Arkhon
Arkhon is a new rising
force in Cyprus, consisting of young band members. However, none can say
that the young of their age prevents them from composing interesting songs
or that their lack of experience negatively affects them to build and give
life to something promising and fresh. Arkhon is definitely a band that
remains loyal to their influences, takes inspiration from them and moves
a step forward trying to embody everything in their personal vision and
sound... Read below what George told us regarding their past, present and
future plans.
1. HELLO! HOW ARE YOU? FIRST OF ALL I BELIEVE
THAT IT’S NECESSARY TO GIVE US A SHORT BAND BIO AND PRESENT THE CURRENT
LINE-UP.
Greetings from the inferno boiling Cyrpus.
The band was first established under this name in December of 2003, and
consists of George Solomou on vocals and bass, Chris Ioannou on vocals
and guitars, Adonis Yianakas on guitars and Danny Kriio on drums.
2. HAVE YOU PARTICIPATED IN OTHER BANDS BEFORE
YOU FORMED ARKHON? HAVE YOU RELEASED ANYTHING WITH THEM?
Chris along with Danny are in a black metal
band called Bloodharvest, in which G.Solomou used to play bass. They are
currently in the verge of recording a demo CD, which will probably be out
by the end of this year. Adonis along with George were in a melodic thrash
hybrid of some sorts band in the year 2005, that didn't end in the best
of terms.
3. YOUR MUSIC CAN BE DESCRIBED AS BLACK/DEATH
METAL. DO YOU AGREE? WHICH ARE YOUR INFLUENCES? NAME 5 OF YOUR ALL TIME
FAVORITE METAL ALBUMS…
Most efficiently yes, I think our music falls
under the label Death/Black but limiting it only as such fails to provide
the diversity inside the music I believe that exists. For example I find
our last CD "I Am The Skull" to co-exist in different levels of influence
combined together. Whether it is that successful or not, we are not going
to be the judge of that. Mainly is just feelings translated into sound.
Our direct influences may be derived from the core writers in the band,
but nonetheless influences can be found everywhere. Mainly metal related
ones are Kreator, Rotting Christ, Dark Tranquillity ,Death and Hypocrisy.
Five all favourite albums eh? Tough question
but here it goes. For Chris an all time favourite album is Exhumed=Gore
Metal, for Dan, Slayer-Raining Blood, for Adoni, Moonspell-Wolfheart and
for me, Nevermore-Dreaming Neon Black and I can say without doubt that
either one of the first two albums by Rotting Christ for everyone.
4. BLACK METAL MUSIC IS A GENRE THAT IN MANY PEOPLE’S
MINDS HAS BEEN CONNECTED WITH SATANISM. HOW DO THE MEMBERS OF ARKHON UNDERSTAND
BLACK METAL MUSIC?
Anti-conformitism with a radical approach
on the religious basis, through art, actions in some cases. "Satan" just
represents the realisation of the possible "evil" that resides within every
human being, and the alternatives it can offer in comparison with the traditional
"natural" notions. Whether that evil is individually endorsed by the pleasure/pain
utilities or by the egotist law "Do what thou wilt", both interpreted by
different people, institutions and ideals. Black metal as some people have
been terribly interpreted resembles satanism, but in reality, always in
my humble opinion that is, the actions and doings of early black metal
bands, consisting both first wave and second wave, refer to chaos, disorder
and destruction as main themes, using the term satanism as a facade or
just simply the things it reflects, due to its catastrophic and egoistic
nature. We, do not embrace any black metal ideology, just a vast possibility
of influences.
5. SO FAR YOU HAVE RELEASED 2 DEMOS. WHICH ARE
THE SIMILARITIES AND THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN “TAINTED DOGMA” AND “I AM
THE SKULL”? DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW SONGS READY?
Since sometime has passed we can evidently
distinguish between both. Firstly, the main differences are more obvious
production wise and musically wise. The former was done in our home studio,
with none to little experience at all. The songs consisted of some riffs
we even wrote 2 or 3 years before even thinking of creating a band like
Arkhon and mainly our lack of experience is been shown, with that not being
a drawback since we still enjoy listening to it. Although "I Am the Skull"
was done partially in our more advanced home studio a year later, and a
real studio outside the city, I must admit the production came out pretty
fucking weird. Still, it is a reflection of ourselves to the next step
of musical and self evolution signifying change. I can't see any possible
similarities aside that we are the same people, just older and more experienced.
Right now we have 4 almost ready songs, that vary in influences since all
of us have participated in their composition, directly and indirectly ,
in their existence. More progressive like might I add, weird structures
that came out naturally and a heck of more ideas to come.
6. ONE OF YOU WILL DO NOW HIS MILITARY SERVICE.
WILL THIS BE AN OBSTACLE FOR THE BAND? WILL YOU POSTPONE YOUR ACTIVITIES
UNTIL HE RETURNS FROM THE ARMY OR YOU WILL CONTINUE?
Basically it’s three of us who are going to
attend the army. It has already showed that it's a great disadvantage since
we had to refuse some offers for going abroad to play live due to the service.
We will continue composing music during our 25 months of service, and will
only be an obstacle to live shows and nothing more.
7. DO YOU FOLLOW ANY SPECIFIC METHOD WHILE YOU
COMPOSE MUSIC OR IS IT SOMETHING SPONTANEOUS?
Mostly it's something spontaneous for each
one of us. But some of the songs take quite some time to be finished. For
example we have a song that I started writing in September 2004 and actually
managed to finish just a month ago. Chris or me mainly bring an idea or
an almost ready song, and we all work with it, contributing ideas here
and there in order to achieve the desirable result for all of us to enjoy.
I've noticed that I always do Chris' songs structuring while as he does
mine. The more recent songs have proved that we can work collectively and
more efficiently.
8. NOW LET’S TALK A BIT ABOUT THE LYRICS. WHO
IS THE MAIN RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM? WHAT KIND OF THEMES DO YOU LIKE TO WRITE
ABOUT?
That would be me, G.S. I write about everything,
since influence can be found in all walks of life, and in all forms of
existence. Maybe I tend to right more personally but all in all, I write
stories. Stories about war, drama, joy, hope, lust, art, dreams, for individuals,
alive or dead, in my head or real. Also the fact that I read a lot helps
quite a bit.
9. IF I REMEMBER WELL SOME OF YOU USE NICKNAMES
INSTEAD OF YOUR REAL NAMES. WHY DO YOU DO THAT? HOW DID YOU CHOOSE THE
NICKNAMES?
We picked up the nicknames in 2004 from old
habits. As mentioned before some of the members were in a black metal band,
acquired to wear corpse paint and a contribution to this morbid masquerade
could be no other than the theatrical use of nicknames. For three of the
four it came down to their favorite bands. Danny loves Necrophagia, plus
is a deranged schizo, so Bloodfreak seemed appropriate for him. For me
Soulreaper was the right name cause of Dissection and a form of vocals
I rarely do and literally reap my throat and air. With Adonis the nickname
Demon came from one of our visits to Athens, where this interesting T-shirt
inscribed Demon on it, furthermore he's a big Entombed fan. That shirt
has been a trademark for him the past two years. And Chris' nickname Violator
was given from an inside joke, referring to a fictional comic character
and his ability to produce violation with his intense riffing abilities.
10. IMAGINE THAT YOU HAVE THE MONEY TO SHOOT AN
EXPENSIVE VIDEO - CLIP. WHICH SONG WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO VISUALIZE AND HOW
DO YOU IMAGINE IT?
“Vanity” of course. Thirteen minutes of performance
poetry. That song has so many different aspects embedded as a musical piece,
at least for myself, and the variations that exist, in emotional charges
and musical moods. All I can say is read the lyrics while listening to
the song and let your imagination to guide you.
11. HAVE YOU DONE ANY LIVE SHOWS SO FAR? WHAT
DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THE FIRST TIME YOU PERFORMED ON STAGE?
We've had a decent number of shows. Both big
and small, in local festivals and as support acts to foreign bands. From
the first time on stage, I can remember quite lively that when we were
playing our first song ever, "Chronicles of a Wretched Emperor" the crowd
went crazy. At one point when I was watching an amateur video take, you
can see the camera being knocked of by moshers. Asides all sound and experience
problems and the fact that we were shit scared, it was a decent show.
12. WHICH ARE THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS THAT
A METAL MUSICIAN HAS TO CONFRONT IN CYPRUS? DO THE PEOPLE THERE SUPPORT
THE METAL SCENE?
Aye, the everlasting solo ranting about the
problems in this metal scene. First let’s take the technical problems which
involve the non professional sound engineers who end up fucking up whole
shows and diminish people's interest for a band. Just ask the Greek bands
that visited the island, they have some interesting stories to tell. The
lack of places to play. There’s one or no venues in each Cypriot town.
Sometimes the bands are forced to play in absurd conditions. The studios
also are very expensive in comparison with other European studios, thus
limiting the chances for recording something proper. The other main problem
is that most of the bands here resemble one night molded stands, with no
originality, even in the covers they choose to perform. In an interview
I gave in a local magazine here I remember sharing this opinion, which
is a reflection of what really goes around here "Seriously, if I listen
to Enter Sandman one more time, I’m going to shoot myself". It’s a huge
turn off to listen to 10 different badly done versions of the same songs
over and over again in the period of one year lets say by different bands.
This is interchangeable with the support of the people. Some will only
support a band which plays their favorite songs that consist the metal
titans, Metallica, Maiden, Sabbath, Priest. At least in recent years with
the expansion of the internet to everyday life people have become more
aware of the unlimited possibilities that exist and the choices they may
make. But this negative feeling that "it’s local, thus not good" unfortunately
is being preserved by the most close minded. Nevertheless the loyal "music"
fans will always appreciate something good.
13. FINALLY WE‘VE REACHED THE END! GOOD LUCK WITH
THE BAND AND WITH YOUR LIVES! THE ENDING OF THIS INTERVIEW BELONGS TO YOU…
Niko, first of all I would like to thank you
for giving us this opportunity, greatly appreciated. Very interesting questions
I might as well add. Hope we can come to Greece one day. Stay heavy and
support the fucking underground.
www.arkhon.tk
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
|