The
Heretic
If Dream Theater were
deciding to start playing extreme metal, then I believe that the result
would be very close to the sound of THE HERETIC. A band that really gives
a new dimension on what we say progressive black/death metal. Nexusseis,
the bass player of the band, is an open minded person that tries to explain
us of whta kind of personalities it consists this group and did they manage
to sound so bizzare...
1.FIRST OF ALL, CONGRATULATIONS FOR CHEMISTRY
FOR THE SOUL
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Thanks a lot. It’s just great having such a kind
welcome both on the press and the public side. It’s really important to
us, knowing that our album is working well, at least, as we first expected.
2.PLEASE, POINT OUT THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS
OF THE BAND’S HISTORY AND INTRODUCE YOURSELVES TO THE READERS.
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We’re working on it since 1996. We’ve published
two full –lenght albums (“Fallen From Heaven” in 2000, “Chemistry for the
Soul” in 2002 - re-issued nowadays in 2004 ) and one E.P. (“The book Of
Fate” in 1997) to date. After some line up changes throughout these years,
we’ve reached for our most stable line-up ever, which is: Chirsphoval (Drums),
Phaernan & Carlo IV (guitars), Nexusseis ( yours truly, bassplayer
& programming), Aphengouza (Keyboards & Piano) and Rhülk (vocals).
We’ve been working this way for the last four years, and I wish we
could be working like this for at least ten years more, hehe. About our
music, I don’t want to label it, you know what I mean. But I tend
to say we’re some weird blend between extreme and progressive metal. But
the main thing is to discover it by yourself, because we’ve read a lot
of dissimilar opinions about our style. And we like that point.
3.IF I ASKED YOU TO PRESENT THE ALBUM YOURSELVES
TO THE READERS, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM? WHICH WORDS WOULD YOU USE?
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I think people should take their time to discover
the album. We know “Chemistry...” needs time for you to get into but once
you do it, I bet you’ll enjoy it. As I said before, we’re interested in
music not caring for labels. We know we aren´t a good choice for
people who long for “raw black metal” or “old school death metal” and such,
but obviously we don’t make music neither for them nor for anyone... that
isn’t our goal for sure. I think people should listen to “Chemistry...”
with an open minded manner. We’ve a lot of musical influences because we’re
great fans of music, and I don’t mean only metal. That’s an obvious thing
listening to the album. Anyway “Chemistry...” is an extreme metal work,
no doubt about it, but with a great heap of different touches. I think
this explanation fits well about what people would find into the album.
4.ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FINAL RESULT? IS THERE
ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO CHANGE NOW? WHICH ELEMENTS DO YOU THINK LACK FROM
YOUR MUSIC AND WHICH DO YOU THINK YOU SHOULDN’T USE AGAIN IN THE FUTURE?
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Mmm...yes to the two first questions, hehe. When
your work’s done, you feel like everything’s fine, but you just don’t stop
finding wrong things after a couple of weeks!! Whether those guitars are
too low, or that part of keyboards’s sunk in the mix, or whatever, I call
it the “post-album paranoia”.Once that syndrome fades out after some months,
you start to get the real impression of the album. I think “chemistry...”
wouldn’t be the same if we had recorded it nowadays. The album shows how
we were in that moment, what we had in mind about production, sound or
composing. Under this point of view, ther’re things that we won’t do the
same for the next album, with regard to mixing, for instance. I think an
album’s never perfect and we’re too young as a band to think that our music
is perfect. We’re learning, looking for our style, we’re very active. But,
on the other hand, we are really proud of “chemistry...” as it was our
confirmation as a band and the first step in the search for our own sound.
And that’s the main thing. The new material is more “epic” and bombastic,
besides being more progressive and extreme. We’ve recovered the charge
of keyboards contained in “Fallen from heaven”, which was maybe left aside
in “chemistry...”, and we’ll try some vocal variations as well, although
it’s too soon to make a real valuation. We’re recording the new album in
October-November and we have about 6 new songs.
5.I’D CHARACTERIZE YOU AS THE DREAM THEATER OF
BLACK METAL. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ON THIS STATEMENT?
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Hehe, that’s very kind of you, but the funny thing
is that we’re not great fans of Dream Theater in fact. I used to have a
few of their albums and gave them to a friend long ago. As far as I know,
Chrisphoval likes D.T. but that’s all, I guess. It’s really weird lots
of people saying we’re some kind of extreme D.T. I really feel respect
for that band, but I’m in the old prog like King Crimson, Rush or Queensryche
though. Anyway, I can understand why people could see some kind of connection
between them and us. Maybe due to the instrumental passages or drums, which
sometimes aren’t the typical extreme metal drumsterminar.
6.YOUR ALBUM’S TITLE IS “CHEMISTRY FOR THE SOUL”.
WHY
DID YOU NAME IT THIS WAY? WHAT DO YOU WANT
TO SUGGEST?
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We wanted a title to be in agreement with the
music. We realized once we finished the album that it would be hard to
put it a name, because of our vast influences and variations, and the same
goes for the cover and the art work. We just didn’t want to repeat any
black metal cliches, about which we were pretty fed up. So we were looking
for a new kind of concept, one that wouldn’t show what’s inside the album,
because we wanted the people to approach the album without preconceived
ideas. Even when you’ve listened to one song, you really don’t know what’s
coming next, some kind of disorientation, an abstract feeling. I once read
that in the so-called first world, the number of people commiting suicide
due to the modern life stress and competitivity is raising quite fast,
and the goverments usually prefer to invest money to make pills and drugs
instead looking for the real reason of that situation, something like “
to the happines through the chemistry”.It involves a worrying loss of humanity,
like it happens in “Love’s as dreadful..” in which the protagonist doesn’t
know how to love his partner and finally opts for killing her, or in “Diesel
motor soul” which is a declaration of the wrath of someone who’s been dissapointed
and rejected by the world around him.
7.WHERE ARE YOUR LYRICS REFERRING TO? WHAT KIND
OF TOPICS ATTRACT AND ITNRIGUE TO TALK ABOUT? HOW IMPROTANT ARE LYRICS
FOR YOU?
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About the lyrics, the influence of the global
situation, the political sham, religion, the stupidity of war...have a
deep impact on me. I don’t really have the makings of a philanthropist,
I’m only a citizen who thinks a lot of things must change... The new songs
deal with religion and sin, both in the aestethic and ethical perspective.
Catholic creed is just a great source of inspiration; it’s aestethic face
is mainly based on pain, punishmet and martyrdome... With regard to ethics,
the whole dogma is based in humilliation, submission and weakness. It’s
not a question about personal beliefs or faith, but just a question of
how that disgusting power has been setting obstacles to the human knowledge
from the beginning to nowadays. That’s the point of view I want to expose
as the main responsible for the lyrics. Fortunately, the number of people
raising their voice against that disease is raising up. I think we have
the moral duty to condemn each little manipulation, each little bakward
step...not only about religion but politics, even human rights. I saw Peter
Mullan’s “Magdaleniense Sisters” (he’s the film-maker I admire best) based
on a true story, and got deeply impressed about the evilness of a Catholic
congregation located in Ireland at the beggining of 60’s. I just couldn’t
believe it, the pain and humiliation they used to inflict to those innocent
girls that were confined in this institution; almost could say even the
“sisters” were, in a way or another, victims...victims of their own prejudices
and blind faith. To expose such an abomination to the whole world is, under
my point of view, a probe of irrepoachable ethics, an undeniable example
for all of us.
8.I SAID IN MY REVIEW THAT YOUR MUSIC IS NOT THE
TYPICAL BLACK METAL, IT DOESN’T CONTAIN BLASTBEATS AND MONOTONOUSLY REPEATING
THEMES. SO, COULD YOU POINT OUT SOME OF YOUR MOST BELOVED ALBUMS AND BANDS?
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Well, in fact there’re some “blastbeats” in “Have
a nice day” or in “Love’s as dreadful...” for instance, but they’re not
the basis of our music for sure. We used to do more “blast” parts in the
past, and maybe we’ll do more “blastbeats” in the future. We put into the
song the speed it needs. I think there’s no point in playing as-fast-as-you-can
song after song always the same, as if speed where the real goal. I think
“blastbeats” work well to emphasize some parts, even some kind of songs,
but we prefer to be more varied in regards to rhythm. We are trying some
slooow parts in one or two of the new songs and they really fit great.
But if we need a “blast” part, we’ll include it. Our most beloved albums
and bands? Ohh...it’s too hard!!! Each one has his own taste... there are
so many bands I couldn’t quote’em all, but we like from the old Trash /
Death bands like Kreator, Testament, Slayer, Morbid Angel, Voivod
to Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Nick Cave, Kraftwerk, ... our
favourite black metal bands is, no doubt about it, Emperor. I liked “In
the nightside Eclipse” , but when I listened to “Anthems...” I got astonished.
I think they were the summit of the style, because their complexity, tastefulness,
brilliant lyrics...and their musical strenght. We like Arcturus, Solefald,
Ulver or Zyklon as well, so just imagine what a mess!!
9.WHICH MUSICIANS MADE YOU REALIZE THAT YOU WANTED
TO INVOLVE WITH THIS KIND OF MUSIC? WHICH TIHNGS ATTRACT YOU IN BLACK METAL?
WHAT?S THIS GENRE FOR YOU?
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Mmm...We like to put some dramatic and melodic
charge in our music. Death metal is fine to communicate aggressivenes and
rudeness, but maybe it lacks of that atmospheric side that we need
to express
what we want to express. The fact is that we didn’t gather and said:
“Hey..let’s make a black metal band”...it was a process. We used to play
some kind of melodic death metal at first, there were some line-up changes
through the years, we started to use keyboards, to become refined in the
composing...it was just natural. We don’t care if people think we’re not
black metal or we’re not black-metal enough , because in fact we’re NOT
a black metal band. Black metal is just one element, but not the one and
only. I remember I was attracted by its epic and romantic side at first
(I mean Symphonic black metal) and that mysterious feeling. I think that’s
the most interesting side of the style, and that’s what we find inspiring
to our music. We really don’t care about satanism because we’re atheist,
pagan rites or ideologies, not to mention that shit of fascist orientation
of some bands...it really makes me feel sick.
10.YOUR MUSIC CREATED IN MY MIND MANY THOUGHTS
AND IMAGES, BEAUTIFUL AND YET SAD AND NOSTALGIC. IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED
TO ACHIEVE? HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT TO CREATE SO STRONG METAPHORS? WITHIN
YOUR MUSIC?
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Thanks again! That’s one of the feelings we wanted
to communicate with “chemistry for the soul” . As I told you before, we
like to use dramatical moods in our music. “Diesel motor Soul“ besides
having a very agressive lyric, has a nostalgic and dramatic background
, like if the protagonist weren’t guilty of his own thoughs. “Dead Hearts...”
starts with a very dramatic interlude, and that feeling lasts ‘till the
end of the song. The lyric shows how the mankind is becoming into an inert
mass, although it seems that there’s a light and the end of the tunnel...
“Radiography” turns the brighter side of love to dark by showing one person
who is disable to have feelings, because everything inside him is dry and
dead. ”Have a nice day” is pure gallows humour, so it doesn’t use metaphors
at all, hahaha.
11.WHICH ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE? DO YOU
HAVE ANY NEW SONGS READY? IF YES, GIVE US SOME INFO ABOUT THEM. WHERE DO
THEY DWELL MUSICALY?
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We´re working really hard in our new album.
We have about six new songs ready at the moment, and I just can say it’ll
be our best work to date, no doubt about it...I bet you’ve never heard
this before, Hehehe; Ok, in all sincerity, we’re doing our best. We’ve
learnt from what we’ve done in the past, about how to get what we’re looking
for or how to get by in the studio... People who know well the band are
expecting a great job, which is a great responsibility for us. The new
songs will have a conceptual identity. “Chemistry...” was wider about concepts;
went over hate, love, despair, religion, madness...the new lyrics are more
“poetic”, even subrealistic and revolve around religiosity and sin. But
it won’t be a radical change at all, that’s for sure...it’ll be The Heretic,
in other words, progressive Black/Death metal with a lot of influences....or
somehting like this!!. There’re some titles; “The Day of the Lord”, “Ashamed”,
“The Lord’s Spoken”, “ We’ve Turned Into Saints”...
12.WHICH REVIEW THAT YOU READ DO YOU THINK DESCRIBES
YOUR MUSIC THE BEST WAY AND IS THE MOST FLATTERING AND WHICH IS THE WORST
AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR SOUND ACCORDING TO YOU? IS THERE A COMMON
STATEMENT YOU READ IN ALMOST ALL THE REVIEWS YOU RECEIVE?
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Mmm..I think the references to Dream Teather and
Arcturus are very common in lots of the reviews I’ve already read ...but
sometimes names like At The Gates, Emperor, even Covenant (a band which
I really hate, haha!!) suddenlly appear here and then. I think the best
review is the one that says we’re hard to classify, that we’re not an easy
band. Another link among the reviews is the idea of “chemistry...” needs
time, that you won’t like it if you don’t pay attemption to it. And we
really like things like that. By the way...yours was really beautiful,
hehehe. In fact, nearly all the reviews we’ve read are great indeed. Except
one or two claiming “ That’s not true enough!” and that kind of bullshit
(we’ve NEVER wanted to be “true” ...at least, not “true” in the way they
mean). It isn’t plain at all to take up a place in such an overcrowded
scene. Making a sort of music hard to classify just doens’t help anyone.
Broadly speaking, metal people (I’d say metal record labels as well) look
for bands that fit perfectly in a concrete style. I think people should
take their time to discover the album.
13.DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? DO YOU
LIKE
PERFORMING LIVE? WHY ARE LIVE SHOWS IMPORTANT
FOR YOU AND DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ABLE TO FULLY REPRODUCE YOUR SOUND IN
A GIG?
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Yeeeah, we love performing live. We usually
rehearse hard to reproduce the same feeling of the album on stage. Live
shows are a main thing because there’re the first contact for a lot of
people whit the band and its music. And there’re important for the people
that already know you and even have your albums to feel the power of your
music live in a gig, and to check out if you’re a real band. The live side
of a band is as important as its studio side, I think. We’ve tons of live
stuff, because we usually record our performances. And as we did in “Chemistry..”
we’ll include live songs as bonus tracks in the forthcoming albums.
14.IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT
BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
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An emotion? I think...rebellion. A painting...it
should show mutation and change, horror and hope. It could be something
like “the garden of delights” mixed with “The Cry” of Edvard Munch.
15.IF YOU COULD BE AN IMPROTANT 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?
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Wow!! I’ve never thought of this before. Let me
see...do you rememeber that chinese guy who stopped those huge tank at
Tiananmen Square totally unarmed? That’s one of the most incredible things
I’ve ever seen. For me, that man is a hero in capitals. A hope that we’ve
something valuable inside, besides our envy, evil and cynicism...our will
to change, a spark of rebellion.
16.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING
AND YOU 'D LIKE TO MENTION?
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Thank you very much...I’ve had a great time answering
your questions. It’s one of the most interesting interviews I’ve ever done.
Greetings from Spain...let’s keep the scene alive.
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
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