Veil
Veil is a very interesting
band that has managed, despite the fact that they are very new to the metal
scene, to create a mysterious aura around their music, a great atmosphere
that will magnetize you. So, read what Chris, the band's guitarist told
us about Veil and their future plans.
1. HELLO! THIS ONE MIGHT BE A TYPICAL QUESTION
BUT I THINK THAT IT’S NECESSARY TO ASK IT. PLEASE GIVE US SOME INFO ON
THE BAND AND PRESENT THE CURRENT LINE-UP…
Hail. Veil was formed in Karditsa by five
friends, being also schoolmates, in December 2003, having as initial form:
Stathis – vocals, Anastasses – guitar, Chris – guitar, George – drums,
Aristoteles – bass. The five songs of the first work of Veil, “Forest Oblivion”,
accompanied with an intro and an outro, have been created from January
2004 to July 2005, when this demo was recorded within three days in Nemesis
Studio with Tassos Karapapazoglou as producer. It worth to be mentioned
that the band has in its assets a live concert at its “home” Karditsa and
also that in the meantime there has been a withdrawal of the initial
singer Stathis, who was replaced by Aristoteles, the bassist of the band
up to that time. The band has nowadays the following form: Aristoteles
– vocals, Anastasses – guitar, Chris – guitar, George – drums.
2. YOU STARTED AS A 5 MEMBER BAND, BUT AFTER A
WHILE YOUR FIRST SINGER STATHIS LEFT THE BAND. WHICH WERE THE REASONS THAT
LED YOU TO THAT DECISION? HOW ARE YOUR RELATIONS WITH YOUR PREVIOUS SINGER?
DID YOUR PREVIOUS SINGER CONTRIBUTE IN ANY WAY IN YOUR COMPOSITIONS?
Indeed our band has today 4 members. It was
a mutual decision which was made before the live concert. Both Stathis
and the rest of us agreed to this change in the form of the band. Our relationship
with Stathis is really a very good one as we should not forget that the
band has been formed by friends. As far as it concerns the contribution
of Stathis in our compositions, it is worth to mention that the original
lyrics of the song “Condemned” were written by him.
3. YOUR MUSIC IS DOOMY/MID-TEMPO AND YOU ALSO
HAVE HARSH VOCALS. HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND? WHICH BANDS HAVE INFLUENCED
YOUR STYLE?
Our music is mainly doomy/mid tempo and this
can be noticed in the song “Forest Oblivion” but we have also other songs
like “Fatal Serenades”, which is a soft music piece- you could call it
a ballad- and “Betrayal of Flesh” which is a quick-aggressive music piece.
Our sound is clear but not totally and thus we can adjust it in accordance
to the style of the song. As far as it concerns the bands that have influenced
our style, there’s a wide range of names. So, in this way, each of us gives
different aspects in the compositions of our songs.
4. I LIKE YOUR BAND NAME ?. WE ALMOST HAVE THE
SAME NAME OUR WEBZINE AND YOUR BAND. SO, I AM INTERESTED IN LEARNING HOW
YOU CHOSE IT AND WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU.
Thank you. Our name is close to this of your
webzine! The name was found completely by chance! While we were discussing
about naming the band, someone had the idea- I can’t recall who exactly-
to include the word “VeiL” in our band’s name. After discussions we decided
to name the band VeiL because this name is short, it sounds good and above
all it’s easy to remember. The word VeiL for me has a great importance.
As you have written in your review Niko, the world Veil creates a mystery
by itself. It brings to mind a Veil that all of us would like to pull as
to see what lies beneath. I believe that each human being wants always
to learn what’s hidden under what he sees.
5. AS I SAID THE “VEIL” IS A WORD OF MYSTERY AND
I BELIEVE THAT YOUR SOUND HAS THIS KIND OF ATMOSPHERE. DO YOU AGREE?
Yes, we agree that our songs and our sound
in general create an atmosphere of mystery. The synths, the keyboards and
some sound effects we’ve used contribute a lot in this atmosphere. Of course,
these are not the main body of our compositions. They’re just giving a
different touch on our music. Moreover, the riffs, not all of them, play
an important role in this atmosphere of mystery.
6. ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE BAND LIVE IN DIFFERENT
TOWNS. HOW DIFFICULT IS IT FOR YOU TO MEET IN ORDER TO COMPOSE NEW MATERIAL?
HOW DO YOU SOLVE THIS PROBLEM?
Well, all of us live in different towns as
we study in different universities. It is really difficult for us to meet
in order to rehearse our songs and compose new material. In order to solve
this difficulty, we meet each time our schedule allows us and also when
we have to fulfill some demands like concerts. The desire and the will
to work and cooperate are necessary in order to achieve our goals.
7. I LIKED A LOT THE COVERS THAT YOU USED ON YOUR
DEMO. CAN YOU GIVE US SOME INFO ABOUT IT AND HOW DO YOU THINK THAT THEY
ARE CONNECTED WITH YOUR MUSIC?
Indeed the covers that we used on our demo
are really impressive and admirable. The painting of the front cover is
exposed to Achilleon in Corfu and we took a picture of it during one excursion.
The back cover and inside cover are details from the painting “L’enfer”
by Hieronymus Bosch. We believe that this work of art is quite suitable
for our demo and its style. Finally, we had to make some necessary changes
to the covers, as far as it concerns their colors, and the contribution
of Phasma to this has been indispensable.
8. HAVE YOU SENT YOUR DEMO TO LABELS? DID YOU
HAVE ANY PROPOSALS SO FAR? WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU WANT FROM A LABEL TO OFFER
YOU IN ORDER TO CUT A DEAL?
We have already sent our demo to labels and
we’re waiting their answers, although we have communicated with some of
them. What we want from a label is a contract which will provide us a good
budget for a recording and will promote our demo. We did a good start and
I believe that it’s too early to ask too much.
9. ALTHOUGH YOU ARE A NEW BAND, YOU HAVE ALREADY
DONE A LIVE SHOW. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THAT EXPERIENCE? DO YOU HAVE
ANY PLANS TO DO ANY LIVE SHOWS IN THE FUTURE?
Indeed we gave our first concert before we
released our demo. It was an unforgettable experience. We had a stage fright.
It’s not easy to play live for the first time in front of 200 people. There
are some plans for concert in different towns of Greece which are under
discussion. We’re open to any invitation.
10. WHERE DID YOU RECORD THE DEMO AND WHAT KIND
OF EXPERIENCES DID YOU EARN WHILE YOU WERE
RECORDING IT?
The demo was recorded within three days in
Nemesis Studio in Kavala with Tassos Karapapazoglou as the producer. We
learnt a lot during this time of the recording. It needs a lot of work
and patience to achieve this goal. It was another unforgettable experience.
11. IF THE HEAVY METAL MUSIC WAS A WORLD WHAT
KIND OF WORLD WOULD IT BE?
If Heavy Metal was a world, then this world
would be a circle of emotions, from joy to sadness, from sadness to loneliness,
from loneliness to companionship etc.
12. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE INTERVIEW! THE
LAST WORDS BELONG TO YOU…
Thank you a lot, Niko, for the interview and
also we would truly like to thank all these people, who support us and
give us courage to continue!
Chris / VeiL
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
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