Några snabba - Unholy Ritual

Årets fetaste överraskning i black metal-träsket kom för en kort tid sedan i form av en vän-request på vår myspace. Den kom från ett grekiskt symfoniskt black metalband vid namn Unholy Ritual. Ett band jag aldrig hört talas om tidigare.
När jag surfade in på deras myspace och fick höra på tvenne låtar från deras kommande album, samt se en riktigt bra video till låten Vae Victus blev jag såld rätt så omgående. Jag har även haft turen att få lyssna på deras promo 2007, vilket enbart spädde på mitt intresse för Unholy Ritual. Naturligtvis ville jag ta chansen till en kort intervju med dessa herrar, och här är resultatet:

First, I'm a bit confused by our lineup. I believe that It's Erevos that sings on your video, but The Metal Archives says that he is a former member and that Hyperion is doing the vocals now. Who is the current vocalist? And the drummer, on your myspace your announced George as the drummer, but on The Metal Archives it's told to be some Bertram, but he is the original drummer isn't he?

Erevos is , was and will be the band's singer. Hyperion happens to be his ex-nickname. As for the drummer , Bertram was our previous drummer and George (aka Talos) is our new drummer. To settle the record straight , the current lineup is : Erevos -Vocals , Trauma -Guitars, Nykterion – Guitars , Drakhon -Bass , Q_Snc – Synths / Fx and Talos – Drums. We had quite a few lineup changes in the past , so I guess this justifies the confusion in Metal Archives – eventually an update will solve this issue.

You have a great video up for the song Vae Victus. Can you tell us the story behind the video ?

The music video of Vae Victus is based visually on the 20's classic horror movies , surrounded by the new era ambience of films like Silent Hill etc. The story behind it is more of less the manipulation of thoughts and beliefs by sheer dogmatism. In our case , Christianity and specifically Jesus Christ is being portrayed as neo-philosopher where his words imbue the audience with striking insanity rather the warm Bible-taught comfort. He indulges in comforts while provoking the minds of shattered individuals. Eventually , he gets what he deserves....once more.

Who is writing your music/lyrics, and where do you get the inspiration from ?

Me and Trauma are the lead composers of the band. Erevos is responsible for the lyrical matters. Inspiration , comes from everything macro cosmic and microcosmic that happens and is perceived by our minds. If there can be any tags for these occurrences , these would be the Occult , Philosophy , Existential matters and whatever scrap of literature we can get. On a more musical note, its obvious from our music that inspirations come from every corner of the music pentagram. Its a way to keep our options flexible and our compositions rich and auditory abundant.

You have been playing live with some big acts before. Are you planning on a tour when you release your debut album ?

A tour would be the ideal way to promote our album when is released. We are carefully measuring our options , and so far it seems that there will a few gigs here and there at the beginning. Hopefully we will get to organize a tour for Rex Mundi later.

What can I expect when I'm going to see you live ?

We always try to give 100% of our ability in every live show and we hope this will be enough to blow you ears!

What do you think of the scene in Greece today? Is it still going strong or have it taken a step back like the scene in scandinavia seems to have ?

I believe that the Greek scene nowadays is quite strong. There are many new bands that its a matter of time till they get all the attention they deserve. There seems to be a healthy cooperation between them rather the previous years , that were marked by an “unofficial” conflict. Still , we should not forget the “Titans” of the scene , bands like Rotting Christ , Necromantia , Septic Flesh which are active and still rocking. The only step back that I can find is probably the drifting away from the original Greek sound that originated during the 90's. Although , such an act could mean a much needed new “face” for the scene .

Anything else you might want to add ?

I would like to remind everybody interested in Symphonic Black Metal to keep their eyes and ears open for our debut album Rex Mundi which will be released at Octomber 2008. Apart from that , I would to congratulate you for your affords and thank you personally and behalf of the band for your support and hospitality in your pages.

Frågorna har besvarats av Q_Snc.

För alla som gillar symponisk black metal rekommenderas Unholy Ritual varmt. Missa inte bandets MySpace för smakprov.

http://www.myspace.com/unholyritual