Acid Death Eidolon Interview

 

 

 

Hey guys! Thank you for asking me to interview you. So here we go;

 1. Firstly I just want to say again how much I enjoyed the new album Eidolon. For those who don’t know of Acid Death could you please give us an idea of the band member’s backgrounds? I.e. what bands you have previously played in.

-Hello and thank you for your good words! It is really amazing for us every time we have so positive comments for this work, since it includes our soul and love for what we do! I know that ACID DEATH is a rather unknown name for most of the people out there; the band was active from 1989 to 2001. We were in the game for 12 years, starting from typical Death/Thrash till the later days of creating a rather personal sound, following a difficult way of music expression by adding Fusion and Jazz parts in our Death Metal. There was a rumour in those days, back in 1999-2001 that we were the only representative of Progressive Death Metal even at European level, having in mind that bands like ATHEIS or CYNIC were come from U.S.A. and for sure we were the only band in Greece with that “strange” sound. Anyway…things stopped in 2001 when the band stopped in just one night after many inner-problems. I continued with another band called KINETIC from 2002 till 2010, Dennis Kostopoulos (lead guitars) formed a real good Doom/Stoner band together with friendly musicians, called INFIDEL and he still plays with them but fortunately things worked really well for ACID DEATH in 2010. The band is alive again and this full length “Eidolon” is the first CD after 11 years or our 5th official release, after 2 full length CDs, on split LP together with AVULSED from Spain and an EP.

 

2. What influenced the sound of Eidolon? I didn’t realise until after I reviewed the album that you list Death in your list of influences. I defiantly heard that!

I enjoyed all the interesting switches and changes in some of the tracks. How do you compose and structure the songs?

-Yes, you are right! DEATH and the way that Thy Mighty Chuck Schuldiner worked is one of our strong influences but not the only one. American Death Metal, today’s Moder Metal, let’s say, the Fusion/Jazz, the Ambient, even traditional Greek music are our musical influences. This “packet of sounds” helped us over the years in creation and composition. Usually the way that we prefer to compose and process the ideas is one of us having a basic idea of a song and all the others to continue the idea. Sometimes we sit down on a carpet with our instruments and “talk” using them. With all these actions the band is getting stronger, there are many “bonds” that are created between band mates, I believe it is the most important thing for a band.

 

3. I have to admit I am more familiar with Acid Death’s older work, namely Apathy Murders Hope. How did the band come to take such a change musically to the sound you have today? Was it mostly the line up change?

-Not exactly… This was the first band period, we call it “The Thrash/Death Days”, a period from 1989 till 1995. We were in a more Thrash/Death way these days, the same time that there were many elements from band’s next period, 1996-2001 “Progressive Death Metal”. I have to say that there weren’t any line up changes from 1991 till 2000, a time-space that was including both periods of the band. So the whole thing had to do with our music preferences. With the primitive elements we had in hands and the serious problems that Greek underground faced those days, 1-2 labels, only a few magazines, and of course no internet in those days. We tried to create a more “personal” sound, something that we made to do it on some way…This style was meant to be our “follower” even these days that we are in the third period titled “(Still) Progressive (But more) Death Metal”.!

 

4. My favourite word to describe the kind of metal I love is ‘groove’. How do you come up with your head banging grooves?

-Hehe! Most of all we are all Metalheads! And “groove” is the magic word. Music is “grooving”, we have a similar Greek word for it that we use it to describe if this song is good or bad “It grooves!!!” (in Greek «Γκρουβάρει!!») Of course it is not Greek word it is the Greek version of the word “groove”. We weren’t so “rhythmical” in the past, including very strange patterns that, most of all, came from Jazz, but this element is really strong now in “Eidolon”. Don’t forget!! Most of all We Are Metalheads!

 

5. I don’t know the official term but I am not overly keen on the use of samples or ‘techo’ noises. However I am open minded and wanted to know what you feel they bring to the tracks?

-Basically there are some “industrial/noise” elements, let’s say. They have the “difficult” role to give a stronger feeling at particular points of music. Kostas GusK (lead guitars) was the inspirer, having enough experience with ambient music for many years. In fact we tried all these parts to be small and easy-to-manage in live case.

 

6. I heard that Stephen King’s novels influence your lyrical content, is that true?

-Yes, that’s true. For many years the name “Stephen King” was a leader name in our lyrical content. The inspiration and spirit of this man was an important part in the creation of our previous recordings “Pieces of Mankind” and “Random’s Manifest”.

 

7. What made the band come back reform after ten years?

-Basically was the big love for what we have done in the past. It was the feeling that this band was a very important part of our life. It was pity that things worked totally bad for us back in 2001 in such way that ACID DEATH has to stop existing in just one night. You know, sometimes many small and unimportant problems create a big and really important one… That’s the way that before starting the engine in 2010 we made some serious conversations, solving all these that led us to stop the band. Things are totally perfect these days, there is a really strong team that is working, composing, processing…fighting…

 

8. What have you got planned for the future? Bigger shows? More recording?

– In the moment we are planning our Greek appearances for next season, starting from October/2012. Something like a slam Greek tour. In the meanwhile we are trying to hit some doors for a slot to some European festivals or European tour…But there are many difficulties on that…You know… we are from Greece. Our country has a really bad name these days and even the gig organizers/promoters have the idea of not keeping an eye over a Greek band…So…if there is any suggestion or some kind of offer for a fest or tour we will be more than happy to hear it and it is more than welcome!!!

 

9. What is it like working with Noisehead Records?

-Austrian NoiseHead records is our “home” let’s say. It is a rather small label but prime and austere in its work. On the other hand the guys are friendly, offering their 100% on what they do. I believe and this is what we want, that we will have a really good cooperation over the years!

 

10. Any future shows planned in the UK or European festivals?

-Playing in UK is a really big dream for us!! You know, my sister was living in Newcastle for 8 years, she is a professional musician/professor, she tried to arrange something for the other band I used to play, KINETIC, but things didn’t work. As I told you, we try our best…but things are difficult…

 

11. Anything you would like to say to the fans or people that haven’t heard the new album?

-At first thank you for this opportunity! Yes, guys, ACID DEATH are back for sure! Listen to our new album, we are sure you will find so many interesting thing in it! All the best to everyone!

 

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About Aisha Al-Sadie

Scottish based interviewer and reviewer for PM. Aisha is a fine artist who has created album artwork for various bands including Meads of Asphodel and Towers of Flesh. She is a heavy supporter of the UK underground scene and while she has a varied music taste, she admits it is mostly all about the thrash, black and death metal.