Interview
with Sakis
of Terrordrome 2012
By
Bradley Smith
Your New album, Day of
Sacrilege has recently hit the underground and left a
smoking crater. Can you tell me about
how you see it as a progression from your debut? How did you
approach your time in the studio
differently and what lessons did you learn that you applied to the new
album?
In
all Terrordrome
releases you can see a natural progression over the years. It has to do
with
our clear vision to play fast, technical and brutal death metal.
Reaching to
our debut album 7 years after the band’s formation, “Vehement
Convulsion” is
stripped off any emotion or logic because we were blind with fury and
anger
mostly for the numerous member changes. I mean, the vision was clear
and
present but every time a member was leaving we were back to 1. It was
so
depressing and stressful and that reflects our first release. In “The
Day Of
Sacrilege” things were way different and much better. With the line-up
solidified since 2006 we were able to work more effectively and thus
our
musical composition became more mature and closer to our vision. Of
course, we
still love “Vehement Convulsion”, it reflects a certain period of the
band but
“The Day Of Sacrilege” is a huge step forward. This album was written
with 4
people united in one mind. “Vehement Convulsion” is almost composed by
me
(Sakis) and channels my hatred to the above mentioned situations.
Before
entering
the studio for “The Day Of Sacrilege” we recorded 2 songs of it so as
to see
what the approach this time will be and what preparation we have to do
and work
on. The result was the split CD with Lebanese Oath To Vanquish,
“Begetters Of
Fear and Ruin”. We recently released our part of the split as a limited
It is instantly noticeable that Day of
Sacrilege is a more
diverse album than the debut. What are
some of the different styles you learned and how did you approach
incorporating
them into the songwriting on the new album?
For instance, I know you learned some flamenco style of playing and it
shows up in the music.
We
are always
incorporating different genres and musical styles in our music like
jazz,
blues, classical, traditional and others. What Terrordrome does
different is
that we try and absorb all these styles into death metal. Never expect
to hear
a jazzy part as in jazz. Everything has to take a death metal
transformation
and sound. I am glad you brought the flamenco thing up because it is
something
we really enjoyed doing. It occurred to us as all the other different
styles we
add but this is a very demanding one: technically and because it was a
challenge to mix it and transform it into death metal. I mean, jazz,
blues,
classical and other styles are easier to be added and there are some
good bands
out there incorporating such styles into their music. Take Atheist for
example
or Diskord, or Necrophagist. They all have some clear references to
different
musical styles and the final result is outstanding. But what about
flamenco? I
would like to point out that flamenco started as an accompaniment
thing, as a
pure rhythm kind of style and not as a soloing one. Paco De Lucia took
it to
this level and now everyone regards flamenco as a soloing music. The
roots of
flamenco is what we exploited and death metal being mostly a rhythmic
kind of
music both things stuck together great. At least we think so!haha!
Prior to releasing the new album you
made a quick strike
with the Seeds of Fear
As
I mentioned in
question #1 these two tracks (“Alas, in the wound…” and “…for mayhem to
begin”)
were the “guinea pigs” for the new album approach and mostly for the
flamenco
addition. They are the first 2 new tracks after the “Vehement
Convulsion” album
on which we worked rather hard for quite some time. So, there was this
need to
promote them as much as possible. Firstly, Grindethic released them as
a split
cd with Oath To Vanquish in 2010, but only in 100 copies which were
sold out
immediately. That is why they have been released in 2 compilations and
we also
re-released them as a limited
Hehe
yes I am
indeed a vinyl collector and it was awesome to see some Terrordrome
material on
black wax! Hmmm, it is very difficult to say which
On the album’s closer, Antediluvian
Malediction you have a
guest riff from Sverre of Audiopain. Why
did you choose Sverre and how did you convince him to contribute to
this track?
Was it difficult weaving his riff into your song’s structure since his
style is
somewhat different than Terrodrome’s brutal death?
I
have been in
contact with Sverre since 2004 and I regard Audiopain as one of the
best bands
around. A personal favorite too! His guitar playing style is awesome
and it is
characterized by precision, aggressiveness and stability. In this final
track of
the album, which is quite experimental, I wanted all these
characteristics plus
some cutting edge thrash-black composition in that part of the song. I
have
tried before to write such stuff but I failed so I was one mail away
from the
most appropriate guitar player and composer. I sent Sverre a very rough
recording of the track until that part and he immediately agreed on
doing it!!
Man, I was (and still am) so excited about it! A real honour for
Terrordrome!
After a few weeks he sent the riff and we were blown away! It was
exactly what
I had in mind and that is why we didn’t have any difficulty in weaving
it in
the song. It had also great flow with the next riff which Sverre didn’t
know
but it didn’t matter because he presented the most suitable riff. So,
the
song’s structure is that it starts with a melancholic melody
accompanied with
swing drum pattern. Then, this melody is presented in a death/black way
and
after that a typical heavy sounding riff kicks in. A small thrashy
bridge and
it is time for Sverre to rock n roll! Then the song takes many bpm’s up
and
evolves in a typical Terrordrome maelstrom and the album concludes with
a heavy
Pantera-inspired riff. A song that breaks from our usual style but we
are 100%
satisfied with it.
As a band I know Terrordrome has done
both tours and
festivals and I am sure each one of those environments has their pros
and
cons. So I was wondering which would you
rather play, a festival or a concert tour?
What do you like about each one and what do you dislike about them?
Hmm,
it’s very
difficult to choose between tours and festivals. As you correctly
mention, both
have their pros and cons. Touring can become exhausting with all the
distances
that you have to cover every day but you get the chance to visit many
and different
places and have a glimpse of many different cultures too. Festivals are
more
like partying and seeing loads of bands and much more people but
sometimes in
can be boring to wait until you hit the stage. Also, you are not
getting so
much attention like in a normal gig where people come to the show for
your band
even if it is 1 person or 500. In festivals the playing time is more
limited as
well and chances for people to miss your show are bigger. So, if I have
to
choose I would say touring because right now I am feeling more
adventurous!
haha!
I noticed a comment of yours on
facebook recently that
implied people were illegally downloading your new album. Do
you feel that people are stealing of your
music online and how does that make you feel?
Do you think this is a widespread problem in the metal underground?
No,
not all, I do
not feel that people are stealing our music. In the past we used to dub
tapes
so it is the same as today’s downloading from the internet, which is
more
convenient and less space demanding. The problem starts when you do not
actually support the bands and the labels by buying and you stay
digital only.
I mean, when I dubbed a tape and I liked the band I went for the
original as
well. I do the same nowadays and I spend the most part of my salary on
buying
LPs/CDs etc. Of course I am not saying that you should do the same,
anyone has
his priorities but if you feel a metalhead you should buy some at
least. I want
also to point out that the metal bands and the metal labels are giving
extra
care for limited and generally rich and very carefully presented
editions much
more than in any other genre and they are worth every penny. So yes, it
is a
problem in the metal underground where label owners and bands are there
for the
music and not for the numbers but it is also a problem for the bigger
labels
too. Why do you think most labels are doing re-releases and ultra
limited vinyl
editions? It seems now that vinyl is back in business, it is giving
quick money
and a breath of fresh air. I am glad that vinyl is back though. So, why
people
are satisfied with a file in their computer and i-pod I cannot
understand it.
I
know you have dabbled recently in metal journalism by
doing some reviews, how does it feel to be on the other side of the
fence? Does
it give you a different perspective in regards to analyzing your music,
and
music in general? What
about when it
comes to answering interview questions?
What would you like to do in regards to metal journalism?
It
is indeed a
different experience and an intriguing one being on the other side of
the
fence. You have to develop a more critical approach and give a better
and more
detailed insight and attention to the release you are about to review.
This is
challenging because you have to listen to a release much more
carefully, grab
the lyrics, inspect the artwork, try to find the links between all
these things
and in the end write a personal opinion which must also be helpful for
the
readers too. In most cases you also have to be in position to compare
with
earlier works of the band or with other releases in general, something
that
needs a variety and a bigger spectrum of musical education. An autopsy
performed for music.
I
really like
doing interviews because they give you the chance to clear some things
up both
for yourself and your music but mostly for the readers. I also consider
doing
interviews as a personal catharsis and they somehow relax me from the
day’s
stress and problems. Plus, you probably earn some new listeners or
haters as
well!
I
would love to
have a personal site or a column in a zine and do both interviews and
reviews
and maybe live reports as well, but my time is limited so I consider
ideal to
have a smaller part without any deadlines and from time to time to
present an
article.
Over the past two years there have
been a lot of protests
in Greece. What do you think of these
protests? Have they affected you at
all? Do you pay attention to politics at
all?
This
is a long
talk but I will try to be as informative and quick as possible. Of
course I am
paying attention to politics because whether you like it or not they
affect my
way of living. We still have a lot of protests going on and it is
justified
because they want to bring the common Greek people down. There is also
a lot of
propaganda against the Greek people as I’ve seen from my visits abroad.
We have
corrupt politicians who entered Greece in the IMF, developing a huge
debt,
enslaving Greece to the banks. The problem of course isn’t new, Greece
came out
through many wars and difficulties but all these people have taken
advantage of
a nation which wanted to develop and believed it had powers in its
hand. The
Greek people are manipulated from the end of the WWII till today. They
gave us
a period of a plasmatic development, they ordered the banks to give
money and
now they are here to collect everything back with huge interest. We
lived a
virtual blooming of the country but Europe was behind this with the
Greek
government too. Now, German people think that they work for Greek
people to lay
in the beach and drink coffee but it is all way around. We work for
them
(according to some European studies we work the most hours per week),
we have
mostly imported goods and most of Greek companies are closed down.
Greek
farmers stopped producing because we are obliged to import from the EU
(even
products for which we were self-sustained). Anyway, the bottom line is
that
Greece holds a very important geopolitical place connecting Europe with
Africa
and Asia, it has a very rich soil in precious metals, natural gas,
maybe oil, a
huge number of islands, great environmental conditions for agriculture
etc, and
our traitors-politicians are selling Greece. Unfortunately the voices
of the
opposition have their own things to gain and in the end they follow the
flow.
Being from Greece I was wondering your
opinion on the
Olympics. I mean we just concluded the
Olympics this summer and your country is the one responsible for
starting this
world unifying ceremony of competition.
Do you feel any national pride there?
Did you watch any of the games and what is your favorite Olympic sport?
Ancient
Greece
gave many things to this modern world (the Olympic games,
mathematicians,
philosophers, political way of thinking, law and many more) but I do
not feel
any national pride because nowadays Greece has nothing to do with the
Ancient
one. I agree that we learn from the past and it is where our roots
belong but
what about the present times? It has to do with all the difficulties
Greece had
passed, the wars, the Turkish slavery for 400 years and now the
manipulation as
described in the previous question but I am blaming the common people
too,
including myself for being hypnotized and brainwashed.
Of
course I have
been watching the Olympic Games ever since I can remember myself! My
favorite
sport is the decathlon. I think these athletes are the most complete
ones and I
really enjoy their competition. Other sports that I like are
weightlifting, 100
meters, everything with swimming especially synchronized swimming (you
can see
incredible things there!!) and table tennis.
So what does the near future hold for
Terrordrome? Do you have any upcoming plans for new music
or any significant shows/tours coming soon?
We
have a show in
Sweden at Gothenburg Deathfest and we are so excited to play there.
Death metal
owns a lot to this city which spawned so many great death metal bands!
We had
offers for 2 tours but one was cancelled and the other was difficult to
follow
due to many personal responsibilities with our daily jobs. Some other
festivals
may happen in 2013 though but nothing is certain yet. We definitely
want to
promote and support “The Day Of Sacrilege” as much as possible so any
promoter
out there wanting Terrordrome to perform some tech brutal death metal
tunes get
in touch!
We
have plans for
a third album that is for sure, but every time after a new Terrordrome
release
we feel exhausted and empty of any new ideas. In the end, inspiration
comes
back but at the time being no new tunes have been composed. We do not
pressure
ourselves of course and let things come naturally.
You did a visit to Oslo, Norway. Why
did you go there and
what did you see while you were there?
If any other metallers wanted to make the pilgrimage to Oslo, what are
some things they should be aware of?
Indeed,
we visited
Oslo back in 2009 because we were playing Inferno Metal Festival! A
lifetime’s
experience and we hope to play there again. We shared the stage with
mighty
Blood Red Throne and it was a hell of a show. We were also surprised
but
pleased as well to see that crazy Norwegians were thirsty for brutal
death
metal. Of course, Norway is known for the great Norwegian Black Metal
movement
but the people there welcomed us with great warmth! It was amazing!!
I
would recommend
to anyone visiting Norway to go to Euronymous’ infamous shop, Helvete
which is
now a bakery. The basement is preserved though and you could feel a
chill
entering it and imagining what this place used to be. A great and a
unique
experience. Some other places were their National Orchestra, the Viking
Ship
museum and the boat trip to the fjords. In the Viking Ship museum we
bumped
into Alan Nemetheanga of Primordial fame so you can imagine that our
visit took
another meaning!
So Sakis, thanks for the interview and
I will leave any
final words to you as we await the mayhem to begin. Thrash
hard!!!!
Thanx
a million
for the honor to appear with this interview in Nocturnal Cult Brad!
Hope
someday to make it to the USA and meet you and all our friends. I
really
enjoyed writing this interview and I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Thrash hard
and keep on with the majestic work with Nocturnal Cult!!!