1.First of all,accept my congratulations for your new amazing album. Thank you very much! It's very encouraging to hear good words for your work. I mean that we worked very very hard for this album but I think that the result paid all our efforts. 2.So,tell me a so debrief of the history of "Reflection" ? As you know our history goes back to 1991 when me, Stathis, John and our former drummer Jim decided to form a band in the vein of all our heroes (Warlord, Candlemass, Manowar, etc). 12 years and 3 albums later we are still here performing Epic Metal. 3.Tell me some details from the newest album "Odyssey" ? The album was an idea Stathis and me had 7 years ago. We wanted to pay tribute to the biggest opus written. This idea matured after reading many books concerning the Odyssey, with analysis of the characters, the places and the legends of these times. We also read the Odyssey again and again and we started to write the first lyrics and the first melodies. 2 years ago and after the release of "The Fire Still Burns" album we decided that the time had come and we started working on the "Odyssey". After 1,5 years of continuous recording the album was finally out from "Secret Port Records". 4.Is there any feedback from the audience about these cd untill now ? The first reviews from the press and the fans were deifying. That's very promising for the future because the album is out for only 2 months. 5.Which is the procedure when you write the songs? Most of the times Stathis comes with an idea and a basic melody or riff. Then the rest of the band adds the drum and bass parts and after that Stathis and me write the lyrics and the voice melodies. 6.Obviously from the title of the cd, this album is a concept album, tell me the history behind this story. The history is the well-known Homer's Odyssey. It has to do with the trip of King of Ithaca Odysseus (after the destruction of Troy) back to his land, the beautiful island Ithaca. It will take many pages to start narrating the whole story thus I suggest that every one should buy one copy and read it. We also included in our album the story of Odyssey. Half of the booklet (12 out of 24 pages) is dedicated to the story. But I strongly believe that all people must read this epic because works like the Odyssey are written once every 1000 years. 7.If we compare "The fire still burns","Realms of tomorrow" to "Odyssey" what differences will we find? I believe that you will not find many differences expect that we are more mature with more experience. But our classic sound is still there. We are still playing Epic Metal in the veins of Warlord, Solitude Aeturnus, Candlemass, Memento Mori, etc. This will never change. Another thing that has changed but not due to the band, is the production, which is much better than the previous albums. I believe that a band must progress only in experiences and in production issues and not in the musical style. 8.There's also some guests appearance in this album. How did that happen? We always have special guests in our albums. We have a lot of friends and they add a different flavour into our music. Our friends who cooperated with us in the latest album are: The Tenors Mr John Filias and Mr Panos Milonas, the singer of Lost Fate Mr Peter Panagiotou, the war choir that was composed in our studio (Mr Fotis Karagiannis, Mr Mike Ventouris, Mr Kostas Traiforos, Mr John Psarrakis (our former guitarist) and Mr Jim Kokorakis), the guitar teacher Mr Nick Politopoulos and Mr Nick Anastasiadis in the percussion (the drummer of Mindland). Finally Mr Greg Anastasiadis unfolded all the Hellenic narration. Mr Anastasiadis is a theatrical teacher and we can say that he is something like the 6th member of our band because we collaborated in our previous albums too. He is a very big influence for us and we are very glad that such a people is enjoying working with much younger people like us even if we play Heavy Metal. 9.Have you already play any gig, and tell me your favorite live? Of course we have played in many gigs and I can say that most of them are our favorite! But if I had to chose some of them those would be the two lives in Ioannina city, the last two concerts in An club and of course the concert for our tenth birthday in Aeras club. In the last one we did not perform as we liked but it was great because the people went mad and some friends brought birthday cakes (one cake had our 7" EP cover on it!!!) and champagnes! The two supporting bands covered some of our songs and George "The Omen", one of our best friend spoke a big speech about the band! I mean it was one of the best moments in our life! 10.Your influences from the metal scene? This is very easy! The bands that influenced us are the mighty Warlord, Canlemass, Solitude Aeturnus and Memento Mori. We are proud to say our influences and we do not want to hide and say that we do not have influences or stuff like that! Every musician has his/hers influences. The good thing is to filter all the influences and produce a personal result. If you just copy your idol's songs then you do not produce good music. 11.Tell me you favorite album and your favorite band? My favorite band is the Scorpions. I believe that they are the biggest band that played Hard n' Heavy Metal. They still perform more than two hours live with bigger energy than 25-year-old bands! They are unbelievable! Klaus Maine is one of the last 50+-year-old singers that he sings like when he was singing 20 years ago! My favorite album is World Wide Live, which is the greatest music put in vinyl... ever! We also like 80s Hard n Heavy bands like Twisted Sister, Wasp, Rainbow, Malmsteen, Manowar, Black Sabbath (only with Dio and Tony Martin), and of course Melodic Hard Rock/Aor bands like Ten, Praying Mantis, Talisman, Giant, Europe, FM, Shy, Dokken, Steelhouse Lane, etc. 12.Tell me your opinion about the metal scene in your country? I can only say about the Heavy/Power Metal scene. There are some good bands like the veterans of our scene Marauder, Powercrue, Mystery, Inner Wish, Dream Weaver, etc and of course the new blood with bands like Sacred Outcry, Battleroar, Raging Storm, Lost Fate etc but I believe there are many problems. First and most important is that there are no fans! No one is interested in local Heavy Metal bands! I mean that in the gigs you can only see 100 people! How can we progress when no one is interested? On the other hand most of the new bands think that when they release a couple of demos they are stars! You have to work hard to achieve your goals. 13.What are your plans in the future for the band? We would be very glad to release our music every one or two years and perform live. That's all! If we could play live in other countries we would be very glad! We are down to earth and we know that there is no room in the modern music for Epic Metal thus we do not have dreams for international career or millions of sales! 14.Is metal a way of your life? It was 20 years ago when Heavy Metal was really revolutionary and extreme. Right now you can see more extreme stuff in the TV or in the news. I prefer to see my favorite music as fun and not as way of life. 15.I found you through internet, do you think that the net can replace the old underground days? Internet has already replaced the old days! I mean most of the fanzines and magazines go out on the Internet! I think that it is an easier and faster way to communicate and if it is used wisely then it is a very useful tool. 16.You are the vocalist of the band, tell me your favorite vocalist? My favorite vocalist is of course Klaus Maine from Scorpions. I also like Joe Lynn Turner, which is one of the greatest singers in our music and of course Jeff Scott Soto, Tony Martin and Graham Bonnet. 17.If you could change something in the world, what would that be? The only thing I wish is world peace! With this crazy USA leaders that defy the Security Council nobody is safe! In some years they will decide that another country has massive destruction weapons (even if that USA have more massive destruction weapons than the whole world!!!) and they will help the people of this country by... bombing them. 18.If you could travel back in time, which historical period would you like to visit and why? What would you miss most from our times? I never thought about it! I like this age but if I had to travel back in time I would like to go to ancient Hellas. I would like to see with my eyes all these great achievements and the greatest civilization.
As I said before I believe that the USA make this war only for oil. Nobody wants this war expect USA and England their traditional ally. They defied the Security Council and that makes their war illegal! They only bomb innocent people and I hope that history will condemn them. 20.What title would you like this interview to have? I don't know... maybe "Still Sail On The Sea"! 21.Thanks for your interview and have i forgotten to ask you anything and you'd like to mension? You didn't ask about women, food, martial arts movies and of course underwater fish hunting!!! Maybe next time! Thanks very much about this interview and I hope that all Hellenic Heavy Metal will work together for a better tomorrow.
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