If you ask me to point some really valuable newcomers on the scene of Heavy / Power Steel I would refer to Cypru's Astronomikon for sure. Their three track debut release was a real Metal attack to my ears and I still enjoy it a lot. Well the band is back in action getting ready to deliver a new album that will take you by storm. So I guessed that the new album was a fantastic reason for an in depth interview with bassist Paris Lambrou and Vocalist Nicholas Leptos. Grab a cold beer and enjoy what the guys have to share with us.
Hello guys and thanks
for accepting the invitation to do an Astronomikon interview into Forgotten
Scroll.
ASTRONOMIKON: Hello Chris, thanks for the invitation.
Let’s get to the basics.
When did the band start and under what circumstances?
Paris Lambrou: I started
writing the songs early in 2008. Back then we were finishing the songs for the
debut album of Prodigal Earth and we were also gathering ideas for the second one.
The musical direction of Prodigal Earth was straight forward heavy/power with
Socio-Political lyrics, and my epic music didn’t fit at all, so I decided to
create a new project.
Which was the initial
line up of the band?
Paris Lambrou: After
finishing the music for a couple of songs I asked Nicholas if he was interested
to participate in this project. Arrayan Path was inactive, at that point, so he
was positive to work on some epic stuff. The rest of the members (Sokratis Leptos
and Stefan Dittrich) joined the band in 2010.
What about the name
of the band? Who got the idea for it and is there any special concept behind
it?
Paris Lambrou: It was very
easy to find a name. Astronomy, the science of observing celestial phenomena, is
one of my hobbies. The night sky is the biggest book of mythology. It’s full of
gnosis, mystery and charm. Every constellation or any other celestial object is
accompanied by a myth or an exciting story. Since, long ago, people around the
world have associated the heavens, the stars, and the patterns they make in the
sky with their gods and heroes. Through
the music of ASTRONOMIKON, you will learn about the myths and legends of different
cultures, depicted in the sky. So for the lyrics there is a limit…SKY!
In your own words how
would you describe your music to someone that has never checked the band out
and which bands and / or artists would you point as main influences to your
musical concept?
Paris Lambrou: Our music
is epic heavy/power metal combining elements of both US and European metal
schools. My personal influences surpass the boundaries of metal. All kinds of
music have something interesting. Some metal bands we like are Manowar, Iron
Maiden, Riot, Virgin Steele, Dio, Crimson Glory, Omen, Stormwitch, Heavy Load,
Savatage, Fates Warning, Europe, Warlord, Judas Priest, Helloween, Heir
Apparent, Accept, Angelwitch, Queensryche, Running Wild, Tytan Force, Manilla
Road, Yngwie Malmsteen, Rainbow.
Both of the main
members of the band Paris Lambrou and Nicholas Leptos are involved with some
very important -and great- bands of the Cyprus scene; however you started a
new project under the name Astronomikon. Which is the spot that the music of Astronomikon
fills? And which is that very special reason that have driven you to make this
project even if you have the chance to deliver so special music with bands like
Diphtheria, Arrayan Path, Prodgal Earth etc...
Paris Lambrou: Diphtheria
and Prodigal Earth have split up! In 2009 Nicholas decided to re-activate
Arrayan Path. Arrayan Path’s direction is close to that of Astronomikon, but
still I had so many songs finished by then, that they could not be absorbed by
Arrayan Path. Actually some songs in Arrayan Path’s “Terra Incognita” like
Cassiopeia and Minas Tirith were originally intended for Astronomikon because after
Arrayan’s re-activation I was considering to cancel the project of Astronomikon.
The most important difference between
the two bands is that, music for Arrayan Path is mostly written by Nicholas,
while in Astronomikon music is mostly written by me. The common thing is that
we both write music for both bands and that the preproduction process is done
in the same manner.
Can you focus a
little to Stefan Dittrich and Socraptes Leptos? Were they full members of the
band or what?
Nicholas Leptos: Stefan and Socratis joined in after
the songs were ready and some time before the recordings. But I feel that the
album would not have been the same without their capabilities and experience.
Their performance was magnificent!
Tell us about your debut
and only release Dark Gorgon Rising Mini CD, when it was recorded and in how
many days?
Nicholas Leptos: There seems to be a misunderstanding
here. Astronomikon did not release any mini-cd. What we released was simply a
pre-production demo of 3 songs from our debut album. We did it simply to
announce the existence of the band. The first ASTRONOMIKON official release
will be our debut album ‘Dark Gorgon Rising’ coming out shortly.
Paris Lambrou: I guess what led to this
misunderstanding was that the demo was well taken care, with colour cover and
printed CD. Now all the songs from that demo have been re-recorded and the new
sound is amazing.
When it was finally
released and in how many copies?
Nicholas Leptos: The demo was released in 2010 at
Power of the night festival in only 65 copies!
Which is the
recording line up of this release?
Nicholas Leptos: Actually, the demo was simply
pre-production software! Only the vocals are real. As I said, it wasn’t an
official release. It was simply to let the people know how ASTRONOMIKON sounds
like.
What was the feedback
from the fans and the press for this release? Did it help you to spread the
word of the band around?
Nicholas Leptos: As far as I know the feedback was
very positive. Of course you can’t judge anything more than the actual
song-writing as it was simply a computer-made demo.
Paris Lambrou: We had orders from Germany, Greece,
Italy, Ukraine, Russia, France and Cyprus, of course. A fan base has been
formed.
I bet a cold beer
that Rocka Rolla Sword is written for the famous Cyprus Metal club and it is NOT a
tribute to Priest's debut. Have I won?
Nicholas Leptos: Yes exactly! We wanted this fantastic
bar to have a hymn of its own and I think we have composed a great song for it.
A small comment on
the lyrics of the rest of the songs. Who is the Dark Gorgon?
Nicholas Leptos: Our debut album? It is the story of Perseus
and Medusa, the ancient Greek myth that we all grew up with. It’s a really
fascinating story!
Why you have recorded
only three songs for the demo? Financial reasons? Or what? You have done this
release yourselves right? Was it a hard task?
Nicholas Leptos: As I said, the demo was done on the
computer, all except the vocals. So it was not very hard and had nothing to do
with financials.
After the release of
the demo, what was the band's next step?
Nicholas Leptos: Now we are ready for our first
official release, our debut album ‘Dark Gorgon Rising’! It will contain 13
songs. I am sure you will enjoy it!
Have you ever played
live? Is it difficult to transform the power of your music on stage?
Paris Lambrou: We hope
that very soon we will announce some live shows. The songs are very demanding,
but this won’t be a problem as the band consists of very capable musicians, We are on and
Astronomikon still rock on.
Which is the current line up of the band?
Nicholas Leptos: The actual line up of this project is
Paris
Lambrou-bass, Nicholas Leptos-vocals, Socrates Leptos-guitars, Stefan
Dittrich-drums. Keyboards were programmed by Paris and Socrates except one song
written, recorded and produced by George Kallis. We also had some death metal
vocals on 2 songs by Constantinos Machairiotis, the fantastic Ud playing of
Demetrios Argyropoulos on one of the songs, Evagelos Maranis on choirs and some
backing vocals and finally Constantinos Constantinou played the guitar solo on
the song Rocka Rolla Sword.
Can you spread a
little bit of info about your upcoming debut album, musically what paths it
will follow?
Nicholas Leptos: The music, as Paris mentioned before,
is a mix of European and US metal along with the personal touch of the
participating musicians of course. I think I would call it a ‘Iron Maiden and
Warlord meets Crimson Glory and Helloween’ kind of record.
Paris Lambrou: Blended
with Manowar attitude of course J, and powerful
feelings. It was a big challenge for us to work on a concept
story, trying to bring the metal version of the myth of Perseas to life.
Through our music and lyrics, we tried to achieve the contrast in emotions
according to the original story.
Is there any chance
to share with us any song or album titles?
Paris Lambrou: There will
be an announcement about the album cover, tracklist etc. middle/end of November
Where have you
recorded the debut album, who is the producer?
Paris Lambrou: The songs were recorded in Germany, at
Maranis Studios (contact@maranis-studios.de)
and they were produced/mixed/mastered by Evagelos Maranis (ex-Sanvoisen:
vocals). The overall outcome is great and the guitars sound really huge!!! We
are very happy with his work, as it really helped elevating the songs.
Are you going to
release this one yourselves once again or are you going to co-operate with a
record label?
Paris Lambrou: Please forget the demo!!! J. Our debut album
will be released through the German PURE STEEL RECORDS. I met them at Keep It
True Festival and they said they like the music of Arrayan Path. I mentioned
them that we were working on a new project called ASTRONOMIKON and they told me
when I have something ready to send it to them. A few weeks ago, when
mixing/mastering was finished, we decided to send them a couple of songs and
they answered back that our music is absolutely great! For obvious reasons, it
is very important for us that we have signed a deal with people who believe in
our music.
Being involved with
so many bands and projects do you find the suitable time to focus on
Astronomikon?
Paris Lambrou: Actually these days I am only
involved with Astronomikon and Arrayan Path. What takes most of the time and
effort is the preproduction process. We have our own home studio and the last 3
years Nicholas, Sokratis and I, along with some other friends have been working
very hard and non-stop to have 4 albums ready, 1 Astronomikon and 3 Arrayan
Path (we are currently recording the new Arrayan Path…) So the truth is that we
are very busy with these two bands. We all have families and other obligations,
but when there is will there is a way.
When shall we expect
an album release?
Paris Lambrou: The album is expected to be
released in February of 2013.
Nicholas
Leptos: We are of course releasing a few songs before that as preview to the
album, so stay tuned!
Paris Lambrou: Actually one piece from our
upcoming album can be found at
www.astronomikon.com
(plays automatically on the site’s home page). It’s the song Rocka Rolla Sword that
was firstly released on the Cyprus Metal Scene
United Compilation CD. It will be included in our debut as bonus track and it’s
the only song that is not related to the story of Perseas, Andromeda and
Medusa.
After the release of
the album which will be your next move?
Paris Lambrou: Very soon we will start planning
the second album. I have written a lot of music in the past, enough for many
albums. Nicholas already told me he has some music suitable for Astronomikon.
So we will start working on these, along with some fresh ideas, of course, that
will occur during the song-writing/preproduction stage.
Well that was it guys
Thanks very much for your time LONG LIVE CYPRUS STEEL. LET THE GORGON RISE.
ASTRONOMIKON: Thanks for the interview and keep up the
good work.
www.twitter.com/astr0n0mik0n (“0” are zeroes)
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