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THE ARCHIVES
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Morrigan's Pit has closed down as of November 2006. The site and its articles will stay online as an archive until September at least, but probably longer.
The Archives
2002-2006
» CD REVIEWS
» INTERVIEWS
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NIGHTRAGE
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Marios Iliopoulos
April 2005
http://www.nightrage.com
Nightrage is quite a young band (formed in 2000) but its members are all experienced musicians. Formed by two renowed Greeks the band hails from Sweden now. With the fact they are hailing from Gothenburg and playing melodic death metal the obvious question occurs "is it just another all-star project or they really live and breathe metal". Read on to find out what Marios Iliopoulos had to say about it.
Nightrage is an interesting band. It was originally formed in Greece, but now you're a Swedish band. Would you please give a brief history to our readers?
The band was formed in Greece/Thessaloniki in 2000 by me and my best friend Gus G. We had this concept in our minds that we wanted to express out there, and since my past for ten years with my old band Exhumation in Greece, and the fact that we always recorded our albums in Sweden, it was the connection and the physical step at moving and realise the Nightrage vision in Sweden. So as you can understand its two Greek guys that lead the force out in the band, and I can tell you that we are a Greek/Swedish band, I moved to Sweden and I manage to have Tomas with me and convince Fredrik to let me record the first album at his Fredman studio. I met Tompa for the first time, while we were recording the second Exhumation album "Dance Across The Past" in Gothenburg it March 1998, and he seemed to me like a really cool and nice guy. Accidentally after I moved permanently in Sweden, I met him again some times in the down town and we started to speak, and it was at that time that I started to think to proposed him the idea to be the singer in Nightrage, so I gave him the first demo of the band. He seemed to like the songs a lot, plus the positive attitude that I had towards the band and our plans. But I never thought that he would make something with us since he was busy with other bands, but I guess everything happens for a reason and finally he is in the band now, being the front guy and cult figure of Nightrage, and we are playing together in the same band. Dreams come true.
Marios, you are from Greece, what made you to move to Sweden and form a band there? I think it wasn't an easy step, what motivated you?
It was because I felt really disappointed with the split up of my previous band Exhumation both on musical and personal level, I felt that if I wanted to build the band of my dreams I have to go somewhere else to begin with playing music. Unfortunately in Greece we don't have that rock'n'roll feel and the way of life there is totally against those that decide to play something out of the ordinary. Also it was the fact that we had recorded all the Exhumation albums in Sweden, and I had some contacts there especially with Fredrik from Studio Fredman, and I just knew that this the right place for me.
I can tell you that my decision to move to Sweden was one of the hardest in my life, I left everything behind me, my family, friends, job, in the name of metal, and I get through many difficulties when I came here, since I had only my guitar with me, and I needed to stay somewhere and start to work also to get some food to eat, I started to work in shit jobs and I changed apartment six times in a very short period of time, but I never let down the dream that I had to work with Nightrage and make things possible for the band.
I think moving to Sweden was not just a big step in your life but it must brought a lot of changes into your life. You moved there to form a new band so I would like to ask, what means music and being a musician for you?
Music means a lot to me and I sacrifice a lot of things in order to accomplish the Nightrage dream, that was something I always wanted to have in my life to play the music that I love and be with nice guys sharing some good times, and I think with the line-up we have now this is really the line-up that I always wanted to have.
Was there any moment when you felt you should give up and move back to Greece?
There were a lot of times that I felt disappointed, especially my first two years in Sweden when I was forced to work in shit jobs and try to find my way out here in Sweden. But I never gave up the dream that I had to make with Nightrage and now I'm really happy that this is happening and the band is strong and we are releasing the second album.
You are an all-star-band. How could you work this way? I mean those who are playing in other bands don't have any difficulties to split their time between the bands?
Not a problem since everybody likes to be in the band and we have mutual respect for each other, everybody in this band doing the job perfectly, we are flying Fotis and Gus from Greece for our rehearsals in Sweden, and Henric and Tomas they are living in Sweden along with me, so it's not a big problem to gather altogether and rehearse for recordings/tours/live gigs. We know our parts really well, so it just takes us a few rehearsals until we are ready to go and deliver the stuff live in full perfection. I guess the only problem could be sometimes the economical issue about the flying tickets, but this is something we have to face anyway, and we are always find a solution for that, don't forget that we have a really nice label that support us on those matters.
After the first album, there was some change in the line-up. Why did Brice Leclercq leave? Because of Dissection?
Per Möller Jensen that played the drums on the fist album didn't want to continue with Nightrage and that was the deal we had with him from the beginning, the same with Brice our old bass player who wasn't interested to be part of the band so he had to leave. I'm sure John of Dissection will make something powerful on their next album.
How was the work with the new members?
Now we have Fotis Benardo on drums and Henric Carlsson on bass, it's the right line-up for Nightrage because the new guys are very devoted musicians and they make the band's line-up really strong. I remember that I got an e-mail from Sakis of Rotting Christ who introduced me to our new drummer Fotis, that he was interested to try it with the band, he came to Sweden for auditions and he proved to be one of the best drummers I ever saw in my life, he was able to play all the stuff perfectly and with incredible passion. We met as well Henric on Studio Fredman while we were recording the new album and he really liked the idea to be in the band, he is a really nice and cool bass player and he showed us confidence and dedication from the beginning.
The Dimmu Borgir skinsman Nick Barker played the drums on your live-debut on a festival in Gothenburg. What was it like to play with him?
Yes, it was a cool experience to have him on our first live concert with Nightrage. But he was really busy and he told me that he didn't have the time to be on this second album, or join the band as a permanent member. So I had to look for someone else, and I feel that Fotis Benardo is the best drummer that I could ever imagine for the band, his talent and skills will be soon appreciated from the metal fans.
According to your homepage, you entered the studio to record your first album before you had any record deal.
This is true, we recorded the album in Studio Fredman before we got any recording contract. This idea was mine to record the album in the studio and after we would shop it to record labels, and I can tell you it was a scary thing to do because nowadays the market is fucked up, there tare oo many bands out there. It was a risk also for Fredrik who gave us this opportunity to record the album for free in his studio, you know it's a lot of bands out there, and you never know if you will get a good recording contract, but after all Century Media were really interested to sign Nightrage, and we felt very happy because we got a very good priority deal.
Your second album, "Descent Into Chaos" was just released. What is the welcome to this CD like?
The overall feeling is really positive from everywhere, just visit our official website and there you can check many awesome reviews about the new release. It's also really cool that the fans are interested in the band. In all the interviews I'm doing right now everybody seemed to be so excited and I'm very happy that we
manage to made "Descent Into Chaos" a better follow up.
Compare your new effort "Descent Into Chaos" with your previous album "Sweet Vengeance"? What is the same, what is the difference, what is new?
On the new album we kept the brutality and the melodies combined with the 80s metal flavour, along with the guitar leads and the aggressive vocals. Also we tried to emphasise more on Tomas Lindberg vocals, rather than throwing a lot of clean vocal hooks. I just felt that there wasn't any space for many clean vocals in the songs. I think this album has more strength and the fact that we have a stable line-up makes it sounds even more focused and powerful. I can tell you that the drum/guitar/bass playing is far better than the first album and the new guys Fotis Benardo and Henric Carlsson gave more efforts/team spirit working with the band, and they put their own qualities in the album's making. Another new factor was that we worked with Patrik J. Sten, co-producer at Studio Fredman, as our producer and he was really interested working hard for the band. He also mixed andedited the whole album and his approach, since he is a drummer and he is more into modern
metal, made the album sound more in your face/dry and without so many effects in the mix. I think this time the sound is better and the song arrangements are more mature than onthe first album, all the ingredients/characteristics of Nightrage is there, performed with even more professionalism and team spirit.
Which is your favourite song on the album?
I like pretty much all the songs on the album and I feel that all the songs have the same potential. But if you asked me which ones I adore the most, songs like "Being Nothing", "Phantasma", "Descent Into Chaos" and "Frozen"’ are exceptional tracks and they are the main core of our sound.
Who did the clean vocal parts on your new album? Was it Tomas Englund again?
It's Mikael Stanne from Dark Tranquility. It was a mutual idea that I had with our record company, we thought that it would be cool to have Mikael Stanne as a guest singer on the chorus of "Frozen", so it was not so difficult to propose the idea to him. I know Mikael quite well and we have met plenty of times, so it was like having a guest friend on your album.
What do you think, are you rather a studio band or a live band?
I think that Nightrage is good in both cases. We like to record albums in the studio and we are capable of delivering 100% in a live situation, what we do in the studio plus more adrenaline and power. It's always different when we perform our music live, and affects us in a very positive way. I'm enjoying both studio and live activities.
Did you use computers or home studios in the process of making the album or a song? Who writes the music and who writes the lyrics in your band? How you make a new Nightrage song?
We have our own home recording studios, me and Gus and we are always writing the pre-productions demos there, I'm the main composer/lyricist in the band, but I got some cool contribution from Gus this time around and we wrote together some tunes in the new album, "Omen", "Poems", "Frozen" and "Solus". I think that on the next album Fotis and Henric will participate too, they are good songwriters and they want to write some good music for Nightrage. Still I think that what I'm doing with the composing, people seem to like it, so we will try to keep that Nightrage feeling in the future too, plus with some extra spice from the other guys. I'm always open and cool with good ideas, but they have to be damn good. It's a matter to have the right inspiration/mood to write a good song.
What are your lyrics about?
The lyrics this time are more diverse and they have to do with the fact that we as human beings are descent to our own end, to our own chaos. We are led to nothingness with our behaviour, and I think that only cold feelings is what we share and what we give every day to each other. But we have to try to do something for that, we have to find ourselves again from all this chaos, we have to resist and fight to make this world better, we have to treat each other with respect and try to be much better human beings.
You worked in the Studio Fredman, where lots of famous Swedish melodic death albums (At the Gates, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity) were born and their sound was really cool. Most of the Gothenburg style (or melodic death metal) bands are working there. As a result of this their sound is quite similar. What's your opinion? Have you thought about working in another studio to get a newer, other kind of sound?
I'm working at Studio Fredman since 1998 when I recorded the second Exhumation album, I have so far record four albums there and I think that I feel very comfortable working at Fredman since I trust the producers and I have found my sound. I think it depends on how you play and approach the instrument, I think that we managed to have our own sound at Studio Fredman and we don't sound like the other bands because our songs and our playing is different. I'm thinking also at the same time to go somewhere else with the next album, but it's something that we have to think more detailed in the future, time will tell.
How many concerts did you play so far?
So far we have played two concerts, the first in Gothenburg ib 2003 and the second recently at London/Forum opening for Arch Enemy, The Haunted, and Dark Tranquillity.
If you had the chance to tour in Europe, with which band would you like to go together?
I would like to play with Soilwork or The Haunted.
Is there any plan to make a clip to any of the new songs?
Not at the moment. I think that we should wait with that and go out and play live gigs. I would like to work with Patric Ullaeus/Revolver music, he is a really professional filmmaker and he recently made a name for himself working with so many metal bands.
What other (not Gothenburg death) style of bands influenced your music?
We are influenced from different genres of metal music, I grew up listening to the great metal bands of the 80s like Iron Maiden and Testament, and after taht I got to the bay area thrash metal and the Florida death metal scene, all those influences are filtered in the Nightrage sound, and I think that we are trying to be as much original as we can. Moreover my past collaboration with the Greek scene playing there with my old band Exhumation gives a sort of a different and eerie influence on our sound.
Internet is something interesting for musicians because it gives them the opportunity to touch a larger audience but it is also a threat for them (regarding the copyrights). What is your opinion regarding this medium?
I think that is a curse and a blessing at the same time. I mean for bands like us that are pretty small it's good that many people will listen to our music and even if they are not going to buy the album they will know about the band anyway. On the other hand overall it's bad when people are never buying albums even if they are fans and they like the music, personally I never download from the internet, I'm only getting the free songs that the bands give through their websites so I can have a taste of what's going on with the band that I'm interested in, and after if I like it I just simply go and buy the album. I think that in the future things will change drastically with the internet, maybe one day the record companies will sell their stuff only through the net. I think that the net is a really good way for a new band to promote their music and without it we are useless anyway, nowadays that the people are so used to that new world of media.
Could you make your living from the music?
Playing with Nightrage is not enough to make a living so I'm working in a side job at a recording studio to be able to pay my bills and eat. It's really difficult to make a living with the band because in our days only a few bands they have that privilege. Henric has his own own business as a graphic design for webdesign, print, cd-covers and such, Gus is living only from his music, Fotis is a drum teacher, and Tomas has another job in a school on the side.
I think that's a boring question for you, but do you know something about the future reunion of At the Gates for a few shows?
There are some rumours about that but nothing really confirmed at the moment. I think that if they will attempt to do something like that, it will be like a reunion show only, or a small tour, and it will definitely be an awesome experience to watch them again in the stage, performing all the classic songs.
A stupid question but... what is among all the songs you've been listening in your life the BEST song?
"Hallowed Be Thy Name" from Iron Maiden.
Have you got any funny story with the band?
The miming that our drummer Fotis is doing all the time, and he is so funny he is really good on that, he is always teasing me and he can mime all the different personalities of me and all the members in the band.
Do you know any Hungarian bands?
Yes, I know Without Face and Sear Bliss.
Do you know anything about Hungary?
I know that it is a small country located in Central Europe and a country brimmed with culture and natural beauty. I never had the chance to visit Hungary but I hope that we will come there with Nightrage and play some cool shows.
You are living in Sweden now. I think the mentality of people is totally different there to the one in Greece. What do you like and hate the most about Sweden?
Yes, I have been living here the last four years and I started to adapt on their culture. Things here are really different from Greece and the people think and act very differently from what I knew in Greece. I would like if the people were warmer and the human relations more close, also the weather to not be so cold.
Do you get any response from your Greek fans, were there any negative feelings towards you? Aren't they upset that you moved away?
Not at all, I think that exactly the opposite is happening and I'm getting actually many e-mails from Greek fans that they have respect and they supporting me in what we are doing. They found it very good for the Greek metal scene that I'm successful out of Greece and they think that I'm doing something really good for my country.
Are you following the happenings of the Greek metal scene?
Yes, through the internet I can see what is going in Greece, something started to change there but I think that we need more efforts and we have to work really hard until we can say that we have a scene like the Swedish or the German.
Thank you very much for taking your time and answering these questions. I know you gave many interviews, is there anything you haven't been asked about or you would like to tell to close this interview?
Thanx to you for this Interview, I think that you cover all the subjects about Nightrage. I want to say a big hello to our friends there, and I'm looking forward to play in Hungary on the forthcoming Nightrage European tour, stay metal.
submitted by Katalin and Donat 05.07.2005
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