worst part
in your music, according to you? Where do you think you need further improvement?
I cannot brake our music into best and worst
parts. I like it all as it is. I guess we need to improve our sound (actually
we haven't yet explored all of its aspects), and the drums.
7: Have you sent the demo to any labels and
zines? What kind of feedback have you received till now? Are you under
negotiation with any label?
We have sent it to many companies and magazines
in many countries. We are "flattered" by the feedback we have received,
as most comments are excellent. We are not under negatiation with any labels,
but we haven't yet heard of all who got our promo.
8: What is the best and what the worst comment
you've received?
The best was something like "WoW! I don't
believe in my ears!" and the worst "Get rid of this silly drum-machine!!!",
but it was a fair comment, so we're not offended.
9: You haven't got a cover artwork, but instead
you only have the band logo, which by the way is very beautyful. Why? Do
you think that your music could only be presented with a plain cover or
are there any other reasons behind that?
I believe that a good cover is important,
because it completes a good album. If our music was bad to hear, I don't
know how could a good cover help it! I think our music can be presented
without a cover, but the main reason we actually did that was the time
and the cost. A better artwork would cost almost 8 times more, and since
we give this promo for free, we had to do it that way, not to mention the
extra work-hours for us to prepare it...
10: If your music were an emotion, what would
it be? if it were a painting, what would it show?
I guess the strongest emotions of our music
are Scorn and hate (against Christianity). As for the painting, I have
in my mind an image from my summer vacations in the mountains of Kastoria.
I think it is good for our music and given the opportunity it might become
a good cover for a forthcoming release: It is a river, sliding as a noisy
snake among two hills filled with trees, reflecting the fullmoon that shines
above it!
11: Things are difficult in Greece. I've come
to realise quite many years now that few Greek metallers support the scene.
Have you realized that or do you think metalheads supported you?
It is true that most of the metallers are
more concerned in getting albums of big groups such as Iron Maiden and
Judas Priest than supporting their own country's scene. I wander, can't
they see that in few years these bands will meet their end? Who will take
the lead then? Surely, someone from the underground. I believe it is important
to support the underground scene if we want to have a future as a music
kind!
12: Are there any plans for live shows in the
horizon or do you think it's too difficult for a Greek band?
It is not difficult to play live, it is most
like a game "the right person in the right place at the right time" thing.
If you meet the right persons you can play in many important gigs... Unfortunatelly,
we have problems finding a good drummer, so we had to cancel all
plans for live appearances.
13: Let's suppose that suddenly one day electricity
ceased to exist. What do you think would happen to Heavy Metal music? How
would such a world be?
Funny you ask that, since Lord Nebulah's studies
are in this subject!!! I guess the world would be relaxing without all
these unfriendly noises most of the electric devises do... The celtic and
pagan music would for a first time be extremely popular and achieve great
things! And when we feel bored, there there will always be alternative
power sources such as the solar, or the hydroelectric to continue from
where we stopped...
14: If you could invite famous musicians to
participate in your album, who would you choose and why?
A: First of all a good drummer, since we don't
have one. I guess Hellhammer would be perfect for the job. I can't think
of anyone else at this time...Well, maybe Samoth if I had to call someone
from the guitarists "class", Silenius and Vikernes for the vocals...
15: What title would you like this interview
to have?
I don't know... How about "Nordic Confession"?
16: Thank you! Is there anything else you'd
like to mention?
A: I want to thank you for the interview and
the interest in Lord Impaler. Support The Underground!
Christine Parastatidou
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