Omen
Omen visited a couple of
months ago Greece for the third time and my hometown,Thessaloniki, for
the first. The experience? Extraordinary! Majestic! Their performance was
astounding and they showed us that the songs from "Eternal Black Dawn"
can stand equally next to the band's all time classics. Kevin, the singer,
offered us a really interesting interview in his usual pleasant and friendly
manner...
1.HELLO MY FRIEND KEVIN! ONCE AGAIN YOUR PERFORMANCE
WAS OUTSTANDING AND YOU PROVED THAT YOU DESERVE BEING KIMBALL'S SUCCESSOR.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT? DO YOU SEE IT AS A "HEAVY" RESPONSIBILITY?
Hello again Nikos! I appreciate the compliment.
I will say that the comparisons to J.D. Kimball were very heavy when I
first joined OMEN. But, now that the true fans of the band have seen what
I bring to OMEN and that I totally respect everything that J.D. did while
he was in the band it's not as hard on me. I feel that mine and J.D.'s
singing style are very close. So, it feels very natural now.
2.THIRD TIME FOR YOU IN GREECE AND THE FIRST IN
MY HOMETOWN IN THESSALONIKI. WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE PEOPLE HERE? DID
YOU ENJOY THE SHOWS AS MUCH AS THE PEOPLE? ARE YOU THINKING OF MOVING PERMANENTLY
TO GREECE? :)))
We have only played in Athens before and those
shows will always stay in our memories. But, in all honesty I think our
show in Thessaloniki was the best of all of the shows this time around.
The crowd was great at all the shows, but I really liked the venue that
we played in Thessoloniki and I think we, the band, played best that
night. We have had such great times in Greece when we get to come that
we have thought about making it our new home, but I think it would be very
tough for us to do that. We do love it there!!
3.NOW, LET'S TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT "ETERNAL
BLACK DAWN". IT IS YOUR FIRST STUDIO RELEASE WITH OMEN. HOW DO YOU FEEL
ABOUT IT? DO YOU THINK THAT IT CAN STAND EQUALLY IN COMPARISON TO THE BAND'S
PREVIOUS ALBUMS?
You know, I personally think it is as equally
great as a release as Battle Cry, Warning of Danger, and The Curse. I think
it has just enough raw edge and just enough production quality along with
great songwriting and musicianship to stand next to the other three. But,
I also understand that Omen fans and fans of metal in general have been
listening to Battle Cry, W.O.D. and The Curse for nearly 20 years now.
Eternal Black Dawn is new and it will take time for everyone to get out
of it what we, the band, put into it!
4. THE ALBUM WAS READY FOR A LONG TIME BEFORE
ITS RELEASE DATE AND BEFORE EVEN SIGNIGN TO MAUSOLEUM RECORDS. WHICH WERE
THE REASONS THAT MADE YOU SIGN WITH THIS SPECIFIC LABEL? WILL YOU RELEASE
YOUR UPCOMING ALBUM HERE OR WILL YOU SEARCH FOR ANOTHER LABEL?
We accually recorded Eternal Black Dawn three
different times (if you think all of our critics are tough on us you should
see how we are to ourselves). It took us a while to get it the way we wanted
it. We signed with Mausoleum Records because we thought that they would
be able to give us the support we needed to push the band the right way.
As with all recording deals everything is always negotiable. So, as always
we will have to see how things go!
5.I BELIEVE THAT THE MAIN PART OF THE LYRICS WAS
WRITTEN BY YOU, SO, I WANT YOU TO TELL ME WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE THEM.
DO YOU READ BOOKS?
I do read but not necessarily books. It's
more of a research thing with me. I like to tell stories in the songs.
Most of my inspiration comes from my interest in past events (and not the
typical stuff either), religions (good and evil, because there's good and
evil in all of them), fantasy themes and futuristic themes. I've always
written that way. I've never been one to write the ...."ooo baby I love
you"... kind of stuff.
6.I WILL STAY FOR A LITTLE BIT ON THE LYRICS AND
IN SPECIFIC ON THE SONG "ETERNAL BLACK DAWN", WHICH IS ONE OF THE DARKEST
SONGS YOU'VE EVER WRITTEN. WHICH IS THE STORY BEHIND IT? DO YOU KNOW THAT
IT HAS A COMMON THEMATOLOGY WITH ISAAC ASIMOV'S "NIGHTFALL" NOVEL AND ALSO
THE MOVIE "PITCH BLACK"?
The song Eternal Black Dawn is probably the
more typical story line in all of the new CD. It basically deals with an
extintion level event happening on earth and destroying everything we know
and love. I took it one step further and viewed it as a new beginning,
a fresh start perspective. So, within the darkness there is a bit of hope
in the end. I am aware of the common theme with the novels Nightfall and
to the movie Pitch Black (which is one of my all-time favorite movies).
I'm sure that I was influenced by both. Which is OK by me!
7.ON THE LIVE SHOW, HERE IN THESSALONIKI, YOU
TOLD US THAT "HOUSE ON RUE ROYAL" IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY. WHICH IS THIS
STORY AND WHEN DID IT HAPPEN?
Ahhh, House on Rue Royal. This is one of the
best songs on the new CD. It is a true story about Daulphine LaLaurie.
She lived in New Orleans, Louisiana in the 1800's with her husband who
was a prominant doctor there. They were socialites and very popular with
the wealthy. They were fairly wealthy themselves.The story goes that they
were giving a lavish party as they commonly did from time to time and the
house caught on fire. The fire was said to have been started by a slave
that she had been chained to the stove. Slavery was a part of the culture
at that time in the United States. When the firemen arrived to put out
the flames they were aghast at what they found in the most upstairs room.
With Dauphines husband being a surgeon and all, you can just imagine. But,
if you want more you should listen to the song or look it up on the internet.
8. IN THE LIVE SHOWS YOU SING IN A MORE AGGRESSIVE
MANNER THAT ON THE ALBUM. DID YOU DO THAT ON PURPOSE? DO YOU AGREE THAT
THE WHOLE PRODUCTION OF THE ALBUM AND THE WAY YOU SING HAS A THIN LIZZY
FEELING AND TOUCH?
It is more natural for me to sing aggressively.
I think in the recording process we were searching for the cleanest possible
recording and it just kind of came out that way. I'm sure in the future
the vocals on the CDs will be a bit more aggressive. I would like to think
that there is a little Thin Lizzy in everything that I do. They are one
of my most favorite bands and infuence me constantly. So, it definitely
doesn't hurt my feelings if the CD has that kind of feeling about it.
9.HERE IN GREECE YOU'VE DONE 3 LIVE SHOWS AND
SOME GREEK BANDS OPENED FOR YOU. HAVE YOU POINTED OUT ANY OF THEM? WHICH
IS YOUR OPINION ABOUT MARAUDER, DARK NIGHTMARE AND BATTLEROAR? I'D LIKE
TO HEAR YOUR COMMENTS FOR THE GREEK SCENE IN GENERAL...
On our first visit to Greece we became great
friends with Battleroar. They are our metal brothers. It's cool to see
that they are doing great things. We made more friends this time around
with Dark Nightmare and especially Marauder. Greece has some awesome talent.
Just some killer bands that really don't get the recognition they deserve.
Greece has a really cool metal scene. Thats why we like coming there to
play! If it was up to me it would be bigger, stronger and dominate the
radio airwave as it did in the 80's!
10. DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW SONGS READY? WHEN SHOULD
WE EXPECT A NEW ALBUM FROM YOU?
We have been working on a few new ideas for
the next studio CD from OMEN. But, we also videotaped everything from our
European trip this time around. So, the chances are high that we will be
releasing a live DVD and companion live CD before the next studio release.
We'll see.
11.HOW EASY WAS IT FOR YOU TO RESSURECT THE EPIC
METAL FEELING OF THE BAND, SINCE AMONG YOUR LAST ALBUM AND THE CLASSIC
ONES, OMEN HAVE RELEASED 2 WORKS THAT WERE OUT OF THE BAND'S STYLE. DO
YOU PLAY IN THE U.S. ANY SONGS FROM THE "RE-OPEN THE GATE" ALBUM?
That was the easy part since epic and power
metal is my forte and a personal strength. The hard part was writting and
recording a collection of songs we felt worthy to carry the Omen
name. Especailly after Reopening the Gates and the reviews that were received
from our European fans. We don't play any of those songs and I would venture
to say that no one in the world will ever hear OMEN play any of the songs
from Reopening the Gates ever again.
12.IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO BE AN IMPORTANT OR
FAMOUS PERSONALITY FOR A DAY, WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE AND WHICH PERIOD
OF HIS/HER LIFE WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE A TASTE OF?
Man, there are so many intriguing figures
to choose from. I definitely would NOT want to be George Bush! How about
Alexander the Great after a great battle had been won (and we all know
there were many). That would be pretty exciting.
13. WHICH WORDS DO YOU THINK COULD BEST DESCRIBE
YOUR MUSIC AND "ETERNAL BLACK DAWN" IN SPECIFIC?
From my own personal viewpoint ....its the
classic balance of good and evil filled with power and victory. More or
less!
14.THANK YOU! LEAVE A MESSAGE TO YOUR FANS...
Thank you Nikos. We appreciate your support
and interest in OMEN. To our fans ...you are the very best. We are always
made to feel that Greece is our home everytime we visit and we can't wait
to return. Thank you for your undying dedication. Stay heavy and stay hard.
For those reading this who know not of OMEN, visit WWW.OMENLEGION.COM
and find out for yourself. Thanks again!!!
Nick "William_Kidd"
Parastatidis
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