WHERE GOOD AND EVIL FALL IN LOVE

SEPTUAGINT

The well written Biography which reminds you a fantasy tale. The strange term "Harry Poter" metal. All these moved our interest and we made an intervie with the drummer of the band Berry, which is a very interesting person and gave us very clever answers. Let Berry introduce you to the fantasy world of SEPTUAGINT. Grab your popcorns and enjoy the show...

1.LET'S UNFOLD THE SEPTUAGINT MYSTERIES STARTING FROM THE VERY BEGINNING...WHAT MADE YOU FORM YOUR OWN BAND, WHICH ARE YOUR AIMS AND WHICH ARE THE MILESTONES (AS YOUR BIO SAYS) THAT YOU PLACED IN ORDER TO MARK YOUR PATH? INTRODUCE THE LINE UP TO THE READERS.

The mystery begins with singer Cees and some other guys in 1991. They formed the band, and their first aim was to have as much fun as possible and play good metalmusic. In the years after that some line-up changes took place, leaving only Cees as bandmember of the first hour. In those years also the aims shifted, and making music became the most important thing. That resulted in the first milestone in 1994, the demotape 'Septuagint', a 4 track tape that traveled the Dutch underground scene. Shortly after that there was another line - up change, which made Septuagint a foursome instead of the five it always had. At this point already three of the five bandmembers that Septuagint is today were there: Cees on vocals. Pepijn on bass and I, Berry on drums. In 1998 we recorded and released our second milestone, our mini-CD '...My Darkest Domain'. This silver disc attracted another guitarplayer to the band: Mike. In 1999 we did a Dutch clubtour, about 30 gigs in 2 months and that drew the attention of a small recordcompany. We signed with them and so we went to the studio to record our first full length CD 'When Good & Evil fall in Love'. But even before the album was finished the recordcompany fell apart, so we had to bring out the CD ourselves, even though the result wasn't what we had hoped for, due to the production which wasn't what Septuagint should sound like. That was also one of the reasons why one of the guitarplayers left. But shortly after that Andrew came to reinforce the band, and made the line-up complete. With the five of us we began with a fresh restart, and started to write new songs. We decided it was time to record and release 2 of the new songs, with a production we like, without interferance of producers and recordcompanies. That turned out to be the 'Meditation Among Demons' promo, our latest milestone. The 2 songs will also be on the coming album and are an example for what Septuagint is today. With the promo we're doing a large promotion campagne to reach metal fans throughout the world and we hope they like it as much as we do. So the line-up today is: Cees - vocals, Mike - guitars, Andrew - guitarrs, Pepijn - bass, Berry - drums

2.WHAT DOES SEPTUAGINT MEAN? HOW DID YOU GET THIS NAME AND WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SUGGEST?

We get this question a lot, and when I answer it I often have to repeat it a couple of times. Anyway, Septuagint is the English spelling of the Latin appelation for the Greek translation of the Old Testament... How did we get it? We honestly don't know. One of the old bandmembers came up with it, and it sounded ok, so a name was born. Around 1995 we talked about changing it, but by then the name was already pretty known in the local underground, and we couldn't come upwith a better one, so we kept the name. We don't want to suggest anything with it, we do that with our music and lyrics. So, it's only a name...

3.HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSICAL STYLE AND HOW AND WHO NAMED YOU HARRY POTTER METAL? WHY DID HE CHOOSE THIS HERO? WHICH ONE (HERO I MEAN) WOULD YOU CHOOSE, IN ORDER TO REPRESENT SEPTUAGINT? WHICH ONE IS CLOSER TO YOUR CHARACTERS?

Our music style is a combination of traditional thrash/speed and heavy metal, like bands as Testament, Slayer, Metallica, Forbidden, Helloween, Kreator, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, and todays style power metal, like Blind Guardian, Primal Fear, Avantasia and so on. The five of us have a very wide musical taste so all those influences combined makes the music of Septuagint. The 'Harry Potter' metal comes from a review we got on the 'Good & Evil' CD. The reviewer compared our lyrics to the Potter books, because our lyrics also tell about magic, dragons, fairies and those things. In the time he reviewed it the movie just came in the theatres so I guess that's why he came up with it. We thought it was so original that we used it in our biography. If I had to choose I would have compared it to Lord of the Rings. Our lyrics are tales about war and death in a fantasy world, and not about the perils of a class in school.

4.YOU HAVE A 2 SONG SINGLE OUT. WHY HAVE YOU PREPARED ONLY 2 SONGS? GIVE US A DESCRIPTION OF HOW THEY SOUND AND WHICH ARE THE DIFFERENCES FROM YOUR DEBUT ALBUM? WHEN SHOULD WE EXPECT A FULL LENGTH ALBUM FROM YOU AND UNDER WHICH LABEL WILL IT BE RELEASED?

When we were planning to record the promo single we had to select 2 songs from the ones we had finished. We choose these 2 because they are the most representative for Septuagint. They show the listener a great deal of what the music of Septuagint is about. From tight riffing to the melodic flowing parts, and with accoustic parts and a lot of guitar solo work. We wanted the sound and production te come as close to our live sound as possible, because people told us our music always was more intense live than on CD. So we really wanted to cath that live atmosphere this time, and I think we succeeded in that. That's also the big difference with our debut, that one sounded... well, too nice. For the next album, which hopefully will be released next year, we try to hold that live touch, but then we're going to take more time to look at the details, which we didn't have time for with 'Meditation Among Demons'. After all, it was just a promo... I don't know if the next album will be released under a label, we're still looking for a record company who's interested. If we can't find one, then we're probably are going to release the next album by ourselves again.

5.WHERE ARE YOUR LYRICS REFERRING TO? DO YOU PREFER REAL LIFE OR FANTASY STORIES AND WHY? WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO WRITE LYRICS AND WHAT CAN TAKE THE INSPIRATION AWAY FROM YOU?

Our lyrics follow one big storyline, that started with 'Good & Evil' and continues with the next album. It tells the tale of a (fantasy)world that is falling apart by the supreme forces of Good and Evil. On the previous album the first disaster was stopped by the courage of just one man, the next album tells the tale of Evil, and it's part in the downfall of the world. The reason why I chose for fantasy lyrics (I write all the lyrics for Septuagint) is that I don't want to put ideas or opinions in other peoples heads, they are smart enough to figure things out for themselves. All we want to do is entertain people, to let them hear good music and to let them see a good show. The inspiration comes from the storyline in my head: I already know where it's going and everything that is going to happen, its just a matter of translating it into lyrics and adept them to the songs we write. Having that storyline also prevents from the inspiration going away. The only thing that can be hard sometimes is finding the right words to tell what has to be told, and keep a clear line.

6.HOW IMPORTANT IS IMAGE AND PHILOSOPHY AND IDEOLOGY BEHIND A BAND? BY READING YOUR BIO I GET TO REALIZE THAT YOU HAVE CAREFULLY WORKED ON IT AND IT'S LIKE BARD NARRATING A STORY OR A FABLE. SO? WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ON THAT?

The image is important to the music, lyrics, artwork and communication to the world. We don't make bandpictures dressed totally in leather, wielding swords and all that. We only apply the image to the art we create, the concept of our music and storyline in the lyrics, the sleeves of our CD's and our website. We as musicians are just 5 down to earth guys, who are doing our best to create something good and hope other people think the same way about our music. A good comparison may be that Peter Jackson didn't direct Lord of the Rings wearing a broad cloack and pointing out things to people with a large sword in his hands.

7.DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? WHAT SHOULD THE METALLERS EXPECT FROM A SEPTUAGINT LIVE SHOW? SHARE SOME OF YOUR EXPERIENCES FROM YOUR LIVE SHOWS WITH US...

We do have plans for live shows. We're already planning a lot of concerts in Holland, and we've also got contacts in Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany and Sweden. The people who come to the shows can expect Septuagint at their best: live on a stage that's when we are in top shape, that's what we do it all for! The energy on stage is wonderful, we keep pushing eachother to higher limits. They say there's no place like home, well, Septuagint's home is on stage, there's no other way I can describe it, you should see for yourself.

8.WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO SOMEONE THAT DOESN'T KNOW YOU, IN ORDER TO INTRIGUE HIS INTEREST? WHICH IS YOUR MOST APPEALING ELEMENT ACCORDING TO YOU?

I would say: come see us live! But that can be a problem, since the world is so big. But we're working on that. In one way by trying to get as many gigs as possible, on the other way we're planning to put live clips on our website, but we're still researching on what is the best way to do that. Until that time I hope we can attract people with our free promo CD.

9.IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?

If I look at the lyrics of our next CD (which also includes the 2 songs of the promo) I would say the overall emotion is rage. Rage which leads to hatred and vengeance, which is the main storyline of the CD. A painting would show large flaming pits, from which demons and monsters would be born, with rage crazed looks in their eyes and their claws eagerly spread to kill and mutilate.

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?

I think I would make a clip of 'Meditation Among Demons'. It would be in a dark cave, lit by hidden torches and fires. In the middle of the cave we would be playing the song, and around us, in the shadows and behind the rocks there would be dark shapes sneaking around. You can't quite tell what they are, but you know they're up to no good. You would see eyes liting up in the fires, and see teeth shining, but never a whole face. The view would change from shots of us, to camera's who are chasing the figures between the rocks, but they wouldn't be able to catch one in full view. So I guess it would be dark and gloomy with a lot of tension, just as the song is...

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?

If I had to choose one word, it would be: friendship. I believe that's what the world is all about, and I know that's what Septuagint is all about: if we weren't friends, we wouldn't be a band. Also the lyrics deal with friendship. Maybe sometimes it's not so clear, but even the evil have friends in their own fiendish way. The author of that book would have to be someone with a large sense of humor, and a very large fantasy. I mean, if you would have told to a Neanderthaler who's just trying to make a fire with two stones that his great-, great-, great.. etc grandson will fly to the moon in a rocket, he's probably would have smashed your skull in with a stone axe. But that guy who wrote he book of creation already had written that down! So, yeah, he needed a lot of humor and fantasy...

12.IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO TRAVEL BACK IN TIME, WHICH HISTORICAL PERIOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT AND WHY?

I would go back to the glory times of the Middle Ages. That always interested me, the knights and the castles. I wish I could see how life was like then, but... I would probably already be burned to death as a heretic or a witch before I'd visited the first village...

13.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? :))

I think that if he was still on earth we would be locked away in an asylum with the other people who think they are Napoleon or Julius Ceasar. So I think it's best that he stays where he is :))...

14.LET'S SUPPOSE THAT WE LIVE IN A WORLD WITHOUT MUSIC. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IN SUCH A CASE?

I can't imagine a world without music. You can hear music in everything: tapping with a pen on a desk creates a beat, on a few different glasses you can create a melody. So in order to have a world without music, we'd all have to be deaf. If that's the case, then I think I still would be a writer, the same story, but only not translating it onto music. Then I would only write the book, so the only difference would be that I wouldn't be a drummer.

15.IF YOU WERE A FLY, WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE AND WHY?

That's easy. Somewhere under the dress of Salma Hayek.... Why? What do you think???

16.IN WHICH MOVIE SOUNDTRACK WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE TAKEN PART OR HAVE COMPOSED?

I guess that's pretty obvious by now: the soundtrack of Lord of the Rings, the best movie made, ever!

17.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?

I and the rest of Septuagint would like to thank you for this interview and the support you give us! We also would like to thank the readers of Behind The Veil Webzine and we hope we can play live for you one time in the future! Greetings!

NIKOS "William_Kidd" PARASTATIDIS

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