Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 08:36 PM by Giorgos Tsekas
Hi Efthimis- thanks for this interview and congratulations for this new effort. How did it come to the formation of this new band?
Thank you guys for the kind words. The whole thing about The Slayerking started in a rehearsal room. I felt the need to reconnect with my instrument, you know to improvise and exercise some bass guitar riffing like I used to do in the old times. The jam was arranged by me and a very close friend of mine, Kostas Kyriakopoulos who end up being the guitarist of The Slayerking. You could call those jams a friendly conversation with notes. Nothing was planned. Eventually the whole thing grew up to a full band.
Nightfall are quite diverse musically. Are there newer or more different ideas you had that couldn’t fit in the band’s sphere, thus the need for a new project?
The Slayerking has nothing to do with Nightfall. It’s another thing with another sound and approach. Nightfall has always been a death metal band. A band that never seized to explore its horizons through experimentation, yes true. But always a death metal band. All that experimentation has had death metal in its core. The Slayerking is not.
How did you come up with that band name? Game of Thrones fanatic or what?
Haha not quite. More of a Slayer fan I’d say J In Game of Thrones they have the King Slayer. We are The Slayerking. A troll that thinks of himselfas a king but he is nothing more than a slayer. He slays the hopes human race maintains about gods interventions and other divine saving campaigns that never happen.
Are there any guest appearances you should know about?
It is only us I am afraid. The entire album was composed and arranged in the studio as we played. There was no intention for changes or additions. If it did it would misbalance the live feeling we created in there.
Where does The Slayerking stand in terms of the music genre?
Doom metal with progressive dark elements. Labeling music is not my best point. Definitely dark.
What’s the feedback until now from the first single? Will “Sanatana Dharma” be in the gloomy veins of “She is My Lazarus”?
It is positive so far. We are a brand new band. We have and want to walk the path of anonymity to mature. She is My Lazarus works as the introduction to the TheSlayerking art. It’s like that spooky battler who opens the dark mansion’s heavy door to welcome visitors with his trembling voice. There is diversity in song writing. There are a lot of interesting things throughout the album. No track is a copy of the other.
Is “Sanatana Dharma” a concept album and what’s the story behind the title?
The title Sanatana Dharma is a phrase in Sanskrit literature that refers to the cosmic order, the unstoppable rotation, the eternal. Basically it has to do with Human. It is a fave topic of mine since the day I wrote my first lyrics. All that energy in us and the ways it is put into action that shape the world. Some of them really disgusting, many others magnificent and in between the two the grey zones of misjudgment.
How did the band come together? Did you choose your band members and who is the main composer?
The improvised jam sessions were built on me and Kostas, we are in this together. We then tested numerous drummers trying to build a groovy rhythm section. A three piece act is tricky and needs extra effort. Most of them manically put double bass in every part while trying crazy things with their hands as they wanted to impress or to prove something. Apparently they screwed it. We were lucky seeing Anna practicing next door. She grabbed our attention immediately and we abducted her like Zeus did Europa. She has absolute control of her kit and plays for the song. Her snare beat kicks ass.
What would you say about the new project to a long time Nightfall fan?
Give it a try. It is good thing and right from the heart.
Could you share some information about the concept of the debut album?
Lyrically it is all about the human species and our oxymoron nature. This is not a single story album. There are topics like that of Operation Mincemeat in second World War where Allied forces abused a man’s dead body to mislead Germans or the other about a priest whose stubbornness to religious ethics of his times caused the deaths of 3,000 people. I think there is a lot of stuff for consideration in The Slayerking lyrics. Food for thought, to be precise.
How much time did you spend composing / recording the tracks?
It took about eight months since the day we entered the studio to jam without a single riff ready and another eight to mix and master it in the States. We wanted the music to sound big and fat without employing tricks like loudness race in mastering or multiple layers in mixing. It is raw the old good way. Like a wild honey avalanche the sound slowly fills every single hole of your body. The louder you listen to it the wider it becomes and literally roots in your mind. It is alive!
You had always behind/or beside you very good/strong labels. The Slayerking is in a small label though (Finisterian Dead End). Have you spoke to Metal Blade or you wanted something different for this project?
We wanted a more artistic approach and definitely not a business one. The Slayerking is a new band and must be treated as such. The devotion and warmness a small label offers to a band in its first steps is imperative for a good solid start.
Will it be a Greek or even a European tour to support the album?
We work on it. The Slayerking is a band devoted to play live.
Shall we expect a new Nightfall album too, or even a tour?
In the future. Astron Black and Cassiopeia are really good.There is no need to rush into their follow ups.
The closing is yours…
She is My Lazarus is a song about possessive love and abhorrent bonding we want to share with all Metal Invader readers here
*Will Nightfall ever release a 7 ” with Olympiakos hymn?
Haha you think so?
