Varathron
Well Varathron is one of
the oldest and cultest extreme metal bands of Greece. Recently, after quite
many years of absence, they stroke back with a great new album under the
title "Crowsreign". So, we have asked Stefanos some questions that concern
the band and its future and here is what we got out of it!
1.YOU WILL SOON RELEASE YOUR 5TH ALBUM UNDER
THE TITLE “CROWSREIGN”. WHICH ARE, ACCORDING TO, YOU THE NEW ELEMENTS ON
THIS ALBUM IN COMPARISON TO “LAMENT OF GODS”, THAT WAS RELEASED 6 YEARS
AGO?
Well, our new album has some new elements.
First of all we have new musicians, our guitarist and our drummer are the
2 new members in Varathron!!! On the other hand, on the musical part,
there is freshness in the compositions!! There is power and a new force
that the new members offer to us and there is also a continuance of Varathron’s
style, that exists in all our albums. What we do is something that we like,
above all, and then the rest of the people who listen to and love our music!
2.I’D LIKE YOU TO TELL ME ON WHICH MUSICAL STANDARDS
YOUR NEW ALBUM MOVE ON? ARE YOU DEALING WITH A CONCEPT STORY OR NOT?
Our new work “Crowsreign” is not a concept
album! It’s an album that consists of 11 songs. The musical levels on which
it moves are a continuance of our previous releases. It’s brutal and at
the same time atmospheric, it’s dreamy and blasphemous. Perhaps it should
have been released after “His majesty At The Swamp” like many people, who
have listened to it told me!!! Either way it’s an album that many people
will like a lot!
3.WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE MORE SPECIFIC ON “CROWSREIGN”
TOPICS?
So, “Crowsreign” is the reign of the crow,
the carrier of souls for some religions, of Lucifer for others! It is an
album with a total running time that reaches 65 minutes with some instrumental
tracks like: “Emerging From The Immortals” and “Spirit Of the Tomb”.
“Evil Gets An Upgrade” and “There Is No God” are a reference to Nitche’s
“Superhuman”, through nightmarish memories of a lunatic that realizes that
God doesn’t exist. “Grim Palace” is the story of a condemned palace, where
in its cellars unheard-of human sacrifices take place! “Darkness Falling”
is the expression of fear born when the night falls. “Creation Of Satan”
is the birth of the primordial evil that comes to offer deliverance to
a deranged human!! “The Sign Of Eternal Curse” is a story for the eternal
dragon, an oriental myth. “A Vision Of A Nameless Soul” is the traveling
of an occult soul looking for its salvation. “King Of Asine” is a poem
of George Seferis (written in the summer of 1938)! A true opus! Last but
not least comes “Angel Of Revenge”, this is the song that closes the album
and refers to the Lord of Darkness, the Fallen Angel!
4.IS THERE A SONG YOU PICK OUT FROM THIS RELEASE?
IF YES, WHY?
All the songs of this album are very nice!
However, I especially like “King Of Asine”, a totally epical song. It’s
a song whose lyrics travel you to another era. It’s an amazing poem and
its musical “clothing” has absolutely astonished me!!!
5.HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO COMPOSE AND RECORD
THIS ALBUM?
The album was recorded from the mid of September
till the mid of October in Praxis Studios. There was a lot of work to do
and everything went great! Well to that purpose Magus and our sound engineer.
Lambors, worked really hard and helped as very much! We thank them!!!
6.WHICH BANDS HAVE INFLUENCED YOU AND WITH WHICH
BANDS COULD YOU SAY THAT VARATHRON’S SOUND RESEMBLES?
The bands that have influenced us are: HELLHAMMER,
BATHORY, VENOM and the first album of SARCOFAGO. Varathron’s sound has
common elements with HELLHAMMER’s or BATHORY’s music. I can’t say this
think of course, but our friends who listen to our music tell us such things!!!
They have the first say!
7.WHAT’S THIS THAT INSPIRES YOU TO COMPOSE MUSIC
AND WRITE LYRICS?
The thing that inspires us is our love for
metal music, is this love that runs in our veins like a second blood! Now,
when it comes to the lyrics they are a cataract of memories, nightmares,
phobias and references to whatever blasphemous and occult there is in our
world!
8.OBSERVING THE GREEK MUSICAL SCENE FROM A PROFESSIONAL
POINT OF VIEW, WHICH DO YOU THINK ARE THE GREATEST PROBLEMS THE BANDS ARE
CONFRONTED WITH?
The musical scene of Greece moves on good
levels. I don’t use the word excellent, because the existing problems are
more or less: 1) Studios without experienced sound engineers in this specific
kind of music, 2) Labels with no serious “identity” and appetite for real
work and 3) The way the Greek bands are treated both by the people abroad
and mainly by their co-patriots through magazines, discussions, etc. The
Greek bands create extraordinarily beautiful works, many interesting albums,
not boring at all and with amazing riffs!!! If there wasn’t this situation
where bands dig the grave of one another (that remains the same all these
years) things would have been even better! And to finish, I’ll tell you
that if most of the Greek bands came from Sweden, their career would be
very big! That’s for sure!!!!
9.WHICH ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER THE RELEASE OF YOUR
ALBUM? WILL YOU PERFORM LIVE?
After the release of the album, we will prepare
ourselves for some live shows. Yes, Varathron will be back on stage after
10 years of absence!!! ARGHHH!!
10.IF I ASKED YOU TO TELL ME WHAT’S YOUR TOP 10
ALBUM CHART OF ALL TIMES, INCLUDING ALL THE MUSICAL STYLES YOU LIKE, WHAT
WOULD YOU TELL ME?
This is a very difficult question, since there
are way too many albums I love from the 60s up to now! So, let me just
mention 10 albums that come to my mind with no particular order. Ok?
1. BLACK SABBATH – BLACK SABBATH
2. BLACK WIDOW – I
3. MORBID ANGEL – ALTARS OF MADNESS
4. VENOM – BLACK METAL
5. HELLHAMMER – APOGALYPTIG RAIDS
6. EXODUS – BONDED BY BLOOD
7. BATHORY – UNDER THE SIGN OF THE BLACK MARK
8. BLASPHEMY – FALLEN ANGEL OF DOOM
9. JUDAS PRIEST – SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE
10. LED ZEPPELIN – II
11.IS THERE A MESSAGE YOU’D LIKE TO GET ACROSS
THE GREEK VARATHRON FANS?
Thank you for this interview! I would also
like to thank all our friends that support us all these years!!! 16 blasphemous
years!!! I dedicate our new album to all of you! You worth it after all!
DARKNESS PREVAILS!!!
Stefanos
Costas “C.O.B.” Meidanis
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