The
Enchanted
The Enchanted is a great
band originating from the UK and a few months ago they released their EP
"For Those Who Fall...". Their mixture of death with thrash and classic
heavy metal along with the intensity and passion of their music, makes
them easy to distinguish and recognize. This is the second time we welcome
in our interviews section The Enchanted and Tony, who is actually the man
behind the band and we found out plenty of interesting things concerning
the band and its activities... Let's see what he told us...
1.CONGRATULATIONS FOR "FOR THOSE WHO FALL..."!
IT'S A GREAT ALBUM FROM EVERY ASPECT, BUT I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU, THE
CREATORS, THINK ABOUT IT NOW...
Hi Christine, glad you liked the CD. We are
very proud of the songs on the EP. There are some changes to the production
and backing vocals we would make were we to do the CD again, but over all
we are pleased with it. We hope to learn from these for the next album.
2.WHICH ARE YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS AS A BAND?
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ENCHANTED FROM THE RELEASE OF "TRUST IN DEATH AND
REBIRTH"?
2002 was the busiest year for The Enchanted
and was when we achieved the most, we recorded the "Trust..." album and
played loads of gigs in England and Ireland including support for Impaled
Nazarene at the Terrorizer Xmas bash. We met some awesome people and played
(and hung out) with some great bands. Hopefully 2005 will be just as positive,
as the last couple of years have seen a few things holding us back.
3.NOW, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE MUSIC... YOUR SOUND
IS A COMBINATION AMONG THRASH, DEATH AND CLASSIC HEAVY METAL. HOW CAN ALL
THESE ELEMENTS BE BLENDED IN AND YET CREATE A RESULT THAT SOUNDS SO HOMOGENEOUS?
There was no conscious decision to sound a
certain way so I suppose the only reason all these elements come through
in our music is that I/we listen to all these styles and that we play music
we enjoy playing and like to listen to. In writing songs for the next CD
I have found the music is becoming more diverse and you will start to notice
more different styles in there.
4.I THINK THAT YOU HAVE QUITE A PERSONAL TOUCH
AND YOUR MUSIC IS EASILY RECOGNIZABLE! HOW DID YOU ACHIEVE THIS? WHY DO
YOU THINK SOME BANDS CAN
AND OTHERS CAN'T CREATE A PERSONAL PERCEPTION
IN THEIR MUSIC?
I think that some bands try hard to be very
much like their favourite band(s) where as others try harder to be themselves.
Listening to a wide range of different music and experimenting with your
own music will also make a difference to the sound of the band.
5.WHICH ARE ACCORDING TO YOU THE MAIN SIMILARITIES
AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN "FOR THOSE WHO FALL..." AND "TRUST IN DEATH AND
REBIRTH"? ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FINAL RESULT?
In regards to the songs I don't think there
is much difference as I could imagine any of the songs on "For those who
fall..." working on the "Trust..." CD. The main difference is in the production.
Over all I am happier with the production for the "Trust..." album, but
we didn't have the money to take the time we would like to do the "For
Those who fall..." CD. We do hope to spend the time and money that is needed
on the next CD to make sure that this will have the greatest production
and sound yet.
6.NOW THE LYRICS...I THINK YOU SHOULD TALK ABOUT
EACH SONG'S THEME. HOWEVER, I THINK THE MAIN TOPIC IS DEATH AND WARS. WHY
DO YOU THINK HUMANS ARE SO HOSTILE AND BELLICOSE?
Well the opening track on the EP "Where
Fires Burn" is about someone who is send into the Dragons lair to despatch
the Dragon, it describes what he sees and feels, (like the fear) in the
end he is not successful "engulfed in flames then all is no more".
The lyrics for "Way of the Warrior"
is about a Warrior born, going from one battle to the next, other throwing
tyranny etc..
"In a Dream" is more abstract and is
about a dream where shadows dance, reflections drown and there are seas
of flames etc...
"Under the Hall of the Moon" is about
the Pagan struggle against Christians/Romans who came to England and took
our lands but also is a metaphor for the continuing struggle of Pagans
against Christianity and contains the title for the EP.
The title has a dual meaning as it is in the
song it is saying the warriors who fall in battle will meet again in the
afterlife, but it was chosen as title for the EP as a tribute to people
on the Metal scene who have died in recent times like Chuck Schuldiner,
Paul Baloff etc...
7.BY THE WAY, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ON THE RECENT
HIDEOUS AND ATROCIOUS TERRORIST EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE IN RUSSIA? DO YOU
THINK THAT FROM NOW ON PEOPLE SHOULD LEARN TO LIVE WITH THE FEAR OF TERRORIST
ATTACKS EVERYWHERE, EVERY MOMENT?
I don't think anyone should live their life
in fear this is what the Terrorists would like to have that kind of control
over people. I do not agree that however strongly you believe in something
that innocent people should be attacked especially children. I do believe
in being aware that the world is a f*cked up place and that it is not a
bad thing to be prepared for the worst, but that should not stop you living
your life however you want.
8.WHY HAVE YOU DECIDED TO RELEASE AN EP AND NOT
A FULL LENGTH RELEASE? WHEN SHOULD WE EXPECT A COMPLETE ALBUM? DO YOU HAVE
ANY NEW SONGS READY?
The EP was a kind of stop gap, just to keep
our name about and to record some songs written around the time of the
first album, that we thought deserved recording. There has been a lot of
songs written since this and more than enough for the next full length.
We hope to record and release the next album next year. We are working
on arranging the new songs and writing lyrics, also we need to find a new
drummer as Jamie recently left the band.
9.THE COVER ARTWORK IS BEAUTIFUL! IT SHOWS AN
OLD BUILDING, IT MUST BE A CHURCH IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN? ON THE BACK THERE
IS A FIELD WITH SOME TREES IN THE BACKGROUND. SO, WHICH IS THE CONNECTION
BETWEEN THE ARTWORK AND THE EP'S TITLE "FOR THOSE WHO FALL..."?
The cover is a gateway part of some battlements,
not a church. This and the field are hinting at battle/war and fighting
for our lands/way of life. Also they just look great.
10.DO YOU HAVE ANY PLAN S FOR LIVE SHOWS? WHAT
DO YOU HAVE TO OFFER TO THOSE WHO WILL ATTEND YOUR SHOWS?
Most people who have seen us live have said
they prefer to hear the songs this way. We do have a lot of energy on stage
and a lot of people comment on the atmosphere which you do not get with
listening to a CD. We will be planning to play some shows outside of the
UK next year also as we have only played within UK and Ireland so far.
11.IF YOUR COULD ADD SOME ELEMENTS AND EMOTIONS
IN YOUR MUSIC, WHICH WOULD THESE BE? IF YOU COULD REDUCE SOME, WHICH WOULD
THEY BE?
I do like to have a good mixture of moods
in the music. I think I would like to have more anger to some and more
sadness or darkness to others, I think we need some riffs that just sound
depressing or down right evil, ha ha! There isn't anything I would reduce,
would just like to expand on what we have.
12.IF YOU COULD INVITE FAMOUS MUSICIANS TO PARTICIPATE
IN YOUR MUSIC, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
That is a difficult one. Although with us
not having a drummer at the moment I would have to say it would be great
to work with someone like Nick Barker, Gene Hoglan, Pete Sandoval etc...
the list goes on. That said we would be more than happy with someone not
known at all were they good for the band.
13.TONY, THE BAND'S SINGER AND GUITARIST, HAS
BEEN ALSO ADDED TO THE LINE UP OF CLAN DESTINED. WHICH BAND WILL BE HIS
PRIORITY AND HOW DEDICATED CAN HE BE ON EACH?
I think I should be able to do both without
much difficulty. I don't intend for one to take priority over another.
Hopefully we will be able to tour with both bands on the same bill.
14.YOU USE THE SYMBOL OF CHAOS, THE 8 ARROWS LEADING
TO DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. WHY? WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS SYMBOL FOR THE BAND
AND YOUR MUSIC?
Well the universe is totally chaotic, everything
is going off in all directions, life seems to be about controlling chaos,
and in a lot of ways that is what music is about. Technical bands such
as Dillinger Escape Plan just use a bit more chaos but show there ability
by still keeping this in some kind of order. With The Enchanted we have
always had a wide range of sounds so I suppose in a way we are expanding
in all directions at once.
15.WHICH WORDS DO YOU THINK CAN DESCRIBE YOUR
MUSIC BETTER? WHAT PHRASE CAN SUM UP IDEALLY THE BAND'S HISTORY AND ESSENCE?
We were called "Warrior Metal" in a recent
issue of Terrorizer and I like this. It does suit our sound more than the
old "Pagan Metal" Moniker we gave ourselves. "Pagan Metal" suited more
the demos we did with female vocals and a lot more of a folk-y feel, where
as "Warrior Metal" sounds a bit more Thrash and suits the lyrics more.
Also I think this works as The Enchanted at times has been like fighting
a losing battle but we have continued to fight and in most cases this has
paid off.
16.THANK YOU! THESE LINES ARE YOURS...
Thank you Christine for the interview and
for your support. If anyone is interested to find out more about The Enchanted,
buy CD's, T-Shirts etc... then please check out our web site
www.theenchanted.co.uk
hopefully you will be hearing more from us in the future.
Christine Parastatidou
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