1. TELL US A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE BAND'S HISTORY.

Reflection has moved successfully towards their eleventh year of existence. With the new line up being here for the past couple of years, they continue to deliver pure, hot and heavy Epic Metal. From the early attempts of "Before The End" (Jan/1992) and the very successful "When Immortals...Die!" (Feb/1993) demo tapes, to the 3 times sold out "Sire Of The Storm" 7" E.P. Single (Mar/1995) with Dark Side Records, "The Fire Still Burns" CD (Jan/1999) and the newly released split cd single "Realm Of The Night" with Inner Wish (NMC Music, Mar/2001) and "The Fire Still Burns - 2001 Edition" (Apr/2001) by Secret Port Records, Reflection have passed the test of time and proven that there is still a chance for Epic Heavy Metal.

The recent line up consists of :

Chris Kappas - vocals
Stathis Pavlandis - guitars
John Tolakis - bass
John Psarakis - guitars
George Pavlandis - drums

2. WHICH IS THE SITUATION AROUND THE BAND RIGHT NOW ?

We are currently recording our new album. It is a concept on Homer's Odyssey and we hope that it will be out on the beginning of the New Year. We had some health problems but now we are back in business, stronger than ever and we continue with the recordings of our album. Some of the titles of the songs are "Cyclops", "The Adventure Begins", "The Return Of The King", "Giants (Lestrygons Land)", "Who Will Dare To Bend The Bow", "Journey To The Other Side", etc.

3. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC STYLE AND WHICH ARE YOUR MAJOR INFLUENCES AS A BAND AND AS INDIVIDUAL MUSICIANS?

We do not have the common, to all, problem with labels. We are proud to say that we are an Epic Heavy Metal Band. As long as our major influences the band's style is close to the mighty "Warlord" and of course the early "Solitude Aeturnus", the huge "Canldemass", "Memento Mori", "Manowar" and all the other titans of Heavy Metal. My personal influences are "Scorpions" (the Gods!!!), "Warlord", "Solitude Aeturnus", "Candlemass", "Ten", "Praying Mantis" many of the '80s classic Heavy Metal Gods (Accept, Twisted Sister, Wasp, etc) and '80s and '90s Melodic Hard Rock/AOR (Cinderella, Motley Crue, Winger, Giant, Europe, Talisman etc). My favorite singers are Klaus Maine, Joe Lynn Turner, Jeff Scott Soto and Graham Bonnet. Stathis has common influences with me while his favorite guitarists are Bill Tsamis and Ross The Boss. John (bass) is into the Iron Maiden stuff while John (guitar) loves the American Hard Rock sound. George is the most open minded from us all. He is with the one foot to the classic Hard Rock/AOR/Progressive/Power and with the other to more modern stuff.

4. REFLECTION HAS QUITE A LONG DISCOGRAPHY FOR A GREEK BAND. STARTING FROM YOUR DEBUT DEMO TAPE , THE LEGENDARY 7-INCHER 'SIRE OF THE STORM', THE FIRST SELF-FINANCED EDITION OF 'THE FIRE STILL BURNS' AND MORE RECENTLY THE SPLIT MINI-CD ALONG WITH INNER WISH AND THE RE-RELEASE OF 'THE FIRE STILL BURNS' THROUGH SECRET PORT RECORDS WITH THE ADDITION OF TWO BONUS TRACKS , A NEW RE-MASTERING AND ARTWORK. WE WILL HAVE THE CHANCE TO TALK ABOUT EACH ONE OF THEM SEPARATELY BUT RIGHT NOW I WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU IF IN THE VERY BEGINNING YOU BELIEVED THAT REFLECTION WOULD GO ALL THIS WAY?

When we formed this band we were all good friends. We still are. That is the secret. We are a bunch of friends playing the music we like. Of course we worked hard all these years and we all have the band into our hearts. We know that it is very difficult to break through and sell thousands of albums or tour the whole world but we are lucky that we have a label that shows interest and we release our music every one or two years, we are happy that we can still perform live with many people watching us.

5. IF I MAY, I THINK THAT WE CAN SEPARATE YOUR WHOLE DISCOGRAPHY IN TWO MAIN PERIODS: THE EARLY PERIOD WHEN THE BAND RELEASED THE FIRST DEMO , THE 7-INCHER AND PERHAPS THE FIRST SELF-FINANCED EDITION OF 'THE FIRE STILL BURNS' AND THE LATE ONE WITH THE RE-RELEASE OF 'THE FIRE STILL BURNS' AND THE SPLIT CD WITH INNER WISH. START TALKING ABOUT THE FIRST PERIOD, WHICH ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS ABOUT EACH ONE OF YOUR RELEASES AND THE OVERALL BAND'S PRESENCE? YOUR DEBUT DEMO WAS DEFINITELY AN IMPORTANT STEP AS IT WAS YOUR FIRST ATTEMPT TO PRESENT AND EXPRESS YOURSELVES DESPITE THE POSSIBLE MISTAKES IN THE FINAL EFFORT WHILE I CONSIDER THE 7-INCHER AS ONE OF YOUR STRONGEST MOMENTS UP TO DATE!

I must add here that the first demo was "Before The End" and was released the first month of 1992. You are talking about the second demo "When Immortals... Die!". This one was a huge step for the band. It was the demo that introduced the band to the Greek Underground scene. The 7" EP was a huge step for us in a time that only a few Heavy Metal bands released vinyl or CDs. "The Fire Still Burns" was the result of a lot of work and many disappointments because no one wanted to release our music. That is why we re-released it with brand new recordings, new artwork, when "Secret Port Records" approached us. It was like a present to our loyal fans. All our past, with a new production. The split CD was something we wanted to do with our friends Inner Wish. Nobody believed in us and at the end we proved that they were wrong. You said that you believe that the 7" EP was our strongest release today. Do not forget that when it was released nobody was buying it but now it is a collector's item and many people are buying it at a huge price! I believe that this will happen with the new CD. Sometime in the future people will consider it as a classic. That is what happens in Hellas. Only a few bought the classic debut of Sarissa and now they are trying to find it... but they can't!!!

6. AFTER THE 7-INCHER THERE WAS A BIG PERIOD OF ABSENCE MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE MILITARY OBLIGATIONS. WERE YOU AFRAID THAT MAYBE THIS WOULD CAUSE SERIOUS PROBLEMS INSIDE THE BAND? AFTER ALL THESE WERE OVER DID YOU FIND EVERYTHING JUST WHERE YOU LEFT THEM?

As I told you before we are friends. That's why there was no problem with the army. We proceeded slower but that made us stronger. I can not say that everything was just where we left them because we grew older, we have our jobs but ? the fire still burns... and it is as strong as it was 10 years ago when we were teenagers.

7. `THE FIRE STILL BURNS` CAN BE CONSIDERED AS YOUR FIRST FULL-LENGTH RELEASE. ALTHOUGH THE MATERIAL WAS IN THE SAME VEIN AND QUALITY AS THE ONE IN YOUR PAST RELEASES, I SENSE THAT YOU WERE NOT SATISFIED MAINLY OF THE OVERALL PRESENTATION AS YOU SURELY WANTED SOMETHING MORE PROFESSIONAL LOOKING. AM I RIGHT? BUT AT THE SAME TIME I BELIEVE IT WAS A STEP THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE SINCE YOUR ABSENCE WAS QUITE LONG EVEN IF THE STANDARDS WEREN'T IN THE DESIRE LEVEL. LOOKING BACK NOW DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THIS RELEASE HELPED YOU REACH TO THIS CERTAIN POINT YOU ARE RIGHT NOW?

"The Fire Still Burns" (the first edition) was something we had to do. As you said we could not wait any more for labels to sign us. We were idle too much time. We still love this CD because it was released after hard work and much doubt from many people. This is the album that gave us the chance to find a label and release it again with all the older stuff. I believe it was good step.

8. AND HERE WE REACH IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS WHEN TWO BIG STEPS ARE ACCOMPLISHED FOR REFLECTION. FIRST OF ALL, THE RELEASE OF THE SPLIT CD WITH INNER WISH, INTRODUCING THE NEW SOUND AND MATERIAL OF THE BAND AND THE AGREEMENT WITH SECRET PORT RECORDS FOR A RE-RELEASE OF `THE FIRE STILL BURNS`. LET'S TALK FIRST ABOUT THE SPLIT CD. HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA AND WHY DID YOU CHOOSE INNER WISH FOR THE SECOND BAND POSITION? ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE FINAL RESULT? WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO PUT ONLY TWO SONGS?

First of all we do not introduce a new sound (if you are talking about musical style). We still play Epic Heavy Metal as always. If you are talking about the technical part then you are right. We record with better machines, we are more experienced than 10 years ago and of course we are better musicians. We wanted to do this step just because it was fun. We are friends with Inner Wish, we like their music and we wanted to do something together. Inner Wish was not the second band. We were in this together. It was a decision we took together. The result was satisfactory and it was really fun working with the guys. We only recorded two songs because it was something like a split single. Now that I think about it, the funniest thing was to record a song together or maybe we should play one of their songs and Inner Wish should play one of ours, but that's all history now.

9. NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE RE-RELEASE. LOOKING TO THE NEW VERSION, DO YOU SEE THE KIND OF THING YOU INTENDED TO PRESENT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING? STARTING FROM THE SOUND AND CONTINUING TO THE OVERALL PRESENTATION WITH THE NEW, EXCELLENT ARTWORK.

Of course that was the result we wanted from the beginning. The sound is not only better but great, the artwork is excellent and this version is more professional. We are proud of all our releases but this one can be reviewed by magazines abroad saying that it is an album and not a demo. It is official history! It is also a present to all our fans. It is like end of an era for the band.

10. THE TWO EXTRA SONGS OF THE ALBUM, ARE SONGS COMING FROM THAT PERIOD THAT LEFT OUT DUE TO BUDGET OR ARE THEY NEW COMPOSITIONS?

All of the songs in the album come from the past. "Children Of War" and "Fire And Steel" (The Battle Of Salamis Opus) were out due to our limited budget and time. As I told you before this new version is like an anthology gathering all the older songs together. Those were songs that we performed live many years. There was no way that we could keep them out.

11. NOW WHICH ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS? IN THE PAST YOU WERE WORKING ON A CONCEPT REFERRING TO HOMER'S 'ODYSSEY'. DO YOU INTEND TO CONTINUE WORKING ON THIS?

We are recording the new album, which is a concept of Homer's Odyssey. If everything is all right it will be out on the first months of the New Year.

12. DO YOU HAVE ANY OFFERS ABOUT THE RELEASE OF YOUR NEW ALBUM? IS IT GOING TO BE ON SECRET PORT RECORDS AGAIN?

The new album will be out under the guidance of "Secret Port Records". We are very satisfied with our label and we do not care about other labels. Theodosis is a friend and is very sincere with us and helps us with all his power. I can not see why we should search for other offers.

13. CAN YOU TELL US WHICH WILL BE THE NEW SOUND OF REFLECTION? DO YOU PLAN ADDING NEW ELEMENTS IN YOUR MUSIC?

We do not intent to change our musical sound. Reflection was, is and it will be an Epic Heavy Metal band. That's the music we listen that's the music we like and if sometime we would like to play different music we will form other bands. Reflection has history of 10 years and we will respect it.

14. WHICH DO YOU CONSIDER AS THE MOST IMPORTANT BANDS IN OUR COUNTRY AND HOW DO YOU SCENE THE FUTURE OF OUR BELOVED MUSIC BOTH IN NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL.

The most important bands in our country are/were Sarissa, Spitfire, Deceptor, Raw Silk and of course Inner Wish, Power Crue, Marauder, etc.

15. FREE SPACE. ADD ANYTHING THAT YOU MAY WANT.

I would like to thank you for this interview, and say good luck with your great magazine. To all new bands... do not wait for others to help you. Work hard and play the music that comes from your heart. Nobody will become a star in a night. Thanks again.