Interview with Poem

Last Updated on 11:06 AM by Nikos Nakos

It took seven whole years for the Athenians progressive / alternative metallers Poem to return since the release of their debut album and Metal Invader is here to talk about everything and their live presentation of their new album ‘Skein Syndrome’ at ΙΛΙΟΝ Plus, just before they hit the road for the second part of their European Tour.

I welcome you to Metal Invader!

Let’s start with the basics, the term ‘Skein Syndrome’ doesn’t exist in the psychiatric field so inevitably I am curious to find out what that syndrome/creation is exactly?

Stavros: “Skein Syndrome”is not a syndrome, but the way we chose to express the fact that people have lost the real meaning of their existence and as a result they became materialistic and vain. They’re losing their path and down the road if they are lucky enough they realize that they don’t need all these things because we are all going to die after all. The rope represents everything that is keeping them tied away from their nature. They keep spinning around for years, some of them manage to get untied, others not.

It’s been 7 whole years since your debut album “The Great Secret Show” that received amazing feedback. What took you so long for the release of its successor? Was that long absence bad for you after all?

George: There were many factors that contributed to this delay. Basically, it was the line-up changes that held us back on the creative part. When we finally managed to solve this issue, we had to decide on the roles distribution, so that we all contribute equally to the organizing process. After that was done and dealt with and with the help of Eleftheria that has been helping us these last few years, we started working with our manager Lars Larsen – Intromental Management from Denmark and after a lot of work and patience, our label ViciSolum productions came up.

Laurence: We don’t think that the delays did any damage to us. Maybe if we had this release earlier on, the circumstances would have been different and we would never have the chance to go on the European tour.

What are the musical differences between the two albums?

Stratos: This is a more mature work that shows the evolution of the bands members, because the line-up changed. Consequently, it couldn’t be the same as “Great Secret Show”. Stavros and I are responsible for the rhythmic part of the album therefore there has been a change of “mindset”.

You’re going to present this new work live at ILION plus. How much will your live shows are affected by your European tour?

Stavros: After 38 consequent Skein Syndrome live shows all around Europe, we definitely feel way more asserted and solid on stage. As a result, we enjoy it even more. We’re hoping that people will be there to witness that, have fun and support us so that we are able to continue what we started. All this time, we have received unbelievable messages of love from people all around the globe, that either was at one of our live shows abroad, or an album of ours fell in their hand, or even because they listened to a track of ours in a compilation. Is about time now that we perform in our home and we want that show to represent all this fuzz that surrounds our name.

I’m hearing that you’re packing for a second European tour. How many countries are you going to visit this time?

Laurence: We’re starting from Spain – it will be our first time there, next are Italy, Germany, France, Netherlands, Denmark and finally Sweden. There will be a follow up, but its not the time to reveal that yet!

Signing the contract with VicSolum productions and also your collaboration with Intromental management gave you a boost, How these collaborations came up?

Stratos: In 2014, we played at Rockstadt Extreme Festival in Romania and there we met with people that gave us few directions that we made use of. That way we met with Lars, who introduced us to Thomas from Vicisolum, our label.

You also made an animated video for the promotion of this album. Personally, I find anything that is not just showing a band perform, to be extremely pleasing. How come you didn’t decide to make one more video of this sort?

George: We could have done so and it’s not something that we are ruling out for the future. We just had this opportunity; we met with Haris Kountouris who was able to bring this to life, so we did.

I’m interested in the music the bands I’m interviewing are listening to, since it sometimes shows their influences. What are you listening to these days?

EVERYONE: Anything new that is released-mainly from Greek bands, because they are works with incredible quality.

I recently had the chance to talk to Barb Wired Dolls. How realistic is for a Greek band to break Greek boundaries and be successful?

 George: Success abroad is as realistic, as setting your band your life’s top priority.

Progressive metal in my opinion became somewhat complicated and overly technical without any obvious reason but just to impress. I’m not sure whether you agree with me or not.

Laurence: This is not a “progressive” issue. Generally the meaning of music is not to be complicated in order to impress. You can have elements of uniqueness and progress; this is what “progressive” means.

The last words for the closing are yours… Thank you for the interview and I’m wishing you best of luck on your future plans.

Thanks for having us! We ‘re looking forward on seeing all of you at Ilion Plus at December 2, listen to nice music, drink beers and meet up!