Korax
Korax is a new band from
Spain that has started a while ago making its first steps. So, they have
recently presented and offered us a self titled demo, that tries -in a
simple and direct way, without many effects or a good production- to give
us a clue of what these guys are up to. If you think you'd like to find
out more, here's the interview to enlighten you...
1. FIRST OF ALL GIVE US A SHORT BAND BIO BY
POINTING OUT YOUR MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS TO DATE AND PRESENT THE CURRENT
LINE UP.
The band was born in the end of the 2004 with
Clintxo, Paschal, Saúl and me. Later Irene entered, our first
singer. In summer of 2005 she left the band for health problems and entered
Adrián. With him we recorded our first demo, and in March of 2006
he left the band due to musical differences. Right now we are looking for
a new singer. Until we find a substitute, Adrián will sing with
us. Till now we have had great moments, but personally I remain with the
experience to play with Gilles de Rais and The Heretic. Both bands are
great people and great musicians. Also we have shared scene with bands
like Hell Train, Abortos De Satan, Cloon D.C., Barbarian... Luckily in
Spain the new bands help one another and there are no fights among us.
2. SOME MONTHS HAVE PASSED SINCE THE RELEASE DATE
OF “KORAX” AND I’D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF IT NOW. ARE YOU STILL
SATISFIED WITH IT OR IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO CHANGE?
The recording of the demo was a little chaotic.
We recorded in our houses testing everythin with the help of a simple computer
and a handful of microphones. It was recorded by Eloy Ruiz, guitarist of
Histrión. With little time estimated and with a few means the recording
was good enough. But I don’t like the production at all and I hope
that in our next recordings this aspect is fixed. From the recording of
the demo up to now we have made some changes like for example we have altered
the bass lines and the guitar sounds, so if we returned to record the songs
again they would sound heavier.
3. ALTHOUGH YOUR COMPOSITIONS ARE GOOD THE DEMO
CD LACKS IN THE PRODUCTION AREA. DID YOU DO EVERYTHING ON YOUR OWN? HAVE
YOU LEARNED FROM THIS EXPERIENCE AND DO YOU THINK THIS WAY YOU WON’T REPEAT
THE SAME MISTAKES AGAIN ON YOUR NEXT RELEASE?
Of course, in our next recordings we will
try to correct this aspect of the recording. We are not of the opinion
that a disc must sound dirty to be "true". If it is possible to be recorded
well, why make it bad? The problem comes when it is not possible to be
recorded well, that is what happened to us in this occasion. Given the
lack of money and experience we preferred to have a first try out with
a cheap recording. Now we already know a lot about this subject and for
the next recording I hope that everything is going to be professional.
4. LET’S SUPPOSE THAT YOU WERE TOLD TO WRITE A
REVIEW ABOUT YOUR DEMO CD “KORAX”. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TRYING TO BE AS OBJECTIVE
AS POSSIBLE?
I am a harsh critic of my own projects. I
cannot give an objective opinion on our work, it’s impossible. I prefer
that the listener judges for himslef without being based on the opinion
of the band. By the way, visit www.sadixmo.com/korax
and the whole demo can be downloaded from our Website.
5. WHAT’S THE BEST AND WHAT’S THE WORST PART OF
YOUR MUSIC, ACCORDING TO YOU?
I love the drums. Clintxo has a special feeling.
He is able to put a rate to any song. Although he is not the best drumer,
he has the ability to give a dimension and a touch of "korax" to the riffs.
What I like less is the bass guitar. I listen to bands like Cryptopsy,
Death or Dream Theater and become demoralized.
6. YOUR MUSIC IS DEATH/THRASH METAL WITH MANY
BLACK METAL TINGES AND A GLOOMY ATMOSPHERE. DO YOU AGREE WITH ME? CAN YOU
NAME SOME OF YOUR MOST BELOVED BANDS AND SOME OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL (TO
YOU) ALBUMS?
I suppose you have described our music in
very few words. Our influences are very varied. For example, Saúl
is crazy for Iron Maiden, but he also listens to Vampiria, Megadeth, Anorexia
Nervosa ... Clintxo is a power metal and rock freak. Listening to bands
like Lordi, Heroes del Silencio, Angra, Helloween, Gamma Ray... although
lately he also listens to Devil Driver and bands of the sort. Paschal
is the extreme one. He listens to Black, Death and Thrash (Behemoth, Kreator,
Hypocrisy...). And I am open to all. I like thrash and death but I also
listen to bands like Metalium, Judas Priest, Rammstein, Pain, Grave (my
favorite band), Korn... and pop of the 80s.
7. HAVE YOU GOT ANY MORE SONGS, BESIDES THESE
3 ONES, READY? IF YES, CAN YOU GIVE US A CLUE HOW THEY SOUND LIKE?
We have "Hypocrisy, the wrong way".
It is more melodic, more glam. Without wanting it it makes you move. Another
one of the new subjects is "Anthology of vanity" that sounds more powerful,
with melody. Personally it is the song that I like the most after "Lord
of death". One of the songs we have completed (even though it’s still untitled)
has a very black metal riff. It’s not finished yet, but sound very black
metal.
8. TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE LYRICAL CONTENT
OF YOUR ALBUM. WHICH ARE YOUR SOURCES OF INSPIRATION?
Our lyrics are written by Irene, Pascual and
Adrian and they are about differnet and various subjects. "Lord of
death" speaks about the gentleman who lives in the shade, the one that
decides who dies and who lives. This is inspired by Bush and the multiple
wars that he controls everywhere. He is the gentleman of death, and until
he isn’t stopped, he will continue being what he is. "Show of feeling"
is a anti-pop song. While the pop bands speak of lack of affection and
dance gladly we have wanted to exactly give an angry music that speaks
on the miseries of love. Music is dark and slow in the beginning, and it
accelerates progressively. It is like when you feel lack of affection,
you crumble later that pain you felt in the beginning ends up and becomes
rage and hatred. "Gates of hell" has also a similar meaning. The doors
of hell are what opresses you (your family, work, country...). It is whatever
you want and think it is...
9. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? WHICH
ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS IN ORDER TO PROMOTE YOUR NEW WORK?
Our future next plan is to play with Avulsed,
Difenacum and Hell Train on the 1 of July in the festival that I organize,
Panollo Rock (www.panollorock.tk).
I am very excited with this concert, it will be brutal!
10. WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK HAVE YOU RECEIVED THIS
FAR? ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE RESPONSE YOU GET? HAVE YOU SENT YOUR DEMO
CD TO ANY LABELS? PLEASE INFORM US ON THAT ISSUE.
Except for one bad review, the rest have been
quite positive. We have sent demos to many webzines but not in order to
sign a dela since we are not prepared to work on that basis. We do not
want to take lightly an important question as this, since there are many
people who take advantage of the new bands. We hope to have the sufficient
quality as to find a record deal that will offer something more to us than
just a miserly edition.
11. IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD
IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
I want to give force, rage, aggressiveness.
I would like to give what songs like "Beneath the remains" or "Arise" of
Sepultura give to me... a need to move, a motive and the necessity to kick
the head of somebody. Not that we are something like that, but it’s something
I aspire... If it was a painting without a doubt it would be "the glad
horse" (El caballo alegre) of Salvador Dalí. It is perfect, shows
a horse in state of decomposition in reddish tones. In the left side the
sky is dark as it advances, becoming a clear sky. It is what we tried to
do, direct and emaciated, dark, but melodic music at the same time.
12. WHAT TITLE WOULD YOU LIKE THIS INTERVIEW TO
HAVE? WHAT TITLE DO YOU THINK IS SUITABLE FOR KORAX’S MUSIC AND ATTITUDE?
One possible title could be "Spain: Paella,
Toros and Korax ". It would be crazy but brilliant! Hahaha Our attitude
on the scene is sober, calm. But that changes when we get down the
scene, we are lively and care drunkards. So it could be "Sober and drunk".
13. BY THE WAY, I SUPPOSE YOU KNOW THAT KORAX
IS AN ANCIENT GREEK WORD MEANING CROW. SO, HOW DID YOU DECIDE TO SELECT
AND USE IT?
The Greeks have been historically the superequipped
ones. Their culture, way of thinking, customs, religion... all has influenced
Europe and has planted seeds of our form of present life. It is a
form to also render tribute to Greece and a form to say that we want to
get to be great and to be able to influence other people with our music.
We dream of one day when bands would coem and say we are one of their influences.
This would be one of the most brilliant things in the world. We have chosen
the word "korax" because it is an animal of dark intentions, always making
the rounds hoping a little while of weakness. It symbolizes the dark, in
addition it is a word that sounds strong and powerful.
14. HOW’S THE METAL SCENE IN YOUR COUNTRY? ARE
THERE ANY BANDS YOU THINK THAT DESERVE OUR ATTENTION?
The metal scene in my country is rich in bands
and motherfuckers. There are many bands, and some of them have much quality,
but there are motherfuckers in radios, webzines, televisions... that don’t
give the chance to these bands to show what they are capable of.
And things are even worse in the extreme metal, here the support is almost
null. Bands like Gilles de Rais, Runic, The Heretic, Cloon D.C.,
Abortos de Satan, Hellend, Hell-Train, The heretic... deserve your attention.
There are so many bands and so little support!
15. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF THERE WAS NO MUSIC IN
THE WORLD? HOW AND WHERE WOULD YOU CHANNEL ALL YOUR CREATIVE AND AGGRESSIVE
ENERGY?
The music will never disappear, it’s impossible.
There is music within the nature and even if the human species disappears
music will continue to exist. I cannot conceive a world without music.
It would be a shit. There is nothing in the world that motivates
me so much as music. If someday I became deaf, I would end up on a mountain
hunting wild boars. I cannot have a social life without music.
16. THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE
TO MENTION AND I FORGOT TO ASK YOU?
Thanks to you too! I hope that you continue
supporting new bands and always being so gentle. I motivate your readers
to check out our demo and to get in touch with us telling us their opinion.
Christine Parastatidou
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