Rotting
Christ
Rotting Christ are one
of the most renowned black metal bands worldwide and they are one of the
first who have shaped and molded the more melodic branch of black metal.
Recently they've released their 10th studio album, titled "Theogonia",
and I'll make a bold prediction saying that it's surely one of the best
albums for 2007 and generally amongst the top releases for the band. So,
grabbing this opportunity we had a very interesting and friendly chat with
the band's leader and mainman, Sakis. Here's what we talked about...
1. FIRST OF ALL
CONGRATULATIONS ON “THEOGONIA”! IT’S AN AMAZING WORK! HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT
IT? I KNOW IT’S STILL VERY EARLY BUT IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO CHANGE
OR IMPROVE?
Thank you very much! I’m very pleased with
how it turned out to be and though it’s very early like you said, there
isn’t something I’d like to change. You know if you fall in this trap,
then you’ll never be satisfied with your work. There are always things
you eventually find that you’d like to change or improve, but that’s not
the point.
2. WHICH ARE, ACCORDING TO YOU, THE MOST IMPORTANT
MOMENTS IN ROTTING CHRIST’S CAREER?
Hmm… the most important moments… I guess I’d
say all the tours and live shows we did so far since the day we formed
the band. What else? I think I should also mention our releases. All our
works have been important moments for us, but our tours, either as headliners
or as a support band, have been really significant experiences.
3. “THEOGONIA” IS READY AFTER 3.5 YEARS FROM YOUR
PREVIOUS WORK. IT TOOK YOU MORE THAN USUALLY, HOW COME?
Yes, it’s been over 3 years since our previous
release, but this doesn’t mean that we were preparing “Theogonia” for so
long. We’ve been touring most of the time, almost constantly for 2 years
and you know I can’t sit and write songs whilst on the road. I can’t do
this. I know some other musicians can compose songs when they tour, but
this is not how I work. I need to be isolated, totally calm and alone with
my feelings and thoughts, so I can write music straight from my heart.
So, “Theogonia” took us almost 1.5 year to complete it from the songwriting
process till the recording sessions.
4. IF I ASKED YOU TO MAKE A FLASHBACK TO THE BAND’S
PAST, WHICH DO YOU THINK ARE THOSE ELEMENTS THAT SET “THEOGONIA” APART
FROM YOUR PREVIOUS RELEASES?
Well first of all I think that “Theogonia”
too has the familiar Rotting Christ sound. We’ve kept our trademark, which
is, of course, our characteristic melodies, but this time around we’ve
taken things a bit further. There are similarities with our early releases,
but things are more developed and the guitars are more worked. The guitars
have an important role here, they don’t just fill in the gaps, but they
actually have the front role with their solos and riffs.
5. IF YOU WERE ASKED TO WRITE A SHORT REVIEW FOR
THE ALBUM OR AT LEAST A COUPLE OF WORDS, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY, TRYING TO
BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE?
That’s difficult and actually I don’t think
I can do it… I can’t judge or review my albums simply because I feel what
a mother, that gives birth to a child after carrying it in her womb for
9 months, feels…
-WELL IT TOOK YOU MORE THAN 9 MONTHS TO COMPLETE
IT ACTUALLY :)
Well yeah! (Laughter) Like a pregnant elephant
then… Anyway the point is that it’s impossible for me to say anything about
my works. This is something other people should do.
6. THE MUSICAL REFERENCES TO ROTTING CHRIST’S
PAST ARE OBVIOUS, HOWEVER THEY ARE GIVEN THROUGH A NEW PERSPECTIVE.
DO YOU THINK THAT THIS ALBUM TAKES YOU A STEP FURTHER? I MEAN HAVE YOU
GOT A CERTAIN VISION IN YOUR MIND?
Yes! Of course there is a certain vision in
my mind. I couldn’t go on if there wasn’t a vision to guide me and as soon
as I realize that I no longer have a vision I will end this band.
-FEW ARE THOSE WHO ARE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND WHEN
IT’S TIME FOR THEM TO LEAVE AND KEEP RELEASING ALBUMS MAKING FUN OF THEMSELVES
AND THEIR HISTORY.
You are right! I don’t know whether I’ll be
able to realize this early enough, but I just hope it won’t take me too
long, cause then you find out about it from others around you, provided
you keep your ears and eyes open of course.
7. MORE SPECIFICALLY I LIKED THE ADDITION OF TRADITIONAL
GREEK MUSIC FROM THRAKI. I LIKE TRADITIONAL MUSIC A LOT, BUT I THINK THIS
MUSIC IN PARTICULAR HAS DARKNESS AND THRENODY IN IT. IT’S LIKE A LAMENT
AND IT SUITS LIKE A GLOVE TO YOUR SOUND. HOW DID YOU DECIDE TO EXPERIMENT
WITH IT?
Yes you are absolutely right! This is what
I like in this music too and this is why I used it. How come you know about
it so much?
-WELL I LIKE GREEK TRADITIONAL MUSIC A LOT, BESIDES
PONTIAKA…
I like traditional music a lot too and I felt
that this specific sound suited our music, so this is why I’ve added it.
However, I like pontiaka too. I think it’s good music.
-WELL I DON’T! I ALWAYS SAY THAT PONTIAKA IS THE
NORSE BLACK METAL OF GREEK TRADITIONAL MUSIC. :)
(Laughter) Well yes you could say so… They
have many repetitive themes…
8. WHO ARE THOSE PLAYING THE TRADITIONAL MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS ON THE ALBUM? SOME OF THE MELODIES YOU USED BROUGHT TO MY MIND
A BIT FIENDISH NYMPH. DID THEY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT?
I know Fiendish Nymph and I like them a lot!
They are a very good band. However they had nothing to do with the compositions.
The instruments were mainly played by some friends of mine, who aren’t
in the metal scene, so people don’t know them. I played some traditional
stringed instruments as well.
9. “THEOGONIA” AMONG OTHER THINGS ALSO HAS A REFERENCE
TO THE DARK ASPECT OF THE ANCIENT GREEK MYTHOLOGY, SOMETHING THAT YOU’VE
“TOUCHED” A BIT WITH “KHRONOS”. RIGHT? WHAT’S THIS THAT YOU FIND SO APPEALING
IN HESIODUS’ THEOGONY?
Yes! We’ve only “touched” this issue with
“Khronos” by making a quick reference. This time we’ve looked at things
more deeply and we showed that there is actually a dark side in our mythology
too… You know the way Hesiodus narrates the birth of the gods and the beginning
of things is really intriguing and inspiring I think!
-YEAH! MOST PEOPLE TEND TO THINK THAT ONLY THE
NORSE MYTHOLOGY IS DARK AND OURS IS ONLY HAPPY AND BRIGHT.
Yes, so this was one reason why we dealt with
this topic.
10. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY A COUPLE OF THINGS FOR
THE MAIN THEME OF THE ALBUM FOR THOSE THAT AREN’T AWARE OF THE ANCIENT
GREEK MYTHOLOGY?
There is no main theme actually. I mean the
album is not about the ancient Greek mythology. We just take this theogony
and through it and with its help, we try to say a few things. We use the
ancient Greek mythology and Hesiodus’ “Theogony” in an allegoric and metaphoric
way in order to state what we think and express ourselves.
11. YOU’VE USED A CHOIR SINGING IN ANCIENT GREEK.
RIGHT? WHO WROTE THE LYRICS THEY SING? ARE THEY HESIODUS’ WORDS?
Yes, we have used a choir and they sing in
ancient Greek. That’s true! Well the lyrics mainly come from Hesiodus,
but not only.
12. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING AND THIS
TIME YOU ALSO DID THE PRODUCTION OF THE ALBUM, WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE REALLY
STRONG AND POWERFUL.
Yes it did, didn’t it? Thanks a lot!
-HAVING ALL THESE YEARS OF EXPERIENCE WHAT’S THE
PROBLEM WITH MOST GREEK METAL PRODUCTIONS? IS IT A MATTER OF A LOW BUDGET,
STUDIO EQUIPMENT OR LACK OF EXPERIENCE?
Well the equipment is the same in all the
studios all around the world, so this is surely not the case. If you know
how to use the equipment you have then it’s sure you can have a decent
production even with a low budget, so I think it’s mainly the lack of experience
and interest. I mean I have worked with many famous producers in almost
all the good studios in Europe, so I’ve learnt a lot of things. Things
are not the same like in the beginning of the ‘90s when bands like Necromantia,
Varathron, etc formed, but at least I see movement in the contemporary
Greek metal scene and this makes me happy. I see bands striving for the
best and I like that! So, this is why we, who are many years in the scene,
try to help the newcoming Greek bands as much as possible. This is actually
the reason why we select, when we can, Greek bands to support us in our
tours.
-THAT’S BECAUSE YOU’VE SEEN THINGS FROM THEIR
BAD SIDE. YOU HAD TO BECOME FAMOUS ABROAD FIRST FOR THE GREEK AUDIENCE
TO ACCEPT YOU…
Well this is a big issue… but you mustn’t
hold bad feelings about it. It’s a matter of circumstances that lead things
to this point. You simply keep going and you say “Hey guys we’re here!
We love this kind of music, we love this way of living, we love this scene"
and we’d like this to be continued by the next generations as well, because
it’s good to have an alternative option on how we face life through music.
It’s true that the metal scene offers a whole new perspective, another
way of living in this caustic society.
13. THE COVER ARTWORK IS REALLY IMPOSING AND VERY
DARK! WHO CREATED IT?
-WHICH CREATURE OR DIVINITY IS IT?
It’s a figure of an ancient divinity that
has something to do with theogony.
-WHICH COUNTRY IS IT FROM? CAUSE IT DEFINITELY
DOESN’T LOOK LIKE ANCIENT GREEK.
Yes! It’s not an ancient Greek divinity. I
didn’t want to put an ancient Greek god, it would seem too “touristic”.
(Laughter) I didn’t want to put Zeus on the cover. It would be too cliché!
14. YOU’VE GOT A NEW MEMBER IN THE BAND, GEORGE,
WHO IS QUITE KNOWN IN THE UNDERGROUND SCENE. HOW DID YOU DECIDE HE WOULD
BE YOUR NEW GUITARIST?
To find a guitarist who can follow Rotting
Christ and I don’t mean that what we play is really difficult, but that
our schedule is very demanding, is extremely difficult and it tired me
all these years. So we found George through Nightfall, we asked him to
join us, he followed us on our shows abroad and we saw that he fits in
the band, so he is an official member and I hope he will remain in the
band with his hard work.
-WHICH ARE THE REASONS THAT MADE GEORGE “NOID”
LEAVE THE BAND?
Personal reasons and nothing else, cause as
you grow older you realize how difficult and insecure things are in what
we do. We all know that a band hasn’t got a stable and certain income every
month that will help you pay all the bills when you have to. Few are those
who risk and follow this path in life. Growing older and being in a band
that needs you to be there all the time and do many live shows, requires
much of your time and it’s really difficult. You can’t have a regular job.
The thing that sets us apart from the other bands isn’t that we play better
or we write better music than them, it’s that we risk a lot and we’ve risked
things that many haven’t. I remember myself being on the road since a very
young age, I’ve stopped my studies, I have nothing certain, I’m in the
air, so you must really and deeply love what you do in order to focus your
life in a band.
- WILL YOU USE ANY SESSION MUSICIANS?
16. HAVE YOU BOOKED ANY TOURS?
Tours? All the time! You can’t have Rotting
Christ without the tours! Haha!
-WITH WHICH BANDS WILL YOU TOUR?
In February we kick off with Malevolent Creation,
Incantation and Mystic Circle throughout Europe. Then we will tour Europe
again on our own this time and after that we will go to the U.S. most probably,
if we are lucky enough and get our visas. After that we will play in festivals.
After that we will return to tour in Greece and finally play in Athens
and Thessaloniki. These are places where we haven’t played a lot lately.
-ARE THERE ANY PLACES YOU’RE GONNA VISIT THAT
YOU’VE NEVER BEEN BEFORE?
I don’t know, but I surely hope! We’ve been
to many places, especially with our previous tour. We even played in Siberia
for the first time. I don’t know if there are new places to visit… Hmm!
Oh! We could go to Australia. We haven’t played there yet and we’d love
to!
-YEAH! AND THEY HAVE A GOOD UNDERGROUND LIVE SCENE…
Yes! But it’s too far you know so the cost
is too high for someone to risk it. But we’ve played in various countries
like in Egypt and we’d like to go to even more places. We visited Moldavia
last year, Siberia…
-HOW WERE THE REACTIONS OF THE FANS OVER THERE?
From good to very good I could say. The fans
were really happy seeing us play there, cause there aren’t many bands that
go to play in Siberia. It took us 5 hours from Russia to get there. It
was above Khazakstan, somewhere there. The fans were happy and we like
what we do. This is the band’s strategy and this is why we play in many
countries for free. They usually cover our expenses, but there have been
occasions that we even put our own money in order to be able to visit a
place.
-WELL, THIS IS HOW YOU GET IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE…
Exactly! That’s the meaning of having a band
and writing music. If you are lucky enough to make some money out of it,
it’s good, but this is not the main point. You do it, because you feel
like doing it. If you write music thinking that this is how you’re gonna
get rich or famous, you’ve lost the game before you have even started.
17. IF YOU VIEWED YOUR MUSIC AS FEELINGS, WHICH
FEELINGS WOULD THEY BE?
Feelings… I’d say that sometimes it’s sorrow
and…hmmm… I don’t mean that we play music because we want to make people
feel bad (Laughter). It’s all about exploring things in life. I’d like
those who listen to Rotting Christ to be able to travel with my music,
to help them reach the darkest corners of their soul, things they haven’t
realized before. This is the feeling I like to create to people with my
music and I hope I succeed in doing so!
18. IF YOU HAD TO VISUALIZE YOUR MUSIC, WHAT IMAGES
COME TO YOUR MIND?
Image… That’s difficult! What image can it
be? What comes to your mind?
-HUH! I DON’T KNOW! I’M THE ONE ASKING QUESTIONS,
BUT THIS DOESN’T MEAN I CAN ANSWER THEM!
(Laughter) Image… I can’t think of a picture
right now, but it wouldn’t be a blank page.
-IT WOULD HAVE INTENSITY…
Yes it would! It would also have dark colours…
-LIKE FOR EXAMPLE A DARK LANDSCAPE? A WOOD PERHAPS?
No, not a wood, perhaps a labyrinth, being
in a labyrinth and trying to find your way out…
19. THE CD WILL ALSO CONTAIN SOME EXTRA MATERIAL.
TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT IT…
There will be a DVD with the making of, an
interview with me and some highlights from our last tour and also the video
clip we did for the new album.
20. YOU’VE ALSO SHOT SOME VIDEO CLIPS. DO YOU
WANT TO TELL US A COUPLE OF THINGS FOR THEIR CONCEPT?
We’ve basically shot two video clips, one
for “Keravnos Kivernitos” and the other one is for “Enuma Elish” which
isn’t ready yet since we are waiting to get the license of showing some
scenes from venues we’ve played to, so we can be perfectly legal. There
isn’t an actual concept…
-DO THEY SHOW THE BAND PLAYING?
Yes, that’s it! We didn’t want to do anything
extreme. We just wanted to show people who we are and show them scenes
from our live shows. We want to make people realize that we are ordinary
people and we share the same beliefs with all people around the world with
no discriminations.
21. YOU ARE NOT ANY MORE A PURE BLACK METAL BAND,
SINCE YOU’VE ENRICHED YOUR SOUND WITH OTHER ELEMENTS AS WELL. DO YOU THINK
THAT MOST BLACK METAL BANDS NOWADAYS LEAVE ASIDE LITTLE BY LITTLE THEIR
ORIGINAL PHILOSOPHY AND IDEOLOGY?
Yes! It’s perfectly logical! Black metal has
made its course. Early black metal continues to influence the new bands
naturally, but it tries to survive in 2007. The old school black metal
bands are really good, but to listen to a new band play what Darkthrone
or Mayhem played in the past hasn’t got a point for me. For example I like
what Satyricon do. They still play black metal, since they have kept their
dark side and image, but they unleash blackness through their compositions
although they are more mid tempo. In a few words black metal tries to adjust
in the given parameters of the contemporary music scene. The base, the
foundation remains the same, but it tries to evolve and offer a new option
of how it should sound in 2007.
22. WHICH ARE, ACCORDING TO YOU, THE BEST ELEMENTS
IN YOUR MUSIC AND WHICH FIELD DO YOU THINK NEEDS MORE IMPROVEMENT?
My pronunciation needs improvement most probably…
-WELL BETWEEN US I THINK FROM A POINT ON YOU DO
IT ON PURPOSE. I MEAN THIS IS ONE MORE ROTTING CHRIST TRADEMARK…
No, no! (Laughter) Honestly now! I can’t!!!
I don’t do it on purpose. I can have the right accent and pronunciation
sometimes, but I feel fake and I can’t! As for the best elements I think
they are our melodies, which are characteristic of our sound. You can instantly
realize it when you’re listening to Rotting Christ… And we shouldn’t forget
that we were the first black metal band to have put keyboards in our music
in 1989 and everyone accused us of being fake back then…
-YEAH! THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME…
And after that everyone has keyboards in their
songs.
-AND SOME OTHERS HAVE OVER-USED KEYBOARDS ACTUALLY.
Indeed! We try to base our music on our melodies
and create an intense atmosphere.
23. WHICH DO YOU THINK IS THE IDEAL TITLE THAT
COULD SUM UP THE WHOLE ROTTING CHRIST ESSENCE?
Rotting Christ’s essence? Hmm… Keep the black
cult alive is what we’ve always been saying or keep the black spirit alive!
I can’t think of anything else right now!
24. THANK YOU! GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR NEW WORK!
Thank you too Christine! Thank you for interviewing
us and including us in your zine! We are very happy with the feedback we’ve
received for our new album so far, especially from abroad! I was a bit
afraid they wouldn’t accept or understand the Greek songs, but they liked
the use of the Greek language…
-WELL WHY NOT? THE NORSE PEOPLE OR THE GERMANS
USE THEIR LANGUAGE, SO WHY SHOULDN’T WE AS WELL?
Exactly! This is the Mediterranean answer
to them… how black metal can sound with Greek lyrics. I think other bands
should also do that, add Greek lyrics or traditional Greek melodies, elements
of the Greek culture. We can show something different and set our scene
apart from the rest.
-IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO MENTION
THAT I FORGOT TO ASK YOU ABOUT?
I don’t think! I think you’ve covered everything!
I can’t think of anything else right now!
Christine Parastatidou
Special Help: Vaso Prassa
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