Ελληνικά
As the Athens Extreme Festival approaches, anticipation builds within the city’s metal scene for one of its promising new acts: Sacrificial Death. Ahead of their festival debut, Metal Invader caught up with the band to discuss their origins, influences, creative process, and what fans can expect from their much-anticipated album and live set.
Good evening, guys, and welcome to Metal Invader. With your upcoming appearance at the Athens Extreme Festival, I think this is a great chance for us to get to know you better. To start, would you like to introduce yourselves?
Good evening, first of all we’d like to thank Elpida and, by extension, Metal Invader for giving us this opportunity to introduce ourselves. We are Sacrificial Death, or in other words Aiantas (vocals/guitar), Reno (guitar), Giannis (bass) and Angelos (drums), and we play death/thrash metal.
How were Sacrificial Death formed, and what was the original dream that pushed you to create this band?
Sacrificial Death were formed four years ago by a group of friends who simply wanted to have fun playing music together. Four years later the same group of friends is now ready to present its first full-length work.
What are your main influences? Beyond musical influences, is there anything else that inspires you, such as literature?
The band’s main influences would be Suicidal Angels, Death, and Kreator. Even though literature doesn’t play a major role in our influences, it’s definitely a medium from which we can draw ideas for themes and context.
What kind of image and sound do you want to convey to the audience? What do you want going through people’s minds when they hear “Sacrificial Death”?
Regarding image, we try to show professionalism and break away from the stereotypical look of a new band. As for the sound: just hard thrash/death like the bands we mentioned earlier. We aim to make our shows chaotic but well-rehearsed.
If I’m informed correctly, you’re releasing your first album in January. Would you like to tell us a bit about it? (production, cover art, etc.)
Our first album comes out in January and is called Absolute Katharsis. It’s our first complete work and we’re completely satisfied with the result. We hope people enjoy it as much as we do. The production was done at Fragile Studio by our producer and now friend Vangelis Yalamas, the drums were recorded at Made In Hell Studios by David Prudent, and the cover art was created by Jesus Lhysta. The first single, “Flesh of Deceit (Death to Humanity)”, is already out. The album will be released on CD in collaboration with the French label Soman Records.
Was there anything that surprised you or anything you learned that you weren’t expecting during the whole process of producing your album?
We were definitely surprised by how much work an album requires. Truth be told, it “took a while,” since we were in the studio for a year, and the work doesn’t stop there. Now that it’s been announced, the real work begins.
How do you usually handle songwriting? Do you all write together, or is there someone who leads the process?
The initial ideas come from the two guitarists, but the final result is a collective effort, since all the songs were written to some extent during rehearsals. This doesn’t apply to the lyrics, which are entirely Aiantas’ work.
How difficult or easy is it for a new band to build a name for itself? Do social media help in establishing a new band? I’m honestly asking because older generations such as me grew up differently and discovered new bands in other ways.
A presence on social media definitely plays a role in helping a new band stand out. Live shows alone aren’t enough, especially when there aren’t many, especially when people spend more time on social media and don’t attend as many gigs anymore.
What are your ambitions and goals for the future?
With the first album out, we’re looking to play as many shows as possible outside of Athens, and maybe take our first steps abroad. With the second album, we’d also like to release vinyl, something that unfortunately didn’t happen with the first one.
What should people expect from your appearance at the festival? What have you prepared for us?
Those who show up will find out 😉
Thank you very much for your time! The final words are yours!
Thank you very much for this interview. We’ll be waiting for you on December 12–13 at Kyttaro to break some heads!
