...on Imhotep's Myspace site www.myspace.com/imhotepno you can listen to the track "Anubis" from the 17th of March... 

I guess that most people, at least those who are not new to the metal scene the last year, know about Septicflesh. And it’s been quite a journey throughout all these years. You’ve searched different journey, not all equally successful. So, how do you view Septiflesh’ past, thinking of your music from the beginning up til today? (PS; you don’t have to make a book out of this reply, but it would surely be interesting to learn in short your views on the various albums)

“I feel proud for the course of Septicflesh on the realm of extreme music. With each album we evolved our sound, pushing our boundaries further while keeping our basic identity intact. Of course, it is understandable that some prefer some stuff better than other. For example, people that are more into brutal death metal prefer albums as “Sumerian Daemons”. At the same time there are people that feel more intense emotions by listening to a more melodic album as “Revolution Dna”. As time passes we feel more confident on our song writing and try to focus on what we do best, keeping the songs more to the point. Also from “Revolution Dna” and after that, the production is stronger giving the last three albums an advance in comparison with the older releases.”

In the beginning it is important to some to find the “correct” image, while others develop their style while they develop their music. How important is image to you now? How do you view image in connection with the music and lyrics, especially when it comes to the live-performances?

“Vision is one of the most dominating senses in humans. That is why shitty bands with good looks usually achieve more, than good bands with not such a good look. Of course there are always exceptions to rules.  I feel that it is better to keep a balance between image and music so that the image will support and strengthen the intended atmosphere. Also it is important not to pretend to be someone you are not. I see quite frequently various characters in magazines that try to look evil and scary while they only manage to put a smile on my face.”

When you picture your band on stage, what do you see in front of you? How would you describe Septicflesh to one that has not viewed you thus far? And being on the matter, what do you think about metal and playing live – is it a necessity, as in is metal meant to be played live first and foremost?

“As metal is a musical style with lots of energy it is proper to be played live. Concerning Septicflesh we try to keep a good balance in our shows between our brutal and rhythmical side and the more atmospheric, theatrical songs. So there is a variety of emotions presented, while there is a preference to the darker aesthetics.

Concerning our general image, each member has his strong personality that is also reflected on his stage appearance. Personally I have a more theatrical approach, Seth is more barbaric and bestial, Chris looks grim and gothic. As for Fotis, he is simply a killing machine.”

One often draws inspiration from other bands, books, movies and fantasy. And lately I have seen that many metal bands think use life itself as an inspiration source. Where does your band look to find inspiration? And, being on the subject, how interesting is it to learn about the band’s own thoughts and experiences, when the music is most important? Or is the music the most important factor?

“Good music without the proper words to support it, is like a pretty flesh without a soul. The lyrics play an important part on the art of Septicflesh. Our aim is always to create the perfect union between music – words – emotions.”

The music on “Communion” is a symphonic extreme metaller’s wet dream. The album contains just what I desire from such music. Some may say that it’s over the top, but to me the inclusion and the way you’ve incorporated the orchestra and the choir into the music is brilliant. Tell us how the recordings in Prague went, and how you worked to make the album a unit (instead of just metal with symphonic orchestra)?

“Indeed we wanted to create a solid result and not a musical Frankenstein monster from unfitting parts of classical and metal music put together. In order to achieve that, we tried a lot of different versions of the songs, before we felt that everything was right in place. Then we decided which musical parts were fitting to the orchestra. Of course having Chris on the band made things easier, as besides a guitarist, he is a skilled neoclassical composer. He actually was the man in charge of the “musical operation” in Prague dealing with all those experienced musicians and he did a great job.”

In my humble opinion “Persepolis” is the best track since last year’s Deathspell Omega tracks that were released back in July. I guess the atmosphere of the track had to be like this, due to the bombastic lyrical contents. Before we go into the track itself, I have to ask how you develop a track and in what way you make each track different, yet making it coherent into the album as a whole? Yes, the combination of atmosphere, lyrics and music…

 “This is the tricky part, to achieve the alchemical result that will stand out as one unity. Especially in a band as Septicflesh, where all the members have something important to contribute to the music. So there are always so many different elements to take under consideration. Actually “Communion” is more a product of team work than all our previews releases. I feel that we managed to “tune” our minds to a specific emotional “frequency”. And every member contributed the elements that mastered more, having in mind the common goal.

About “Persepolis”, Seth had the main musical idea that then was evolved from Chris with the proper orchestration, while I transmuted the emotional result into the specific lyrical concept. The music of Septicflesh always creates vivid images to my mind. In this case the oriental and Greek musical lines in combination with the emotional direction of the song pushed my imagination in the specific era.”
 

“Persepolis” is a track that contains everything I desire from an extreme metal track. Perhaps some female vocals would do, but then again, perhaps such would destroy the overall impression. Was it difficult in any way to make this extremely varied track sound like one? I mean, if you hadn’t repeated the “burn this city to the ground take a torch, and spread the fire” part towards the end, the track would rather feel like four different parts following each other, but by this short yet conclusive conclusion, you tied the ropes together…

“There is something cinematic in the development of the song and I was very thrilled to try and capture it with my lyrical approach. The song begins storming with the frenzy of a battle. Then there is a subtle change in the mood leading to a change of scenery. It is a music passage fitting to a feast of celebration, relieving the tired bodies and souls of the soldiers in the comforting hands of temptation and indulgence.

Gradually, a devious emotion starts creeping on the musical background, as an omen that something bad is going to happen. And then, the drunken rhyme of celebration turns into rage and madness. It is the part that the soldiers form a raging group, holding torches in order to burn the city. This is the climax of the song and is followed from one of the most deadly and woe influencing melodies performed by the orchestra and choir. As I perform a little narration in Greek, the woe is slowly transmuted into a biter-sweet oriental melody, a reminder of the glorious city that was forever lost. And the end comes with hatred, transmitted from the militaristic rhythm and the repeated words from the mouths of the soldiers that burned Persepolis. What starts in hatred, ends in hatred…”

This track, “Persepolis” has a genuine use of the orchestration and choiring. The way you give us a hint in the beginning of what is to come after 2.30 minutes, is nothing but universal genuinely written music. You take the track down and then rebuild it, raising it up to new heights in furious vengeful way. I sense that doing this track wasn’t the easiest one, at least judging from a listener’s point of view. When you had done the track, how did you feel then? Do you in any way manage to listen to this rollercoaster of a track without envisioning the most likely difficult recording process?

“ “Persepolis” was one of the most difficult songs of the album. However, the result is worth the effort. When we listened to the complete song for the first time, with the addition of the orchestra everybody was left speechless. Especially Seth, that had the original musical idea and experienced the whole transformation. One has to really close his eyes and let his imagination drift with the song.”
 

Tell me, why did you have this great passage in Greek? And, where did the story of “Persepolis” origin from?

“I attempted a vivid “recreation” of  the destruction of Ancient Persepolis, basing my story on authentic historical material. Actually Persepolis was destroyed by an order given from Alexander the Great, after his victory feast. It was an action of revenge and a display of power. But even the Greeks were not proud for this action after the deed was done. Actually, there is a suggestion from ancient historicist that Thais, a Greek Hetaira, manipulated the drunken mind of Alexander to take this action. Now you can understand why I found most appropriate to use also Greek language.”

There are rather soft passages on the album, like the Moonspell-ian introduction to “Anubis”. But in the same track, after 1.36 min there’s a 13 second part that is heavier than heavy, and which is luckily repeated later on in the track. How important is the dynamic approach within your music to you as composers?

“We love creating a climax on the songs. So it is important to have dynamics on the compositions. I believe that in this way the song evolves more efficiently and the heavy parts stand out and seem sharper.”

The main vocal on “Communion” it dark, furious and very heavy. And it blends with the clean vocals, the choirs and atmosphere of the music as a whole. This makes me wonder, how do you work with the vocals and what is it that makes you maintain the same furious angriness throughout the whole album? On the same subject, performing such brutal vocalisation in a live-situation, how is that and how do you keep the vocal’s strength in the long run?

“In the process of creation we leave all options available concerning the vocal lines, as we know that we possess a variety of effective “weapons” in our arsenal. It is then a matter of making the right decision, keeping in mind the direction of the song. So if we want to enhance the brutal and daemonic elements, we use the vocals of Seth. If we want to elevate the more emotional and dark elements, we use my clean vocals. If we aim to create a more epic or atmospheric mood, we use a choir or female vocals.

Seth has a very brutal vocal style and surely he pushes the limits of his vocal chords more than a few times. On “Communion” he managed to keep the rage and the power of his vocals in extreme levels, while you can actually listen to the words. It is not the endless growling of a berserker. He has worked his style and he is definitely not less brutal on stage.”

Personally I think the two latest tracks on “Communion”, “Sangreal” and “Narcissus And Echo” are good songs, but somehow a bit too soft for me after the monstrous “Persepolis”. To me the album would’ve been even better with “Persepolis” as the closer. Anyway, in what way do you imagine the album when you write the music? I mean, it can’t be all coincidences resulting into an album, as I think there has to be some grand thought of what you actually want to give to the listener… 

 “Exactly. Before the creation of the songs we discussed a lot about where we were going to evolve. We all agreed about the general direction and the desired “aura” of the album. Then gradually we started presenting our ideas, working and reworking them. At the end, we had the final songs that stood out from the others.

The position of a song in the album definitely plays a role in the whole experience, as it influences the pace of the album and the dynamics of emotions and sound. We always loved to play with a variety of strong emotions and were never afraid to use a more melodic approach in some songs as far as the result was fitting to the general atmosphere. I am sure that the old fans of Septicflesh will be really pleased that we haven’t forgotten how to create songs as “Sangreal” and “Narcissus”. On the other hand, I understand your point of view, as when you experience the utter emotional darkness everything else looks brighter and softer.

However, take under consideration that the mind of the listener tends to loose concentration as an album progresses. So we felt that it was better to keep some from the more “easier” songs for ear of the listener, for the end of the album.”

I think it is important to ask about the lyrical aspect of the band. It is a known fact that most (hopefully to be) fans care most about the music, while the lyrics are for those who’re especially interested. What kind of topics do you prefer to deal with in general? I noticed that on the new album, there’s a passage that is in Greek, which you luckily have translated into English as well…

“My favorite fields of inspiration are dreams, science, history, mythology, esotericism and the occult. There are also lyrics dealing with personal experiences that serve as a reminder of important things for me, a kind of a musical cryptic diary. My influences from the ancient Greek inheritance are heavy, especially on matters of philosophy. I also love to use of myths as symbols and metaphors.”

On the new album, “Communion” the topic, at least from my understanding, is the Divine, though not the recent Gods, but more of the ancient times. Why do you think this is of any interest to the metal fans, or to be specific, Septicflesh’ fans?

“ “Communion” is about the elder and undying need of human kind to be in “touch”, to have a special kind of interaction, or more precise “communication”, with a higher intelligence. The trick is that the individual is not a simple “receiver”, as he always projects his expectations on the matrix of reality and then adapts everything that doesn’t fit to the normal “picture” in accordance with his (her) belief system. So the same experience of “communion” may be explained differently from different individuals. Some will claim that they experienced an interaction with the divine, others with the demonic. Some on the other hand, will feel that they were approached by alien beings, while others will believe that they confronted undead spirits. The more skeptics will accept this experience as a higher state of the self or some kind of hallucination. The common element behind all these individuals, is the sense of being in the presence of a special “uncommon” kind of consciousness. A situation certainly out of the ordinary.”

What about the recent and more actual Gods and religion in general, perhaps?

“About gods and religion, if someone needs to place a God or whatever above him, it is his choice. I have chosen to never give the number one position to another, god or not. In fact god is simply a title. And the action of handling the scepter of your thinking and life to someone else, is in my opinion the highest “sin”. But let’s leave each one judge for his self.”

The already mentioned “Persepolis” is a story that ends in a tragedy for her, the city. “Babel’s Gate” is about this tower that those superstitious people built to reach god, and is now a symbol for lack of communication. And then “We The Gods” are seeing things from their point of view, which, well… The way I judge it, the Gods are both darkness and light, both pain and joy. But why do you think that we, humanity, have this desire for something Divine? And when thinking of all the violence, all hate, all terrorism – isn’t it strange that there’re still new followers to the various Gods in our modern world?

“The herd mentality of the masses passes from generation to generation. It is easier to just accept the things that so many others also accept as truth, than to stand alone out from the crowd. You see, it takes effort, thinking and strength to leave forever the comfort provided by the thought of some god being in charge of things. The idea that you can count only on yourself, in a life where nothing is for granted, while at the same time there is no paradise waiting on the other side, is scary for most people. Most people need the idea of a master, creator, ultimate judge, taking care of things. They need the idea that all this violence and negative actions going on all around them will be punished somehow. Someone else has to take the blame of everything wrong while someone has to exist to forgive and fix things. So even after all those years of evolution and progress, things are definitely not going well in today’s world.”

In today’s world, where you can’t even draw a single tiny little cartoon of a certain Arabian prophet without getting a lot of fury from the violent followers of the same prophet, religion is still (too) important. Yet, it seems like the environment pollution will solve the problems the Tower of Babel arose all those years ago. When humanity eventually ends it’s destruction of Earth, how do you think our Armageddon will be like? Do you think we stand a chance to eventually destroy the Tower of Babel and begin communication between cultures again?

“Man is his own biggest enemy. He unlocks more and more gates of power but he is not good at controlling the power. He is like an apprentice magician that plays with things he is not ready to. Let’s hope that reason and logic will gain the upper hand in time, so that things won’t be irreversibly fucked up. Communication and understanding between cultures if achieved will surely help things for the better.”

I rarely ask for an explanation to any track, but rather prefer to make my own opinion about lyrics and such. However, in this case I’ll do an exception and wonder about “Lovecraft’s Death”. A really heavy opening track, but is it a tribute to Lovecraft’s poetry? Or, is there more to this track than I could imagine? 

“I decided to make a tribute to my favorite writer in a special way. In the song I put him from the place of the writer, to the place of the protagonist, in a story that describes his final moments on the world of the living. The trick is that I used as words to build my story, actual titles from his books.  I manipulated the words to create the specific meaning and I am sure that those familiar with the work of Lovercraft will enjoy the “treasure hunting” for the hints and elements presented.”

The way I think of it, the Greek extreme metal scene has been a bit down the last few years. But with recent albums from Rotting Christ, Varathron and now Septicflesh you’ve taken one step up again. Do you think this album you now release would’ve come through unless the other Greek bands had witnessed enough success lately? And, why do you think that in example the excellent label Season Of Mist actually have decided to invest as much money into you now, thinking of the orchestration and such?

“When a Greek band achieves recognition and strengthens its status on the wider scene, it is something good for the other Greek bands as well. One of the elements that encouraged us to resurrect Septicflesh, was the dedication and love of the fans, that never forgotten our work. And when a band has already a core of dedicated audience that will support its releases, it is easier to attract the attention of a serious and good label. But make no mistake, things would be easier for us, if we were hailing from a more recognized country, as Sweden for example.”

A bit on the side, but how do you view the metal scene these days, and especially the threats/advantages with the internet? I mean, everyone has a MySpace site and it’s way easier to learn about new bands (perhaps way too many bands?)…

“It is something strange and puzzling. It is a virtual reality on development, with the positive and negative outcome that comes with it. On the positive side, it is tool that can be used from a band to present its material straight to its target audience, and without geographic limitations.”

Rumour has it that your band is no longer Septic Flesh, but rather Septicflesh. And this has to be justified to those of us who’ve followed the Greek Gods since the mid 90s?

“The meaning is the same either way. Putting the two words together has more a visual effect on the perceiver. It is also a kind of statement that we are on phase two. Septic Flesh is dead, long live Septicflesh… Yes, we are back from the dead.”

www.septicflesh.net

www.myspace.com/septicfleshband

www.season-of-mist.com

Composed by Roy Kristensen