TERRORDROME - Sakis Chatzitakis

\r\nGreek brutal death metallers TERRORDROME raise the level with their new release and make us wonder: just how far can they go? We talk with Sakis for further intel.. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone.gr: Hello Sakis and congratulations on the wonderful split cd you just released. Give us a few words about it. Does it work like a "preview" of the upcoming album?
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\r\nSakis: Cheers Giannis and to everyone reading these lines. I’m glad you liked Terrordrome’s new material and, indeed, this split works as a preview of our upcoming, second album. It was recorded here, in Thessaloniki by George Briggos, who also did the mixing at MIX studios, while the mastering was done by Tolis Siopis at Odeon Mastering. The purpose was to have a better view of the new Terrordrome tunes since we have attached new elements to our music, and also to see in which way we will have to handle them and how they will be embodied into our style, so we won’t find ourselves before any unpleasant surprises when recording the full length. And indeed, this recording helped us a lot and we will probably do a similar one right before we record the new album. We loved the final result and agreed with Grindethic to release it as a split cd with Lebanon’s Oath To Vanquish, a band that is also on the label’s roster. This cd came out on a limited edition hand-numbered to 100 pieces and there are also plans to release our side of the split in a 7’’ vinyl ep.
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\r\nMetalzone.gr: You recently played the Mountains Of Death festival in Switzerland. How did that fest go? What was the response of the crowd to your show?
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\r\nSakis: The show went really well taking also into account the circumstances in which it took place. This is because our gear went missing in a direct flight(!!!) from Thessaloniki to Basel and the problem was that we were set to play the gig the same day we arrived. Because of the flawless organization, we finally found gear to complete the show. Thanks to our dear friends from Cerebral Bore, who, without second thought, lent us their guitar and bass and also let us have our own tuning as well! In the end, we went on stage to play in the nick of time. The response was awesome, there were people there waiting to see Terrordrome, who also blew our merch before and right after the show! There is also a video available on youtube with 3 songs from our appearance in Mountains Of Death 2010.
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\r\nMetalzone.gr: Will you guys do any other appearances within or outside Greece? What are the responses to the band’s new tunes?
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\r\nSakis: We have no other shows in Greece or abroad for now, since we have to move on with the writing process of the second album. The new material is extremely demanding and requires concentration. The peoples’ responses so far are only positive and that is enough for us to move on with more passion and strength.
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\r\nMetalzone.gr: So, you have your second album in the making process these days. Have you completed the recordings and where is the whole process taking place?
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\r\nSakis: Yes, that’s right, we are preparing the second album and we’re in the writing process, as I mentioned above. The recording will start in the beginning of 2011 so the album will be released in the spring of the same year. We still haven’t decided where we’ll work it but all we care for now is the composition of the new songs.
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\r\nMetalzone.gr: Are the 2 songs from this split release going to be on the album too? What should we be expecting from your second strike?
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\r\nSakis: Yes, both of them are going to be on the album, re-recorded of course. The next release is going to be yet another Terrordrome one but not a second Vehement Convulsion. There is no way we’re going to write a second same album, we never have and we never will. It’s a part of our evolution as personalities and our natural musical evolution too. The only thing we remain sworn to, is for Terrordrome to be a violent, technical brutal death metal band, so the new material is going to be extremely fast and technical, perhaps hard to “swallow” at parts but at the same time it will transpire its own musicality. Our philosophy is to make the listener have a second and a third listen to our songs so that each time he will discover something new in them. We were never touched by albums you could comprehend everything by the very first hearing, we do not consider them to be of timeless value and are easy to forget.
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\r\nMetalzone.gr: What do you think of Vehement Convulsion after all this time? Does its material work smoothly with the new stuff?
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\r\nSakis: I like Vehement very much actually and I consider it to be a cornerstone release for Terrordrome’s course so far. It was the best we could do at that time and I regret nothing about it. But now we look forward and we have to leave it behind us, in terms of never putting out anything similar again. Vehement is already a solid basis for a concrete structure. Of course, there are plenty elements from it found within the new material, evolved in such a way that they work in harmony with our newer ideas. Your question is time trivial and I’d like to add again that we never forget our past, we just rely on it and evolve.
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\r\nMetalzone.gr: Are you satisfied with Grindethic? You’ve had  a lot of support with your debut, is the new album going to be released from the same label?
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\r\nSakis: We are very satisfied with Grindethic and we were supported just like we were told even before the release of Vehement. They successfully promoted Vehement Convulsion all over the worldwide underground death metal scene and that is enough for us. We never had any absurd demands nor do we expect to be rock stars, we are aware of our limits and those we are trying to push a bit further every time. We are interested in playing the music we love and to be supported by people that actually feel our effort and truly appreciate what we do. There are such persons in Grindethic and that is why our second album will be released through them, even though we already had some new offers.
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\r\nMetalzone.gr: Give us some more hints about the new elements in Terrordrome’s music. Flamenco? How does it fit in?
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\r\nSakis: It is true, we have put in, among others, flamenco elements and influences in Terrordrome’s music. Apart from electric guitar, I have also studied classic music and a lot of flamenco too. The idea didn’t just pop out, it didn’t wake up one morning and said "hey, let’s try some flamenco!". It all came through my more mature musical point of view. It was something that was dwelling within me for a long time and it just came to the surface. Also, we never said we’d play flamenco the way it’s normally played, this would have been meaningless, on the contrary we tried to adjust it to our own style. Now, if any flamenco musicians see me play in such way they will start laughing, even get annoyed by the fact that it’s played with electric instruments, but here is a good example where we should improve and evolve. For now, our best “tastebite” is the song called «…For Mayhem to Begin» from the split cd, which is also available on our myspace page.
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\r\nMetalzone.gr: Any plans for gigs in between the recordings in the coming winter?
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\r\nSakis: Unfortunately, we have turned down show offers in Greece and abroad due to personal reasons and because we need to focus on the new songs’ composition. We also want to refresh our playlist, so we are already thinking about new gigs in 2011, especially once the new album is out.
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\r\nMetalzone.gr: Which bands would you call your biggest influences? Are you open to new sounds? Your music, although very brutal, sounds quite "open".
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\r\nSakis: I’m very glad you made this observation because everyone in Terrordrome is very open to new sounds. There are so many beautiful things in music, we would be fools to ignore them and listen only to Deeds Of Flesh, who are indeed a big influence to us. Along with them bands like Necrophagist, Origin, Psycroptic, Sepultura, Metallica, Paco De Lucia(this one goes for the flamenco part...hehe), Emperor, Ved Buens Ende, Astral Projection and generally, whatever sounds good to our ears.
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\r\nMetalzone.gr: The Greek brutal death scene seems to be rising these last few years. Have you seen any bands staging out? What do you think of the relations between the bands?
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\r\nSakis: I totally agree with you and its something that has to go on. Of course I’ve singled out some bands like Sickening Horror, Mass Infection, Mortal Torment, Cerebrum, Inveracity, Kvazar, Disembowel, Human Rejection, Genna Apo Kwlo (you’ll remember me for these guys) and some more, even newer ones like Bloody Donation.
\r\n About the scene’s internal relations I can say nothing at all because I’m not interested in them nor I’m familiar with it but also my position is such that I have no right to judge them. It is none of my concern, what is wrong and whatnot and everyone should mind his own business. The time you waste trying to find out what someone else is doing, is better off you use it for your own good. Terrordrome support whoever supports them, we try to be honest with bands and friends we got to know through the years.
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\r\nMetalzone.gr: Alright, that is all from me, thank you so much for your time and I truly hope we’ll get to see you in Athens sometime soon. Last words are yours..
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\r\nSakis: We want to thank you Giannis and Metalzone for your valuable help and support and we hope we’ll be back to Athens soon enough. A brutal death can give your life back!\r\n

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\r\nInterview by : Giannis rem3dy Nakos
\r\nInfo: http://www.myspace.com/terrordrome\r\n

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